Under the slogan "Let's create a better internet together", the safer Internet Day took place in Aswan on Saturday 21 February 2014. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) organized a conference for this occasion, in cooperation with local and international ICT companies, for example: Vodafone- Egypt, Oracle, and Microsoft. This comes in context of the stakeholders' social responsibility of in the society and out of the State keenness to secure children and youth protection and raise awareness through the safe use of internet. The conference aims to train the concerned parties especially trainers and teachers on the latest updates of internet safety issues in light of the successive technology changes lately and the means of sending awareness messages to children that are attractive and simple to achieve maximum benefit. Trainers will receive an attendance certificate of the training course. Atef Helmy- the Minister of Communication- said that child online safety came as a first priority to MCIT, therefore, a national committee for child online safety was created in 2012. It is a multi-stakeholder committee serving as a preventive and corrective mechanism to protect children, parents and teachers of internet threats. The committee is meant to achieve a number of goals: spreading the culture of internet safety, raising awareness in households, educational institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGO), evaluating the current situation of child online safety, setting recommendations to adopt new policies in line with the Egyptian society norms and the latest technologies, providing a safe environment for children on internet and finally cooperating with regional and international organizations in the field. The Ministry supports youth interaction on the internet, but at the same time, he said, we work on protecting their rights. We are all engaged to set the required frames and fundamentals to protect our children on the internet, he explained. MCIT collaborates with partners locally, regional and internationally to provide the regulating techniques, applications and frames, as well as to provide the suitable environment to make young people experience on internet safe and secure, he added. He also stressed on the efforts exerted to spread awareness and train teachers and trainers in direct contact with children and youth. The national committee for child online safety includes members of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior (the general section for information and documentation), the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Higher Education, the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA), the ICT Chamber, Etisal association, Internet Egypt and a number of data transfer, mobile and ICT companies and Computer and Software Department at Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce. The first session of the conference showcased some international expertise in the field of child online protection. Moreover, efforts for providing technology solutions and making policies were also highlighted; taking into consideration that internet is a cross-border space where children protection comes as an important responsibility on the society. A training program, under the sponsorship of Vodafone Company, for teachers and trainers to raise youth awareness was conducted. The conference also showcased an overview about the national committee for child online safety outcomes. A number of contests in the field of internet safety were launched during the conference. A schools contest comes in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, with a main goal to spread awareness among the Egyptian society in general and the Egyptian child in particular. It focuses on students of primary, preparatory and secondary levels nationwide. It also aims to develop the innovation capacities through writing short messages about internet safety according to their perspective. The second contest is on the technology homes level, to spread awareness about internet safety in the Egyptian society, targeting children from 6 to 18 years. Microsoft launched its contest in this field too. Celebrating Safer Internet Day has started eleven years ago as a European Union and Insafe network of the European states initiative. In 2009, committees were formed in countries to strengthen ties amongst them, facilitate cooperation on online safety issues. The celebration surpassed the European Union boundaries over the years. The day which used to be celebrated in 14 countries is now celebrated in 90 countries worldwide. The annual celebration takes place during the month of February to urge societies to provide a safer environment and raise awareness of the responsible use of internet especially to children and youth worldwide.
