Childnet International has recently been awarded funding from Nominet Trust to support Childnet’s Youth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Project.
The project will provide young people with a chance to voice their opinions on the four main themes of the IGF; openness, access, security and diversity as they relate to the Internet, in response to criticisms that there had been little involvement of young people in the debate at the IGF.
Childnet believes that it is important to include young people in the IGF process, incorporating the experience and the voice of the child and young person in the discussions, particularly where it is children’s rights and interests that are being championed.
Childnet will aim to represent the voice of youth at local IGF meetings in the UK as well as the 2009 IGF meeting in Cairo.
Funding from Nominet Foundation for Childnet’s Youth IGF Project, will enable Childnet to work directly with children and young people to identify and capture their voice on the current Internet uses, concerns and challenges they face in addition to Childnet’s usual e-safety work with children and young people.
Lucinda Fell, Policy and Communications Manager said:
“It’s vital that we provide young people with the opportunity to contribute to the wider Internet governance debate and to have their say. With this funding, we’re kick starting a truly groundbreaking project that effectively arms children and young people to begin to engage with the IGF process.”
Jonathan Welfare, Chairman of Nominet Trust Board said:
“This project demonstrates vision and execution to make a positive impact towards the development of a safe, educational and inclusive Internet. Children of the 21st century are ‘digital natives’ and using the Internet and new technologies as part of their everyday lives is second nature. They are the future of the web and so it’s important they have an active voice in the debate.”
Potential industry involvement:
lucinda@childnet.com
Potential youth involvement:
ellen@childnet.com
Childnet International is a UK-based charity working with others around the world to help make the Internet a great and safe place for children. Childnet works actively in promoting the opportunities that the Internet and new technologies offer by providing quality advice to children, young people, parents, teachers and caregivers, enabling children to use technology safely and responsibly.
www.childnet.com
Nominet Trust is a charity that provides funds for innovative projects, which strive to improve and encourage the development of a safe, educational and inclusive Internet.
The Trust will provide grants to organisations that can demonstrate vision and execution for Internet-related projects that make a tangible difference in developing a safe, educational and inclusive Internet in the UK and other countries.
Initial funding comes from Nominet, the Internet registry for .uk domains, one of the world’s largest domain name registries.
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was an outcome of the 2005 World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), where the then United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called for a forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue. The inaugural meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was held in Athens, Greece (Nov 2006), to discuss a common global vision of the development and growth of the internet. Attended by over 1,350 registered participants including government, academics, industry, not-for-profit and journalists, The IGF reconvened in Rio de Janiro in 2007 and Hyderabad in 2008. The 2009 IGF Meeting will be held from 15-18 November in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
www.intgovforum.org
