Every Namibian child’s rights should be protected online, especially given the inherent threats of the digital environment.
These were the remarks of Heather Harker, children’s advocate in the Ombudsman’s Office, in honour of Day of the African Child, which was observed on Friday under the theme ‘Rights of the Child in the Digital Environment.’
Harker in a statement said one of the good outcomes of the COVID-19 epidemic is the efficiency and benefits of using the internet to work, educate, and interact with loved ones.
The internet provides numerous advantages for youngsters but can, however, provide a remote environment that exposes youngsters to several threats.
“Educators and caretakers/parents have the added responsibility to protect children in the invisible world that is the internet,” she said.
She stressed that people’s rights must be preserved even on online platforms, noting that children are a vulnerable category in society, and they can be found online as well. Their rights should thus be protected correspondingly online, to a larger extent because of the inherent risks that come with the digital environment.
Harker further said that Namibia, in collaboration with various national and international partners, has published countless resources and held multiple training sessions to assist in creating a safe digital environment for children.
“Ensuring that the rights of the child in a digital environment are protected is a collective effort. We are all called to action to ensure that our children have access to the digital world in a safe and constructive manner,” she concluded.
Day of the African Child is celebrated on 16 June every year. It was established in 1991 by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU), in remembrance of the 1976 Soweto uprising in South Africa. On that day, hundreds of students protested against the apartheid government’s decision to make Afrikaans the language of instruction in schools. The protests were met with violence from the police, and hundreds of students were killed.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency