Children today spend an increasing part of their lives online. COVID-19 pandemic across the countries has led to further surge in use of the internet. This new way of life has created new opportunities, both economic and social. However, it has reinforced the need for guidance, vigilance and safety in the face of a growing range of threats to online safety and privacy. A study report released in 2021 by a local research institute, Cyber Crime Awareness Foundation (CCAF), stated that over 10% of the country's cyberbullying or cybercrime victims are children under the age of 18.
At Grameenphone, we are working with our development partner(s) to create an ecosystem where children are trained to be safe online and their teachers and parents are equipped to support them to take opportunities that digital space offers. The aim is to offer locally relevant content, easy to understand online and offline materials and awareness to bring clarity about the digital world and safety features. We are working to ensure that children, especially girls, have the skills and confidence to thrive in a digital environment.
Our online safety content, both basic and advanced, has to date trained over 2.3 million children, parents, and teachers. Every year our national campaign with mascot Sabina and Meena educates over 25 million people and we continue to have dialogues on online safety and literacy with key stakeholders including parents, teachers, education institutes, civil society and policy makers to support a conversation that hopefully will help build a safe internet all.