The Second Lady, Samira Bawumia, on Friday launched the National Child Online Pro­tection Framework in Accra to protect children across the country from cyber security threats such as cyber bullying and online abuse.

Developed in alignment with the initiatives of the International Tele­communications Union (ITU) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the frame­work is to serve as safe and empowering online for children in the country.

It was launched at the grand finale of the 2024 National Cybersecurity Challenge held at the University of Pro­fessional Studies, Accra on Friday under the theme, “Empowering Young Minds: Creating Opportunities, Promoting a Safer Digital Ghana.”

The contest that saw St. Peters Senior High School (SHS) emerge winners, was organised by the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation, under the auspices of the UNICEF, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and other key partners.

According to Samira Bawumia, the online protection framework was important considering the increasing cybersecurity threats that children across the world, including Ghana were faced with.

Referencing the Global Online Safety Survey conducted by Microsoft, she said 49 per cent of teenagers worldwide experienced medium to severe negative online encounters such as cyberbullying, harassment, and abuse to back her view on the importance of the child online protection framework.

“The child online protection frame­work document encapsulates a com­prehensive approach, recognising the diverse aspects of online safety and addressing the unique challenges our children face in the digital landscape,” the second lady added.

She further stressed the need for a stronger collaboration between key stakeholders to address the issue of cybersecurity threats faced by children.

For his part, the Director General of the CSA, Dr Albert Antwi-Boasiako, in his welcome address, said the adoption of the National Child Online Protection Framework would strengthen and guide the CSA to achieve its goal of imple­menting relevant measures to safeguard the digital life of Ghanaian children.

He further indicated that the adoption of regulations on child online protection would be completed by the end of the year to support CSA with its mandate to implement Sections 62-66 and other relevant sections of the Cybersecurity Act 2020.

In addition, Dr. Antwi-Boasiako noted that “the establishment of a National Steering Committee for the National Cybersecurity Challenge to provide a broader strategic direction for the initia­tive, ensuring a more inclusive and struc­tured process for selecting participating senior high schools is well underway.”