UNICEF Netherlands, in collaboration with Leiden University and Kennisnet, is publishing eight essays on digital children’s rights. The series will be launched on 6 February 2024 and discussed at the symposium on Children’s Rights in the Digital World. State Secretary Van Huffelen will conclude the symposium and receive the first copy of the essay collection.
Computers, mobile phones, AI: The younger generation is immersed in a digital world. They are well-versed in its benefits, yet they also face risks from increasing digitalisation. Policymakers, young professionals, and educators need to protect them from these dangers. Ensuring children’s rights in the digital world requires considerable effort. The essays shed light on existing challenges but also demonstrate that there is ample opportunity for positive change.
Symposium on children’s rights in the digital world
On Tuesday, 6 February 2024, UNICEF Netherlands will host the symposium on Children’s Rights in the Digital World. This event will discuss key themes from the essay series, such as the mental impact of social media, digital resilience, digital inclusion, and digitalisation in education. Alexandra van Huffelen, State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation, will close the symposium and accept the first copy of the essay collection.
Download the essays
Several of the essays are available online in Dutch. Access them through the links below:
- Essay 1: Children Online: Digital Inclusion as a Fundamental Right
- Essay 2: The Right to Protection Against Harmful Content, Including on Social Media
- Essay 3: Data in the Classroom: A Call for More Freedom in Education
- Essay 4: Screen Happiness and Screen Sorrow: The Impact of Social Media on Young People’s Mental Health
- Essay 5: Digital Resilience: A Call for Children’s Participation
- Essay 6: Children’s Rights and Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children
- Essay 7: Digital Play and the Right to Protection Against Economic Exploitation
- Essay 8: Children’s Rights, Including the Digital World
This essay series includes the perspectives of young people through the involvement of the Youth Council on Digitalisation (in Dutch, de Jongerenraad Digitalisering) of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK). UNICEF Netherlands, in conjunction with BZK, established this Youth Council.
