Third National Forum for Human Rights Concludes

Doha: Organized by the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), the third National Forum for Human Rights concluded Wednesday under the theme "Protecting Children's Rights in a Secure Digital Environment: Challenges and Prospects for Empowerment and Protection." The forum sessions were enriched by a group of experts and specialists from government agencies, civil society, and the private sector, in addition to the active participation of children themselves. The forum highlighted the progress made by the state legislatively and technically to enable children to have the right to safe access to the digital space, in line with the national values expressed in the permanent constitution of the state, and in a way that achieves the national vision of the State of Qatar 2030. The participants praised the efforts of all parties concerned with children's digital rights and presented the following recommendations, including developing the legislative structure to keep pace with digital development, in a manner that i ncludes criminalizing all forms of violence and crimes committed against children in the digital environment, including prohibiting inappropriate content that is harmful to the lives and healthy development of children. In addition, it is necessary to adopt policies and measures to enable children to have safe access to the digital environment and to continuously develop preventive tools to keep pace with the evolving risks and challenges in the digital space, and to encourage innovations in the world of technology, while ensuring high standards of safety, including obligating platforms on the Internet to conduct periodic risk assessments with the aim of exploring and addressing the harmful effects of their services on children's rights, and ensuring that commercial companies respect children's privacy and protect their interests. The recommendations also included the need for legislative and administrative measures to ensure the protection of children's rights to digital learning, enhance their ability to control the information they share via the Internet, their right to express their opinions and safe digital participation, including interaction via social media, protect them from exploitation and abuse, protect their personal data, and provide the opportunity to hear children's voices in all measures taken regarding them. In addition, the recommendations included enabling children and their families to access effective redress mechanisms, by simplifying child-friendly complaint procedures and enhancing the capacities of law enforcement, public prosecution, and judiciary officials to address violations related to the digital environment through various means, including international cooperation. It also recommended establishing a department for artificial intelligence and digital rights at the NHRC, developing monitoring tools, and working to include children's rights in the digital environment in its guidelines and annual reports. The recommendations emphasized the importance of raising awareness and educ ating parents, as parents must be aware and cognizant of the risks of using technology. The private sector must also play a role in the issue of digital programs and platforms that are created and developed, in addition to tightening penalties for circulating websites that encourage children to commit suicide and self-harm and working to develop unified regional standards for the production of digital content directed at children, taking into account cultural and religious diversity. At the conclusion of the forum, HE Chairperson of the NHRC and Chairperson of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) Maryam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah stressed the importance of building on the conclusions of the third edition of the National Forum for Human Rights. She emphasized that the forum and its recommendations represent an important building block in establishing a safe digital environment for children. Her Excellency pointed out that working to secure the digital world for future generations has become an urgent necessity, and all state institutions, along with parents, must work together to achieve it. She stressed that the forum's recommendations were developed based on the opinions of experts in various cyber, legal, and security sectors, which increases the importance of working on them. She urged all parties to work more towards a digital world that protects the rights of children, who are the cornerstone of development. The forum was held in partnership with the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Ministry of Social Development and Family, in addition to the National Cyber Security Agency, and in cooperation with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. The forum also saw active participation from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Culture, the Public Prosecution, The National Committee to Comba t Human Trafficking (NCCHT), Qatar University, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, the United Nations Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre for South-West Asia, Al Jazeera Media Network, along with other relevant institutions. Source: Qatar News Agency