Children, The digital divide leaves entire generations behind in the poorest countries: 2.2 million have no access to the Internet at home or at school

ROME – “There are a lot of children and teenagers who can’t surf online, either at home or at school,” said Volker Turk, head of theUnited Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). “Yet young people are the most connected age group in the world,” she specified. Being able to connect today depends on where you were born. According to estimates reported by Turk, 2.2 million children and young people under the age of 25 do not have access to the Internet at home. And this means that several generations, in some portions of the world, are left behind, without the opportunity to have a complete education or modern training and without the possibility of accessing news and information that is often essential also for protecting health, security, rights, Turk specified again, during the first round table on childhood rights and the digital environment on the occasion of the fifty-second session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. The meeting was attended by three boys from Colombia, Malaysia and Ethiopia.

The UNICEF assessment. According to theUN agency for the rights of the child, the possibility of having access to the Internet depends on three factors: first of all on the general income of the country, then it depends on the context, i.e. urban or rural, and finally on the wealth of the family to which they belong. The gap between high-income and low-income countries is quite significant: 87 percent of children in rich countries can connect to the Internet compared with 6 percent in poor countries. Only 5 per cent of children and young people in West and Central Africa can go online compared to the global average of 33 per cent.

History. Mariana is a twelve-year-old girl of African origin who lives with her family in the rural area of ​​Cauca, in Colombia. Despite her young age, Mariana already takes care of the rights of the weakest, especially in her village, where she is afraid that many children may be left behind precisely because of the digital divide. There are enormous differences between cities and countryside also in the interventions that are made to ensure online coverage. And of course the biggest investments are made in cities. “Yet even in the countryside there are girls and boys who have dreams and desire to grow, just like me, we just need a little push” said Mariana.

The protection of children. Protecting the little ones who use the Internet is instead a top priority for Nidhi, a 14-year-old student, podcaster of Indian origin who currently lives in Malaysia. Worldwide, one in three online users is a child, which makes data protection all the more important. More often than not, in fact, children don’t even know how to use virtual instruments safely or how to keep their personal information, and this makes them particularly vulnerable.

Digital education. Kidus, 17, a child rights advocate in Ethiopia, said that while digital technology offers numerous opportunities for children, it also poses serious threats to their well-being. Today, while surfing online, the little ones can encounter proposals of all kinds: sexual exploitation, prostitution, bullying, trafficking, labor exploitation, ethnic and racial violence and therefore discrimination, intimidation, incitement to hatred and cyber aggression. “A secure digital environment is a requirement for raising secure children,” Kidus explained during the meeting in Geneva. “In this way, we can ensure that the next generation is healthy, more productive and peaceful.”