New task force to champion children's safety and rights in Africa's rapidly growing digital space
October 22, 2025, Kigali: UNICEF and GSMA have launched the African Task Force on Child Online Protection (COP), the first of its kind, to strengthen the safety, rights and well-being of children in the digital world.
Launched at MWC25 Kigali, the Task Force will serve as a multi-stakeholder platform to lead, coordinate and promote child online protection efforts across Africa, while helping to build national and regional capacity to keep children safe online.
The launch follows the GSMA June 2025 whitepaper, Improving child online protection in sub-Saharan Africadeveloped in collaboration with UNICEF and regional partners. The whitepaper called for strengthened action by governments, industry, civil society and young people to build safer digital environments for children, and directly recommended the establishment of this Working Group as a mechanism to drive implementation.
As more children in Africa connect to the Internet – at one of the fastest rates in the world – they face increasing risks ranging from cyberbullying and exploitation to misinformation and exposure to harmful content. Africa's mobile-first landscape, rapid technological change and growing youth population present both opportunities and risks. With the continent's unique digital landscape, the rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence and a growing young population, the need for a local, African-led approach to child online protection has never been more urgent.
“As Africa's children boldly enter the digital world, their safety must come first. The Africa Task Force on Child Online Protection is a uniquely African platform to ensure that technology protects children from harm while opening doors to learning, play and growth.” saying Etleva Kadilli, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa. “By bringing together governments, partners and young people, we can make security the foundation of Africa's digital future.”
The working group will bring together partners from across the mobile industry, the technology sector, regulatory bodies, law enforcement and civil society to strengthen cooperation and drive the implementation of existing regional frameworks and policies.
Caroline Mbugua, Director of Public Policy at GSMA Africa, aggregate: “The Task Force marks an important step from strategy to action, turning the white paper's recommendations into tangible regional progress. Working together with UNICEF, governments, industry and youth representatives, we aim to embed safety in Africa's digital transformation journey and ensure that children's voices shape the policies that define their future. Together, we will strengthen digital governance, promote safety by design and we will ensure that the voices of children and young people shape the policies that define Africa's digital future. future. By working in partnership, we can position Africa as a global leader in child-centred digital governance.”
To date, the Africa Task Force on Child Online Protection brings together a diverse coalition of partners, including Axian Telecom, Child Helpline International, INTERPOL, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), Internet Watch Foundation, MTN Group, MtotoNews, Orange, Paramount Africa, Safaricom, Youth Representatives of Nigeria and Rwanda, and Vodacom.
Young people who contributed to the white paper consultations – including youth advocates like 19-year-old Jemima Kasongo – will continue to play an active role through the Working Group, ensuring that the perspectives of Africa's next generation remain central to this work.
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About UNICEF
UNICEF works in some of the world's toughest places to reach the world's most disadvantaged children. In more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for all.
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About the GSMA
The GSMA is a global organization that unifies the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver critical innovation for positive business environments and social change. Our vision is to unlock the full power of connectivity so that people, industry and society thrive. Representing mobile operators and organizations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, the GSMA offers its members three broad pillars: connectivity for good, industry services and solutions, and outreach. This activity includes advancing policy, addressing today's biggest societal challenges, supporting the technology and interoperability that make mobile devices work, and providing the world's largest platform to convene the mobile ecosystem at the MWC and M360 series of events.
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For more information, contact:
Nidhi Joshi | UNICEF Rwanda | [email protected] | +234 803 535 1953
GSMA Press Office | [email protected]
Dheepa Pandian | UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa | [email protected] | +254 757 514 548
