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The Cyber Peace Initiative’s Internet Safety Activities

The Cyber Peace Initiative was launched by The Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement on September 1st 2007 in Sharm El-Sheikh at the International Youth Forum. As an international endeavor, the Initiative was adopted in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and partnership of the International Telecommunication Union, the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development, Microsoft, Cisco and Intel.        

The objective and mission of the Initiative is to Empower youth of any nation, through ICT, to become catalysts of change: to create safe and better futures for themselves and others, to address the root causes of conflict, to disseminate the culture of peace, and to create international dialogues for a harmonious world. 

To achieve its objective, the Cyber Peace Initiative works on enhancing youth empowerment and innovation in a safe knowledge society, on the basis of three pillars:

-          Youth capacity building

-          Youth innovation

-          Internet safety

We are proud that The Internet Safety Pillar of the Cyber Peace Initiative is unique in its work methodology, as it rests on the efforts of voluntary groups formed and guided by the project; and follows an active Peer to Peer approach: The Youth Internet Safety Focus Group (Net-Aman), The Parents Internet Safety Focus Group, and the Educators Internet Safety Focus Groups, are our main groups.

The youth group consists of members aged 18 – 28 representing a gender balance, different educational backgrounds, as well as diverse experiences. Net-Aman is working towards serving the local and regional communities, raising awareness through research, networking, and peer to peer teaching. The parents group is formed of 20 parents and guardians who are committed to bridging the generational gap in ICT. The educators' group has been recently added to become the nucleus of online safety issues within the educational institutions in Egypt.  

Whilst it is important that young people are instructed and trained in using the internet safely and responsibly, guardians are also supported to understand the issues and the role they can take in keeping their children safe online. On the other hand, educators are the key to getting the right message of online safety to the largest numbers of students. To ensure the right synergies, we have established the national e-safety working group. This group is composed of all stakeholders who are directly involved in setting the policies, legislations and practical steps towards a safer use of the internet, including: The Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement, The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, The Ministry of Interior, The Ministry of Education, The Ministry of Higher Education, The Ministry of Justice, The National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, The Ministry of State for Family and Population, and ISPs.   

http://smwipm.cyberpeaceinitiative.org

http://www.womenforpeaceinternational.org