A/HRC/31/34 VI. Examples of good practice 68. The ITU “Connect a School, Connect a Community” initiative is a public-private partnership designed to promote broadband Internet connectivity for schools in developing countries. It is based on the concept that connected schools should cater not only for the children who attend them, but also for the broader communities in which the children live. In this way, schools can serve as community ICT centres for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, including women and girls, indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities. Children and adolescents attending connected schools will have improved access to the latest ICT, while community members will receive ICT-based training on basic life skills together with training to develop business and ICT-specialized skills.29 69. In Costa Rica, a range of legal and policy steps have been taken to enhance children’s online protection. In December 2010, a national commission on online safety was established with a multidisciplinary, inter-sectoral structure, comprising representatives of both public and private institutions. Its role is to devise policies on the safe use of the Internet and ICT, as well as to develop a national plan of online safety. Its activities include raising awareness of the appropriate use of the Internet and digital technologies; proposing initiatives to prevent access by children to inappropriate content; promoting safe access to the Internet; developing strategies to avoid the inappropriate use of the Internet; and proposing legislation to strengthen the rights of individuals, communities and institutions with regard to Internet access.30 70. Safer Internet Day is an annual event when countries around the world raise awareness about online safety. Schools are normally involved in the awareness-raising activity to ensure that the message reaches different stakeholders, including children, parents and teachers (A/HRC/28/56, para. 61). 71. INHOPE is a network of 51 hotlines in 45 countries that receives reports of child pornography hosted on the Internet, refers them to the relevant authorities. In 2013, INHOPE received more than 1.2 million reports of illegal content and identified nearly 40,000 unique images hosted on the Internet (A/HRC/28/56, para. 51). 72. The Virtual Global Taskforce is a key example of international cooperation. It consists of 12 law enforcement partners and a number of private sector partners, including Blackberry, Microsoft and PayPal, and a variety of child protection agencies. The Taskforce helps to share intelligence and coordinate law enforcement, which has resulted in successful investigations (A/HRC/28/56, para. 71). 73. The Philippines Anti-Child Pornography Act comprehensively prohibits the creation, distribution and viewing of child pornography. The law requires private sector actors, such as Internet service providers, private business establishments and Internet content hosts, to assist in the fight against child pornography and to notify authorities in the event that they discover that their servers or facilities have or are being used to commit child pornography offences. Service providers are also required to install programmes or software designed to filter and block child pornography. Importantly, the Act requires appropriate forms of protection for child victims of pornography offences, which includes strict confidentiality in the handling of evidence, protecting witnesses and assisting in recovery and reintegration (see A/HRC/28/55). 29 30 Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children, Releasing Children’s Potential and Minimizing Risks (see footnote 1), p. 49. Ibid., p. 57. 15

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