World’s youth pave the way to safer internet at groundbreaking London congress In July, a unique event took place in a beautiful setting in Surrey: 148 young people from across the globe gathered for the first International Youth Advisory Congress on safety and security on the internet (IYAC).

Some of the delegates – all aged between 14 and 17 – had travelled thousands of miles to be there; others lived only minutes away from the venue. Most enjoy free and unrestricted access to the internet in their homes; others have to walk long distances to school across African terrain before even attempting to make a dial-up connection from the computer they share with hundreds of other pupils. All had one thing in common: they had been specially selected to participate in an event which will make online environments safer for children and young people everywhere.

Organised by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre and supported internationally by the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), the aim of the IYAC initiative is to build a strategy for industry, government, law enforcement and education when dealing with future online issues. The most immediate outcome of the first Congress will be the Children and Young People’s Global Online Charter, a document which will be submitted to the UN for inclusion in the 2009 Resolution of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

With delegates from countries including the USA, Namibia, Australia, Egypt, Argentina, India, Poland, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Ireland and Spain, a total of 19 nations were represented at the event. The young delegates met with representatives from across government, the police, child protection communities and the online and mobile industries.

The Congress took place in the surroundings of the ACS International School in Cobham which generously hosted the event and opened its outstanding facilities to the delegates. Other organisations and major corporations provided support, resources and specialist expertise; these included Visa Europe, Microsoft, Virgin Media, ACS International Schools, Becta, the European Commission and Paypal.

Download CEOP's special bulletin on IYAC