Staff Reporter
THE Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) has signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lifeline/Childline Namibia to enhance awareness of the National Reporting Portal for reporting online images and videos of child sexual abuse.
“This partnership aims to enhance public cybersecurity education through initiatives spearheaded by LifeLine/Childline Namibia. The focus will be on equipping children with the necessary knowledge to navigate the digital world safely to avert incidents of cybercrimes in Namibia,” Shoki Kandjimi, the Senior Public Relations Officer of MICT explained.
“This MoU is anchored on two of the pillars of the National Cybersecurity Strategy & Awareness Raising Plan 2022 – 2027, which was adopted by Cabinet for implementation. The pillar on Building National, Regional and International Collaboration calls for government and stakeholders to advance cybersecurity in Namibia. Meanwhile, the Creating Cybersecurity Awareness programme pillar aims to educate citizens on the dangers of cybercrime and the importance of cybersecurity,” Dr. Audrin Mathe, the Executive Director of MICT, said.
Mathe explained that the primary target audience of the Cybersecurity Strategy includes children of various ages, out-of-school adults, youth, and the parents, guardians, and teachers of these children. He added that the MoU highlights the significance of collaboration between government and non-governmental organisations in achieving national goals.
“With this MoU, we intend to intensify awareness of the National Reporting Portal for reporting online images and videos of child sexual abuse, which was launched by the Namibian government in partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation, UNICEF, and Lifeline/Childline Namibia. This portal allows anyone to anonymously report digitally abusive materials affecting children with the aim of combating cybercrimes against them. Once reviewed and found offensive, the material is removed from online platforms. We have noted that since the launch, the portal has not been used as planned,” Mathe explained.
He also highlighted that Lifeline/Childline Namibia is the second institution, after Salt Essential IT, to sign an MoU with the government on this matter.
Online images and videos of child sexual abuse can be reported at https://report.iwf.org.uk/en/report. For assistance, contact Lifeline/Childline at +26461226889 or visit their website at https://www.lifelinechildline.org.na/index.
