The Birth of an NGO
Every NGO is formed to address a social issue.eSafe (Emirates Safer Internet) Society has been formed to protect children online and to empower them to make informed decisions about their use of computers, online chat rooms and social media.
This initiative began when we learned about online child abuse and the absence of protective measures in the region. The team communicated with international agencies such as UNICEF, ITU and INTERPOL to find the best practices in this regard. The result was an invitation to Europe and USA for an Expert Exchange Program. During this trip, the team visited more than seven countries and 25 organizations working in the field of child online protection. Right after the trip, the process of establishing an NGO was initiated. A group of 35 highly inspired UAE nationals joined as founding members and put forward the registration request to the Ministry of Community development. In October-2015 the team received the approval to form this NGO.
The Problem to Address
The first thing eSafe has done is to conduct a situation analysis and mapping exercise to understand the on-the-ground reality of child abuse issues online. A world-class strategic consulting firm (The Palladium Consulting) voluntarily come forward to support eSafe for this exercise. During the program, the team have identified the following strategic threats online for children - Child Sex Predators, Cyber Bullying/ Blackmailing, Access to Inappropriate Content, Child Sexual Abuse Material, Terrorism, Cyber Scams/Phishing, Child Self-Generated Sexual Content, and Electronic Addictions.
International Best Practices
eSafe has been blessed with the complete ‘ know - how’ on this issue offered by the International organizations and developed nations with whom we have been consulting. Many best practices have already been suggested to the UAE government and to the educational institutions in terms of strategy, contents and modus operandi.
All about Education
We strongly recommend awareness and education of Teachers, Parents and Children as essentials to tackle the issues related to children online. The key solution to all of these issues is building resilience through education, as blocks and restrictions are not the way forward. Various impact-based and measurable education programs are planned to deliver the message to a mass audience of students from a wide age range, parents, teachers and authorities.
Our Vision
Our vision set in the Strategy Map is “To be a sustainable and globally recognized hub for child online protection by 2021”. “Sustainability” is very challenging.We can’t only depend on private or government funding.
Therefore, eSafe is establishing its own sustainability plan by providing professional services to schools, corporations and governments on a revenue model. The revenue will be used to fund the cause and the organization.The success of this model will become an international benchmark for sustainable “Social Entrepreneurship”.
A Mass membership campaign, School & Corporate memberships, Training & Consulting services are the few revenue streams which eSafe is currently working on.
Strategic Partnership
eSafe’s philosophy is to establish partnerships with companies on a common ground. The society collaborated with Tachyon IT Consultancy company to establish networking within schools in the UAE. Tachyon is a service provider to 120 schools in UAE. The eSafety Newsletter and eSafety School membership is a result of this partnership.
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