Two-thirds of the world’s three billion internet users live in developing countries. Against this background, Safer Internet Day (SID) has become - with support of the European Commission - a landmark online safety campaign, celebrated in more than 100 countries each year. Yet still, regardless of some remarkable success stories in Latin America, Africa and Asia, online safety education remains underexplored ground in the global South.

Within this context, we will explore how the 2016 SID campaign can help to create a safer and better internet for children and young people in countries which may need it most, by developing meaningful multistakeholder participation on a global scale, focusing on children’s rights in a digital world, keeping in mind the specific (and often diverging) nature of internet access and online experiences across socio-economic and regional divides.

More specifically, in this break-out session we will:
a) Give an overview/ of the global reach in the SID 2015 campaign, with best-practice examples from Latin America, Africa and Asia, elaborating on the exchange of knowledge and resources with online safety campaigns and activities in the North.
b) Break out in groups per region, aiming for clusters of action across South-America, Asia and Africa. An analysis of countries already involved in previous SID campaigning will help to establish or strengthen regional partnerships prior to the IGF, while looking at further scaling possibilities through Internet Society Chapters. Each regional group will work towards a concrete action plan, drawing upon the SID 2016 theme, while identifying key multipliers and opportunities for cross-regional collaboration.