The scale and severity of online child sexual exploitation demands urgent action by all those with a responsibility to protect children online. WePROTECT was established to deliver concrete action: its vision is of children protected and safeguarded, the perpetrators of this crime apprehended and an internet free of child sexual exploitation. 

In December, the Prime Minister of the UK, the Rt Hon David Cameron MP, hosted the WePROTECT Children Online Global Summit in London. The Summit secured globally significant commitments from 50 governments and international organisations, 20 leading technology companies and 10 civil society organisations. More information can be found here (https://www.gov.uk).

The United Arab Emirates, in partnership with the UK, will now host a further WePROTECT Summit in November 2015. This will be a unique event, at which leading ministers, executives of major technology companies and senior figures in the field of child protection will come together with the aim of transforming how this crime is dealt with internationally. 

What the Summit will achieve

The Abu Dhabi WePROTECT Summit will:

• empower countries and technology companies to tackle online child sexual exploitation, by establishing a common national approach and sharing best practice and innovative tools and techniques;
• agree how Governments and all partners can transform the commitments made in London into a sustained global initiative, with support from a new International Advisory Board, plus a UNICEF Fund dedicated to Preventing Violence Against Children; and
• strengthen the international network dedicated to protecting children from online child sexual exploitation, by offering more Governments, companies and organisations the opportunity to commit to WePROTECT.

What commitments countries will be asked to make

The UAE and UK have published a proposed Statement of Action for Governments alongside the invitation to the Summit. These proposals, which we hope all Governments attending the Summit will sign up to, are based upon recommendations by the WePROTECT International Advisory Board, which is formed of experts from government, law enforcement agencies and international organisations, and civil society.

The proposed Statement of Action for Governments sets out commitments that will enable countries to take a comprehensive national action to tackle online child sexual exploitation. This includes the adoption of a WePROTECT Model National Response, which sets out what capabilities countries can put in place to address this crime. It also includes a pledge by countries to publish an analysis of their own implementation of the WePROTECT commitments. 

The UAE and UK also want all participants in WePROTECT to put this initiative on a sustained footing, by agreeing to establish an Advisory Board and secretariat, which will help to support the commitments made in London and Abu Dhabi. We also want ministers to meet biennially, to review our progress and agree a programme of work for the next two years.

The UAE and UK hope that companies and civil society organisations attending the Summit will also agree ambitious commitments in their own Statements of Action, and will consult participants on this in the coming months. 

We will update this page regularly as the Summit approaches. For any questions you may contact weprotect@moi.gov.ae