UAE to chair VGT meeting in Bern

The UAE Ministry of Interior, the current Chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), will head the VGT Board of Management meeting, to be held during 28-30 November in Bern; Switzerland.

The meeting will discuss several topics related to child protection from abuse and online exploitation, combating violation of child rights, as well as developing mechanisms of joint work, and enhancing international cooperation to fight against the dangers facing the children as the meeting will also involve private sector members of the VGT and not only law enforcement.

"Holding this meeting reflects the awareness of the governments worldwide that the internet is becoming widely misused to exploit and abuse children which is a crime and a global problem that knows no borders. Resolving this problem requires coordinated and serious international actions", said Major General Dr. Nasser Lakhrerbani Al Nuaimi, Secretary General of the Office of HH Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, who is also Chairman of the Higher Committee for Child Protection at the Ministry of Interior He indicated that the meeting is an opportunity for the governments, law enforcement agencies, concerned institutions and civil society organizations to meet and agree on tangible actions and establish international trans-border cooperation networks acting as a strong alliance to deter offenders.

Our aim is to face crime on the international level and to set up coordinated actions to eliminate child abuse material from the Internet worldwide, he added.

He affirmed that the UAE is at forefront of efforts to fight against online crimes, both regionally and internationally, especially in protecting children from abuse. The UAE federal law on children's rights, known as "Wadeema Law", enacted earlier this year, requires telecommunication companies and Web providers to report any child pornography contents to the concerned authorities.

Lakhrerbani said that both the Management and Advisory Board will discuss a number of issues on the agenda including voting for the joining of the a new private sector member, the growing concern of live distant child abuse, current operations and the proposal of undercover operations, enhancing the current website, and addressing capacity building in the Philippines.

In addition, members of the private sector will join the meeting and discuss a number of topics, namely the joined efforts to combating remote child abuse online and their contribution to tackling this crime, based on their area of expertise.

It is worth noting that the VGT was established in 2003 to combat online child abuse and has now grown to have 13 country members and 19 private sector members. It aims to disassemble child sexual exploitation networks on the Internet, coordinate undercover investigations about cybercrimes, exchange and develop intelligence information and identify victims.