What is the status of digital children’s rights?
In this Digital Child Rights Monitor we give insight how the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) addressed digital child rights in its 2021 Concluding Observations on Eswatini. The priority scale reflects how strongly the CRC highlights an issue in its recommendations — the higher the score, the bigger or more pressing the problem. This scale helps visualize which digital child rights issues the CRC considers most urgent and where Eswatini faces its greatest challenges. If a country gets a low urgency score it does not necessarily mean the country is doing good, it just means the CRC made little to no mention to it.
Summary
High priority
Digital Access & Participation (17) emerges as the most pressing priority, driven by high scores for the digital divide, e-learning, and IT infrastructure, alongside attention to children with disabilities. This highlights significant challenges in ensuring equitable access and inclusive participation in digital environments.
Medium priority
Infrastructure & Capacity (7) receives moderate attention, focused entirely on digitalized systems, indicating ongoing efforts to develop core digital infrastructure. However, the absence of cybercrime laws and professional training suggests gaps in regulatory and capacity-building aspects.
Low priority
Online Safety & Protection (2) receives limited attention, focused only on awareness campaigns on safe internet use. Privacy & Data Protection (0), Violence & Exploitation Online (0), and Digital Health & Well-being (0) are not addressed, indicating significant gaps in protection, data rights, and wellbeing.
Overview themes
- Digital Access & Participation
- Digital Health & Well-Being
- Infrastructure & Capacity
- Online Safety & Protection
- Privacy & Data Protection
- Violence & Exploitation Online
Digital Access & Participation dominates the landscape, reflecting major challenges in access, infrastructure, and inclusion. Infrastructure & Capacity receives moderate attention, with a narrow focus on system development. Online Safety & Protection is present but limited to awareness efforts. In contrast, Privacy & Data Protection, Violence & Exploitation Online, and Digital Health & Well-being are entirely absent, highlighting substantial gaps in addressing children’s digital rights.
Digital access and participation
- Access for children with disabilities
- Civic participation via digital means
- Digital Divide
- E-learning
- IT Infrastructure
Digital Access & Participation is the most prominent theme (17), with strong emphasis on the digital divide, e-learning, and IT infrastructure, alongside attention to children with disabilities. This indicates significant barriers to access and inclusion. The distribution suggests that multiple aspects of access are recognised as key challenges.
Infrastructure and capacity
- Cybercrime and cybersecurity laws
- Digitalized systems
- Training of professionals on online offences
Infrastructure & Capacity receives moderate attention (7), focused solely on digitalized systems. This highlights the importance of developing digital infrastructure. However, the absence of cybercrime laws and professional training indicates limited attention to broader system strengthening.
Digital health and wellbeing
Digital Health & Well-being is not addressed (0), with no references to mental health, screen time, or support services. This indicates that children’s digital wellbeing is not currently considered. It highlights an important gap in awareness and policy focus.
Online safety and protection
Online Safety & Protection shows limited priority (2), with attention only to awareness campaigns on safe internet use. This suggests a basic level of preventive action. However, the absence of safeguarding policies and reporting mechanisms indicates incomplete protection frameworks.
Privacy and data protection
Privacy & Data Protection is not addressed (0), with no references to privacy rights, data protection, or surveillance. This indicates limited visibility into how children’s data is handled. It highlights a significant gap in policy attention.
Violence and exploitation
Violence & Exploitation Online is not addressed (0), with no mention of risks such as harassment, exploitation, or trafficking. This suggests that online harms are not captured in the available data. The absence likely reflects gaps in assessment.
Concluding Observations CRC
- “Inequalities in accessing education during the COVID-19 crisis due to the lack of access to online classes;”
- “Address inequalities generated by the COVID-19 crisis during online schooling, including by ensuring the availability of phone and computer equipment and sufficient Internet access, paying particular attention to rural areas and children with disabilities;”
- “It is however concerned that data are not systematically collected on all areas of the Convention, that data are not routinely shared between ministries and that data are not sufficiently disaggregated to allow for adequate analysis and policy measures.”
- “Expeditiously improve its data-collection system, ensuring that the data cover all areas of the Convention and are disaggregated, in order to facilitate analysis of the situation of all children, particularly those in situations of vulnerability;”
- “Establish a national database on all cases of violence against children, and undertake a comprehensive assessment of the extent, causes and nature of such violence.”
- “recommends… Further strengthen awareness-raising campaigns and education programmes, with the involvement of children, to formulate a comprehensive strategy for preventing and combating violence, sexual exploitation and abuse, including in
online settings, against children, paying particular attention to children in street situations and migrant and refugee children”
Eswatini
2021
Digital Child Rights Network
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