United Nations Children's Fund - GALMUN 2023 Educational equality: guaranteeing internet access for all children

GALMUN 2023

United Nations Children's Fund
 Educational equality: guaranteeing internet access for all children
                            worldwide

                 Research Report

GALMUN 2023 – UNICEF Research Report

Definitions
Right of access to the Internet: is the right that everyone has access to the Internet to
exercise the right to freedom of expression and opinion codified in Article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Right to education: is a fundamental human right. Regardless of race, gender,
nationality, religion, ethnicity, age, social origin, or disability, everyone has the right
to a free basic education.
Digital divide: refers to the gap between those who have access due to their
geographic location and financial means and those who do not.

Background
Access to the internet is essential to improve the quality of education in many ways. It
can offer a wealth of knowledge, information, and educational resources, boosting
learning opportunities inside and outside of the classroom. It may also have an impact
on a variety of abilities, including academic performance and cognitive abilities.
In order to unlock access to the internet in support of education, there are five
priorities for policymakers that should be taken into consideration, starting with
infrastructure and access, vision and policy, inclusion, capacity, and, last but not least,
content and devices. The lack of these five priorities in such countries may be the
cause of their lack of internet access.
Internet access is mostly available universally for children in developed countries.
According to OECD member countries (The Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development) report in 2017, over 95% of 15-year-old students in OECD
countries have internet connectivity at home. Children in developing nations,
meanwhile, continue to have less access to the internet.
Access to the internet continues to lag for children especially during the COVID-19
pandemic, which made this situation even harder. It caused the largest mass disruption
of education and worsened the global learning crisis. In April 2020, the result of
school closures in more than 190 countries due to COVID, led to a need for remote
and online learning. Unfortunately, many students lack access to the necessary
technology and infrastructure, like a reliable internet connection, to participate in
online classes or access extra educational materials. Without access to the internet, up
to 1.6 billion students are at a major disadvantage, putting their academic futures at
risk.

GALMUN 2023 – UNICEF Research Report

Treaties and organization
UNICEF – United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
UNICEF is the leading UN committee that deals with issues relating to the rights and
conditions of children across the globe. In 2019, UNICEF with the collaboration with
ITU (International Telecommunication Union), launched a global initiative called
Giga that works with partners in the public, private, and civil sectors to develop
convincing investment cases for funding from both sources in order to develop the
connection infrastructure required to roll out digital learning solutions and other
services.

UNCRC – United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:
Article 28 acknowledges the right of the child to education.

SHLB – School, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition:
The SHLB Coalition is an organization that is committed to bridging the digital divide
by funding future-proof, high-capacity technologies that benefit anchor
institutions and the communities they serve.

CFK – Computers for Kids:
CFK is a nonprofit organization that donates home computers that have been
reconditioned and licensed as Microsoft Refurbished in order to equalize the
educational opportunities that children have.

Timeline
Timeline of Steps Taken to Improve Broadband and Internet Access for
Children
2009: The United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) launched
the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, with the goal of connecting 500
million more people to the internet by 2015.
2012: The European Commission launched the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), a
fund of €9.2 billion aimed at increasing access to high-speed internet for Europe's
citizens.
2013: The World Bank launched the Connect4Change program, which is focused on
increasing access to broadband and internet for families living in rural areas in
developing countries.
2014: The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the
E-rate program, which provides discounts and support to schools, libraries, and other
educational institutions towards the purchase of broadband service.
2016: The World Wide Web Foundation launched the Web We Want campaign,
which focused on giving everyone, including children, equal access to the internet.

GALMUN 2023 – UNICEF Research Report

2017: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) launched the Global Initiative on Education and Technology, aimed at
providing access to the internet for over 200 million children and youth without
access.
2018: The European Union adopted the Regulation on the Promotion of the
European's Digital Single Market, which ensures that children and young people are
able to access high-speed internet.
2019: The G20 Digital Economy Task Force launched the Digital Compact for
Sustainable Development, which focuses on providing better broadband and internet
access for children worldwide.
2020: The United Nations launched the Children’s Digital Rights Initiative, which is
focused on protecting and promoting the rights of children to access the internet in a
safe and secure manner.
2021: The World Health Organization (WHO) launched its Connecting the World
Initiative, which focuses on bringing internet access to those living in rural and
remote areas, including children.
2022: The United Nations launched the World Summit on the Information Society
+10 Review, which focuses on the progress made in providing internet access and
human rights to over 1 billion people worldwide.

Current Situation
Despite taking actions and establishing organizations and coalitions, there are still
children out there that do not have access to the internet, which limits their ability to
exercise their right to education. For instance, according to a report from UNICEF
and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that was published on the 30th
of November 2020, two thirds of the world’s school-age children or 1.3 billion
children aged 3 to 17 years do not have access to the internet in their homes. In
addition, according to another report that was released in December 2020, school
closures caused the largest mass disruption of education in modern history, affecting
up to 1.6 billion children as a result of nationwide lockdowns due to the COVID-19
epidemic. “Lack of internet access is costing the next generation their futures” said
Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. And as the world becomes more and
more digitally focused, it is becoming increasingly clear that education in the future
will require access to the internet. Zoom meetings, interactive online challenges, and
other methods of remote learning are just a few of the ways in which the internet is
transforming education. In order for all children to benefit from the possibilities of the
digital age, they must have access to reliable and affordable internet connections.
Without this, they will be at a disadvantage and unable to keep up with their peers. It
is therefore essential that organizations, governments, and educational institutions
work together to ensure that everyone, regardless of income or location, has access to
the internet. With this access, children can explore a world of possibilities in their
education.

GALMUN 2023 – UNICEF Research Report

Questions to Consider
       What measures should be taken in order to build a network infrastructure in
       your country?
       Does your country have a locally based, government-funded organization that
       accepts computer donations?
       Is school education in your country digitalized? Is distance learning common
       in your country?
       Should access to the internet be considered as a basic human right?
       Does your country provide financial aid for students attending schools and
       universities?
       What steps should be taken in order to solve this problem worldwide?
       Did your country offer assistance with education during the COVID-19
       pandemic?

Helpful Resources and Media
Countries at risk of getting disconnected from the Internet.

Government-led distance learning offerings (July 2020)

GALMUN 2023 – UNICEF Research Report

    Organizations help kids bridge digital schooling divide by providing internet,
    learning tools - ABC News (go.com)

Bibliography
    “The right to education”, https://www.norad.no/en/front/thematic-
    areas/education/right-to-education/, 2016.
    Miller, Logan. “The Human Right to Internet Access”, https://rb.gy/afuhad .
    “Internet Access and Education: Key consideration for policy makers”,
    https://www.internetsociety.org/resources/doc/2017/internet-access-and-
    education/ , 2017, 20 November.
    “Do children benefit from internet access? Experimental evidence from Peru”,
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304387818301251,
    2018, 13 December.
    “how many children and young people have internet access at home?”,
    https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-
    D/Statistics/Documents/publications/UNICEF/How-many-children-and-
    young-people-have-internet-access-at-home-2020_v2final.pdf .
    “Two thirds of the world’s school-age children have no internet access at
    home, new UNICEF-ITU report says”, https://www.unicef.org/press-
    releases/two-thirds-worlds-school-age-children-have-no-internet-access-
    home-new-unicef-itu, 2020, 30 November.
    “How many children and young people have internet access at home?”,
    https://data.unicef.org/resources/children-and-young-people-internet-
    access-at-home-during-covid19/, 2020, December.
    “Convention on the Rights of the Child”,
    https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-
    mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child .
    “CFK – Computers for Kids”, https://www.cfkid.org/about-us .
    “SHLB – School, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition”, SHLB-
    Recommendations-for-Broadband-Infrastructure-Legislation.pdf .
    “Technology, broadband and education advancing the education for all
    agenda”, https://rb.gy/6kj2jr, 2013, January.
    “National Broadband Plan”, https://www.fcc.gov/general/national-
    broadband-plan.
    “Digital Agenda for Europe”,
    https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/64/digital-agenda-for-
    europe.
    “UN: Human Rights Council adopts resolution on human rights on the
    Internet”, https://www.article19.org/resources/un-human-rights-council-
    adopts-resolution-on-human-rights-on-the-internet/, 2021, 15 July.