A/HRC/28/55 (b) Second, building upon the significant efforts promoted within and beyond the United Nations system, it is critical to invest in sound data on violence against children, and agree on a set of indicators and monitoring tools to track progress in that area and to promote global accountability mechanisms at the local, national and international levels. (c) Third, to continue to include in the process those who are most affected: children and young people. They need to be given genuine opportunities and platforms to help shape the road ahead as true partners and agents of change. IV. Information and communication technologies and violence against children 44. In 1989, when the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted, the Internet was still in its infancy. It was during that same year that the World Wide Web was developed. 45. Twenty-five years on, the rights of the child remain at the heart of our concerns. At the same time, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have evolved rapidly, bridging physical distances, opening up new ways of communicating, learning, delivering services and doing business. 46. Children have not been exempt from those developments: mobile phones, computers and access to the Internet are very present in children’s daily lives. ICTs offer children new and exciting means of enhancing knowledge and skills and experiencing creative research and cultural activities, as well as engaging in play, socialization and entertainment. 47. However, there are also risks associated with ICTs. Children can be exposed to harmful information or abusive material, groomed by potential predators, and subject to exploitation and abuse, including through the production and distribution of child abuse images or live web streaming. In some cases, including cyber-bullying, children’s own conduct online may harm others and represent a risk to themselves. 48. Concern about the role of ICTs in generating violence against children has been growing in recent years. In 2006, the United Nations Study on Violence Against Children acknowledged that “the Internet and other developments of communication technologies … appear to be associated with an increased risk of sexual exploitation of children, as well as other forms of violence” (A/61/299, para. 77). The third World Congress against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, held in 2008 in Brazil, reaffirmed that concern. 49. The topic was also highlighted in countries’ responses to the global survey on violence against children, published in 2013 by the Special Representative.13 Governments stressed the importance of adapting laws, policies and practices to the evolving challenges generated by fast-developing technology, and expressed the need for research, data and international cooperation forums in which common concerns could be addressed, experiences shared and solutions found. 50. In response to those concerns, in October 2014 the Special Representative published a thematic report on the topic,14 which was informed by an expert consultation and available research, and built upon consultations held with children and adolescents. It calls for an inclusive, safe and empowering digital agenda that strikes the right balance between 13 14 See http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/sites/default/files/blocks/Violence%20booklet%203update4.pdf. “ Releasing children’s potential and minimizing risks: ICTs, the Internet and Violence against Children”. Available from http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/page/1154. 9