New Collaboration Aimed at Ensuring Children's Online Safety: Memorandum of Understanding Signed

On December 15, the Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, and the Izmirlyan Charity Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at ensuring the online safety of Armenian children and increasing digital literacy.

The Memorandum was ratified by the Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, Zhanna Andreasyan, and the Country Director of the Izmirlyan Charity Foundation, Armen Chobanyan.

Congratulating the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, Minister Mkhitar Hayrapetyan noted that this format of trilateral cooperation is a logical continuation of the coordinated work carried out over several months. The Minister highlighted the significance of the Memorandum from the perspective of ensuring children’s online safety, emphasizing that rapid technological developments, in addition to new opportunities, also bring serious risks.

“The primary obligation of the state is not only to respond to technological developments, but also to anticipate the cyber threats arising from them. In this context, the Government’s priority is to create a safe digital environment, where all segments of society—children, youth, and adults alike—are protected. This is one of the challenges that can be overcome only through joint efforts, uniting the potential of state, educational, and partner institutions,” the Minister noted.

Within this context, Minister Hayrapetyan also emphasized the importance of adequate education in cyber literacy, media literacy, and cyber hygiene.

The importance of the Memorandum was also emphasized by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia, Zhanna Andreasyan, who noted that cybersecurity is one of the most serious challenges of the modern world and that only joint cooperation can ensure a safer environment. According to Minister Andreasyan, alongside assessing the risks associated with technologies, it is necessary to competently and purposefully integrate them into the educational system, as technological education and literacy are essential for a modern individual. She stressed that instead of adopting a dismissive attitude, society should make conscious decisions and transform technologies into an effective source of knowledge.

The importance of the joint Memorandum was also highlighted by UNICEF Representative in Armenia, Ms. Christine Weigand, who noted that digital technologies are an integral part of the daily lives of children and adolescents, simultaneously creating both new opportunities and new risks. According to her, ensuring children’s online safety requires multi-sectoral and coordinated cooperation aimed at creating a safe and protected digital environment.

Within the framework of the Memorandum, a financing agreement aimed at ensuring children’s online safety and increasing digital literacy was also signed between the UNICEF Armenia Office and the Izmirlyan Charity Foundation.

It is noteworthy that an interdepartmental working group was established by Order No. 865-A of the Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia, dated April 25, 2025, to coordinate efforts aimed at ensuring the online safety and protection of minors. The Chair of the working group is the Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia. The group includes deputy ministers of the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the RA Ministry of Health, the RA Ministry of Justice, the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as representatives of the Human Rights Defender’s Office.