“Dame Patience Jonathan has demonstrated deep interest in activities of children and young people,” said ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré speaking at a ceremony earlier today.

“Under her guidance, the Government of Nigeria is now taking extensive steps to ensure a safer online environment for children. ITU is looking forward to collaborating even more closely with Nigeria to build a better future for our children.”

Among her responsibilities, the First Lady will work toward creating a safe environment for children while they are on the internet, as well as push for reforms not only in the Africa region but across the globe.

Noting that children and youth are among the top users of the Internet, Ms. Jonathan, who is also President of the African First Ladies Peace Mission, pledged to “join hands with ITU to secure the children of the world from the dangers of cybercrime.”

Launched in 2008, the Child Online Protection (COP) initiative aims to identify risks and vulnerabilities to children in cyberspace, create awareness, develop practical tools to help minimize risk, and share knowledge and experience.

ITU launched the COP initiative in 2008 as part of the overall thrust to strengthen cybersecurity. According to the UN agency, its COP brings together partners from various sectors to ensure a safe and secure online experience for children around the world.

Earlier today, ITU signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Communication Commission to set up a Regional Cybersecurity Centre in the African country.

This Regional Centre will facilitate collaboration on combating cyber threats at the regional and national levels – with an emphasis on activities related to protecting children online.

At the conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), delegates will examine some 70 proposals to amend the current wildlife trade system, which has been in place for 40 years.

“CITES is known for taking meaningful decisions that have an impact ‘on-the-ground,’” said the Secretary-General of the Convention, John E.Scanlon, adding that 2013 “will be of great significance to the future of many species of plants and animals.”

With 176 Member States, CITES is one of the world’s most powerful tools for biodiversity conservation, regulating international trade in close to 35,000 species of plants and animals, including their products and derivatives, ensuring their survival in the wild with benefits for the livelihoods of local people and the global environment.

Throughout the conference, which ends on 14 March, governments will consider 70 proposals submitted by 55 countries from across the world seek to improve the conservation and sustainable use of marine species – including several shark species – the vicuña population of Ecuador, polar bears, African elephants, white rhinos, freshwater turtles, frogs, crocodiles, ornamental and medicinal plants and many other species.

Delegates will also discuss how CITES can further enhance efforts to combat the illegal trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn; the potential impacts of the Convention’s measures on the livelihoods of the rural poor, who are often on the frontlines of using and managing wildlife; and whether the Convention should request the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to serve as its financial mechanism for CITES, among other measures.

“As over-exploitation of the world’s critical natural resource base puts countries on an unsustainable path, ever more pressure is being exerted on species,” said the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Achim Steiner.

“Yet CITES, alongside many other international agreements, provides a wealth of examples where countries are seizing opportunities to pursue much more resource-efficient development pathways,” he added.

Signed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Hussein Arab Isse, on behalf of the TFG, and the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Somalia, Peter de Clercq, on behalf of the United Nations, the plan commits the Somali National Armed Forces, allied militia and military groups under its control to ending the killing and maiming of children in contravention of international law.

“We are calling on donors to support the Somali Government and its armed forces towards bringing about and enforcing the changes that will put these terrible practices to an end,” Mr. de Clercq said in a news release issued by the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS).

The plan is the second one signed between the TFG and United Nations that helps bring about measures to halt and prevent the violation of children’s rights. The first action plan – to end the recruitment and use of children by the Somali National Armed Forces – was agreed on by the TFG in July.

According to UNPOS, full compliance with the latest action plan will result in the Government of Somalia being removed from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s list of parties who recruit, use, kill and maim children.

“Attacks against journalists are attacks against democracy,” stressed the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, in a joint news release.

Presenting their respective reports to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the experts urged governments, the international community, as well as journalists and media organizations, to act decisively to protect the lives of journalists and media freedom. La Rue cited in particular “the continuing repression of journalists and media freedom worldwide, aimed at suppressing information deemed ‘inconvenient,’ and increasing restrictions placed on journalists who disseminate information through the Internet.”

“States continue to utilize criminal laws on defamation, national security and counterterrorism to suppress dissent and criticism, including on Government policies, human rights violations and allegations of corruption,” he noted, adding that, “such ‘judicial harassment’ generates a climate of fear and encourages self-censorship.” Mr. Heyns underscored that impunity is “a major, if not the main, cause” of the high number of journalists killed every year.

“The countries where the highest numbers of journalists are killed are also, almost without exception, those with the highest levels of impunity,” he said.

“It is hard to imagine a world without journalists. Without their work, humanity would be reduced to silence, and yet a large number are killed every year with almost total impunity,” he added, noting that journalists are among the persons who receive the most death threats.

The two experts put forward specific recommendations in their reports dealing with material, legal, and policing measures of protection, ranging from public condemnation of attacks against journalists, support for press freedom by senior government officials and greater accountability to fight impunity.

Independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.