Prof. Milovidov Attends UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Meeting

On September 12, Professor Elizabeth Milovidov attended the 2014 Day of General Discussion organized by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in the Palais des Nations in Geneva. This year's theme was "Digital Media and Children's Rights."  A specialist of children's rights and internet safety, Elizabeth Milovidov was invited to participate in the proceedings along with representatives of representatives of Governments, NGOS, UN Human Rights mechanisms, United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, national human rights institutions as well as individual experts and children. More information here

The Days of General Discussions (DGD) are organized by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is the most widely ratified international human rights instrument, with 194 States Partie. According to the UN website, the purpose of the DGDs is to "foster a deeper understanding of the contents and implications of the Convention (on the Rights of the Child) as they relate to specific articles or topics", while the overall objective of the 2014 Day of General Discussion was to "better understand the effects of children’s engagement with social media as well as information and communications technologies (ICT), in order to understand the impact on and role of children’s rights in this area, and develop rights-based strategies to maximize the online opportunities for children while protecting them from risks and possible harm."

"It was a rejuvenating experience and I, for one, can not wait to see the outcomes and recommendations to empower children through digital media and ICT and to provide them with equal and safe access to digital media and ICT."

On September 16-18, Milovidov travelled to Lithuania to participate in a training by Insafe, a European network co-funded by the European Commission. Insafe is comprised of 31 national awareness centers (27 of the EU member states, plus Iceland, Norway, Russia and Serbia) that each "implements awareness and educational campaigns, runs a helpline, and works closely with youth to ensure an evidence-based, multi-stakeholder approach to creating a better internet." (source: Insafe website)

Finally, on September 21, Elizabeth Milovidov spoke during an Open House event at the American Library in Paris, where she offered Internet safety advice and provided resources to parents.

In-between all of these activities, Professor Milovidov has been teaching the course on International Public Law to the enthusiastic group of undergraduate students in the Arcadia Study Abroad in Paris program (more about this program).