WCF, ChildFund India to make communities resilient of cybercrimes

ChildFund India – Collaboration with WNS Cares Foundation (WCF) and the Department of Education at the district level in the state of Madhya Pradesh in an initiative to provide basic knowledge and skills to children from marginalised communities to prevent them from becoming victims of cybercrime. The project was carried out in 2557 government schools spread across three districts. In the end, it helped 5.5 lakh people over the course of eight months.

The project effected 4,00,000 children and adolescent students, who received CyberSmart certificates after completing cyber safety sessions successfully. WCF CyberSmart is India’s first holistic cybersafety education portal, enabling gamified learnings through thematic quiz-based modules based on curriculum advisory and cyberspace challenges that children face. It also reached out to 150,000 parents and carers to help them improve their capacity to ensure their children’s cyber safety. As part of the initiative, training programmes for coordinators who were sensitised and oriented on how to conduct cyber smart sessions with children and community members were organised.

ChildFund India

“The pandemic has advanced the use of technology amongst everyone, including marginalized communities,” said Rajesh Ranjan Singh, Country Director, ChildFund International India, of the initiative. As a result, the children are vulnerable to cybercrime. This rapid shift has not only revealed regional and household disparities in technology access, but it has also brought to light the important issue of online child sexual abuse. As a result, we hope that by educating children and raising awareness about internet safety, they will be able to explore the online world without being exposed to its dark side. We are grateful for WNS Cares Foundation’s assistance in achieving the desired result. We hope to replicate the model in other parts of India.

The current pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of prioritising cybersecurity. As a child-centered organisation, we have a responsibility to educate children, particularly those from vulnerable backgrounds, in order to keep them safe in cyberspace. Being cyber smart is no longer an option; it must become a way of life. As a result, ChildFund India collaborated with the WCF initiative to ensure that awareness of cyber safety reaches an increasing number of children in our working areas.