The UAE has registered a significant decrease in online sexual exploitation of children, said Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior.
There was a decline during the COVID-19 pandemic despite a surge in such cases worldwide, he said.
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In his keynote speech at the World Early Childhood Development (WED) forum, Sheikh Saif said international reports in 2020 showed a global rise in the number of cases of online sexual exploitation of children during the pandemic by 106 per cent compared to 2019.
He said the UAE succeeded to achieve a 34 per cent decrease in the number of such cases and has been keen, ” through its efforts in the global alliance of ‘We Protect’ which includes 95 countries, to establish a unified global approach on combating crimes of sexual exploitation of children.”
He added that the children’s protection and dignity were an important point in the dialogue between His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and His Holiness Pope Francis that led to the holding of the Interfaith Summit.
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The summit was held in the Vatican in November 2019. Sheikh Saif noted that after the summit UAE carried out an international operation to combat sexual exploitation of children in coordination with eight other countries, including Spain, Australia, Singapore and France.
This led to the arrest of 771 offenders and the rescue of 549 children.
