As the UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, we conduct research to inform policymaking and implementation. This project brief summarizes our research on the Global Kids Online project.

1. PROJECT BRIEF
Global Kids
Online
How do children’s online
experiences affect their
rights and well-being?

2. Overview
One in three internet users is a child. Digital access
combined with know-how opens doors to learning,
socialization, play and economic opportunity. While
it’s known that these benefits come with risk of
harm, including bullying, abuse and the loss of
privacy, many countries lack robust evidence on how
children’s online experiences affect their rights and
well-being.This is especially absent in developing
countries. Evidence-informed policy that strengthens
online safety, fosters online opportunities, enables
civic participation and all other aspects of child
rights in a digital age, requires rigorous data.
Global Kids Online, a global research network
coordinated by UNICEF Innocenti in partnership
with London School of Economics and the EU Kids
Online network, brings together UNICEF offices and
national research institutions to generate evidence
on children’s online experiences through survey
research with families in their households. By 2021,
more than 50,000 children and parents have been
surveyed using adapted versions of the Global Kids
Online toolkit in the global north and south.
Strategy
Global Kids Online builds on a partnership model
and takes a de-centralized approach to
evidence-generation, with each country project,
implemented and led by national partners.
National partners are supported by centralized
coordination through UNICEF Innocenti and the
London School of Economics. Each partner can
access: a well-tested research toolkit; guidance
and support on the research design, adaptation of
the survey, sampling, ethical standards and
methodological queries; on-site support; support for
data analysis, feedback on draft reports and
dissemination of results; engagement with the wider
Global Kids Online network; opportunities to
compare data cross-nationally with other country
partners; and training to support evidence use for
policy making and programming.
Goal
To enable comparable research initiatives on
children’s online experiences across a wide variety of
countries and contexts.The long-term objective is to
support the development of evidence-based policy
and programme decisions to ensure that children’s
rights are safeguarded in the digital age.
Project Highlights
PROJECT BRIEF
Contact Info
Daniel Kardefelt Winther
Research Specialist
dkardefeltwinther@unicef.org
The Global Kids Online survey – to be used in
UNICEF’s new Disrupting Harm project – now seeks
to understand children’s experiences of online child
sexual exploitation and abuse. It was
implemented by UNICEF in 13 countries in
Eastern and Southern Africa and Southeast
Asia in 2020–2021.
Independent Global Kids Online studies are being
implemented by UNICEF Jamaica and UNICEF
Dominican Republic.The EU Kids Online network
released findings from their comparative survey and
will continue to produce more insights for
children living in Europe.
Impact
An independent 2019 impact study concluded that
our research findings are regarded as the premier
resource on children’s experiences online, both in
partner countries and by international stakeholders.
Our research has been extensively used to influen-
ce policy and practice.This includes: a new law on
telecommunications which includes digital literacy
(Argentina); public awareness campaigns on internet
safety (Ghana and Uruguay); improved curriculum
development and parental support (Montenegro, the
Philippines and Bulgaria); digital strategies for child
protection online and digital inclusion (Albania and
Brazil); apps, digital participation and training for
children and young people designed in line with our
findings (Montenegro, Argentina, Ghana and
Bulgaria).Teachers have also been directly engaged
with the findings through new training, co-produ-
cing resources and exploring their role in supporting
parents (Argentina, Uruguay and Montenegro).