Tunisia's Minister of Family, Women, Childhood, and Elderly People, Asma Jebri, opened the National Forum on Harassment in the Digital Space on November 5, 2026, at the El Ghazala Technological Pole. The forum, organized in partnership with UNICEF, aims to promote a safe online environment for children. The event is part of the celebration of the International Day against Cyberbullying and the implementation of the National Action Plan to prevent and combat violence against children in the digital space by 2028.
Minister Jebri announced during the forum that her ministry has started working on a draft law to protect children in the digital environment. This initiative aims to involve and strengthen the contribution of all stakeholders in protecting children online. She recalled that this approach follows the launch of the National Pact to strengthen the capacities of families to guarantee a safe online environment for children, developed with the Ministry of Communication Technologies and other concerned actors in November 2025.
The minister emphasized that rapid digital transformations require the national child protection system to adapt to new challenges. While the digital space offers children opportunities for learning, communication, and creativity, it must also be accompanied by solid guarantees against the risks that threaten them. She stressed that preventing cyberbullying is a collective responsibility involving families, educational institutions, media, digital actors, public institutions, and civil society.
As part of the efforts to combat cyberbullying, Minister Jebri announced the organization of the National Salon of children's and adolescents' productions, titled "Digital Illustrated Stories Against Cyberbullying," from November 25 to 27 in Tunis. The salon will bring together children from various backgrounds, including those from child homes, social protection institutions, and scouting movements.
The Ministry of Family, Women, Childhood, and Elderly People has also launched a national awareness campaign, accompanied by two prevention spots against the risks of early addiction to screens. The program of digital security ambassadors deployed in multimedia centers for children has been strengthened, with their number increasing from 300 in 2025 to 500 in 2026.
Michel Le Pechoux, representative of the UNICEF office in Tunisia, highlighted the need to strengthen mechanisms to protect children against cyberbullying, develop their digital culture, and listen to, guide, and accompany them when they are victims. He praised the ministry's efforts to strengthen the capacities of interveners and improve coordination between institutions responsible for protecting children in the cyber space.
The forum features two main interventions, including "Protecting children from harassment in the digital space: towards an integrated national approach to prevention, protection, and response" and "Cyberbullying against children in Tunisia: available data and characteristics of the phenomenon." The event aims to improve the national prevention and response system to cyberbullying, reinforce coordination between actors, and formulate concrete recommendations for the implementation and monitoring of the National Action Plan by 2028.
Key points
- The Tunisian government has started working on a draft law to protect children in the digital environment.
- The National Forum on Harassment in the Digital Space aims to promote a safe online environment for children.
- The event is part of the celebration of the International Day against Cyberbullying and the implementation of the National Action Plan to prevent and combat violence against children in the digital space by 2028.
