Ministries of E-Governance and Home Affairs Team Up to Promote Cyber Crime Security among Children  

The Internet – it’s a medium that we take for granted to stay in contact with one another from across the oceans or just across the street at the convenience of having a cell phone or an I-pad. But that same medium can be used to tarnish one’s reputation. So, in tandem with Cyber Security Week in October, the Ministry of E-Governance held an internet-based competition in two categories for school-aged children. Its purpose was to bring to the fore the importance of knowing the good and bad uses of the Internet and how to protect our personal information that is online. The winners of both competitions were named today during a brief ceremony in Belmopan and News Five’s Marion Ali was there. Here’s that report.

Marion Ali, Reporting

Imber Cantun walked away the winner of a comic strip on cyber security and data protection in the age nine-to-fourteen category, held jointly by the ministries of E-Governance and Home Affairs. Cantun took home an Asus brand fifteen inch laptop, a laptop backpack and a Gumtrap headset. First place in the high school category for students from ages fifteen to nineteen with the best app went to the Belize High School, and they collected a gift certificate worth a thousand dollars from Fultec Systems. But while these children had the chance to take home prizes, the important message for the Ministry of E-Governance, as it brings each of the government’s ministries and departments up to speed with the digital world, is to bring about an awareness that having Internet wisdom can save you a lot of headache.

Michel Chebat

Michel Chebat, Minister of Public Utilities, Energy, Logistics and E-Governance

“The online platform has so many benefits but it also has its dangers. So it is important for us as a government to start teaching our kids from a very early age the importance of cyber security, how to secure your data, and so forth. So this is all part of the national digital agenda plan that we have. And you know kids at all ages have this – they have a lot of talent and we felt that this is important to bring in all of those aspects into it.”

But while the Minister of E-Governance, Michel Chebat and his team have taken a progressive approach in spreading the awareness, how effective the Ministry of Home Affairs and its Belize Police Department can keep cyber crime at a minimal is also a relevant question. Minister Kareem Musa, who holds the Home Affairs portfolio, which includes the Belize Police Department, said the department will look for assistance from external agencies.

Kareem Musa

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“We now live in the metaverse which is – and a lot of these young people who are here today, contributed the comic strips that contributed to the creation of the app – they are the ones who are trafficking and using this highway so we have to make sure that we’re arming them and we’re equipping them with the tools to fight cyber-bullying and also, the police has a critical role to play, which is why we have our cyber crime unit over at the police headquarters. It is a unit dedicated solely to this type of crime. So we look forward to partnering not just with UNICEF but with UNDP and other agencies to enhance our cyber crime unit.”

Musa said that there have been two convictions in the past year for cyber-bullying offences. Marion Ali for News Five.