Global Coalition Puts Children First in AI Era

School children use a smart phone in New Delhi, India.

A new international coalition launched in Geneva on Tuesday aims to ensure that children's safety and rights are not treated as an afterthought as artificial intelligence reshapes how they learn, play and grow up.

The Coalition for Children’s Rights and Protection in the Age of Artificial Intelligence brings together governments, UN agencies, technology companies, civil society organisations, educators and child welfare experts, all working from the shared foundation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the world's most widely ratified human rights treaty.

The coalition was launched during the two-day UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance, which began on Monday.

Its founding UN members include the Department of Global Communications (DGC), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies, UNICEF and UNESCO.

So far, 17 countries have joined the coalition: Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea and Spain.

A generation growing up with AI

Children are already spending much of their lives in a world shaped by AI—from the educational apps they use to the algorithms that influence what they see and whom they interact with.

The coalition's founding declaration says that while AI offers significant opportunities in education, creativity and inclusion, it also exposes children to risks that existing systems were not designed to address.

Its central message is that children should not be viewed merely as technology users who need protection after harm occurs, but as rights holders whose voices should help shape the design and development of AI systems from the outset.

Coalition members have committed to incorporating children's perspectives into the design, deployment and oversight of AI technologies—not simply as a consultation exercise, but as a legal obligation under their right to be heard.

AI child safety pledge

The coalition's launch follows UN Secretary-General António Guterres' call for an AI Child Safety Pledge in his opening address to the Global Dialogue on AI on Monday.

Members said they will share evidence and best practices while working to ensure that children's views meaningfully inform decisions about AI systems that affect their lives, rather than being considered only after those systems have already been developed.