Recording: Industry Toolkit on Children’s Rights and Digital Marketing

UNICEF hosted a webinar with speaker Beckii Flint exploring how children’s lives are increasingly interwoven with digital technologies. While these spaces create many opportunities, they also expose children to new risks, including the growing presence of digital marketing across the online environments they engage with every day.

The session introduced UNICEF’s Industry Toolkit on Children’s Rights and Digital Marketing (2026), which sets out recommendations for brands, agencies, ad tech providers and platforms on how to embed respect for children’s rights across digital marketing activities.

Using the toolkit

The toolkit outlines a three-step process, bridging theory to action.

Step 1 – Understand

Read a short primer on children’s rights, the relevance of digital marketing, and why businesses should act.

Step 2 – Assess

Complete an Excel-based rapid self-assessment to determine if your company is at a ‘foundational’ or ‘mature’ level of practice across five stages of child rights due diligence.

Step 3 – Act

Select the relevant actor-specific guide (brands; agencies; ad-tech providers; platforms). Work through recommendations for action and start planning for implementation.
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Background

The toolkit builds on the foundation of the first edition (2018), reflecting dramatic changes in technologies, business practices and regulatory environments over recent years. The revision process included a literature review, expert interviews, surveys, and consultation workshops. Research and engagement findings underpinning the second edition are captured in a summary report also available for download.
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Children’s lives are increasingly interwoven with digital technologies, providing a broad range of opportunities as well as risks. Children engage with digital marketing of many forms across these online worlds.

UNICEF’s Industry Toolkit on Children’s Rights and Digital Marketing (2026) puts forward recommendations for brands, agencies, ad tech providers and platforms on how to embed respect for children’s rights across digital marketing activities.

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Files available for download

STEP 1 – Understand (.pdf)

STEP 2 – Assess (.xlsx)

STEP 3 – Act (Brands) (.pdf)

STEP 3 – Act (Agencies) (.pdf)

STEP 3 – Act (Ad-tech) (.pdf)

STEP 3 – Act (Platforms) (.pdf)

Frequently Asked Questions (.pdf)

Background research summary (.pdf)