Oral Statement to the Chair Open-Ended Working Group on security of and in the use of information and communications technologies 2021-2025
Chair’s informal dialogue with interested stakeholders
Thursday, 21 July, 9am -12pm EST (hybrid)
Conference Room 8
Chair, I am […] from the Centre for Multilateral Affairs in Uganda. The Centre for Multilateral Affairs is a platform that seeks to inform and shape global south perspectives in domestic, regional, and global multistakeholder discourses through evidence-based research and advocacy. Chair, I just returned from a multistakeholder consultation on African participation and priorities in the Open – Ended Working Group (OEWG) held in Lilongwe, Malawi from the 16th-18th of July 2022.
The consultation involved a group of regional stakeholders that worked together to identify capacity building needs and priorities, the role of non-state actors in addressing the needs and to recommend concrete proposals based on their expertise. This was done via consultation, linked to the 10th African School on Internet Governance, and was attended by a diverse group of individuals from African governments, law enforcements and security agencies, civil society organizations, digital rights, media groups and cyber security experts.
Chair regarding the cybersecurity building needs in Africa, we would like to state the following:
- African actors need greater capacity to be able to contribute effectively to UN processes such as the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) and other global cybersecurity initiatives.
- Specifically African governments should develop comprehensive cybersecurity strategies, policies, diplomacy and norms and progressive regulations that emphasizes the security of individuals and communities
- Specific capacity development is needed to build the awareness and skills required to refocus the traditional state-centric conception of cybersecurity to a human-centric, human rights respecting approach that also build their cyber resilience
- Conducting a comprehensive national cyber needs assessment to determine gaps and needs of different actors and stakeholder groups participating in cybersecurity processes.
- Mobilizing resources needed to meet cybersecurity needs and to carry out substantive national consultations with non-state actors in the development national cybersecurity positions and strategies
Thank you very much Chair!
