OEWG

APC considers the UN Open-ended Working Group on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security 2021-2025 (OEWG II) an important process to influence the setting up of international norms on cybersecurity.

The AfriSIG Output Document, created by a diverse and dedicated group of stakeholders during this year's AfriSIG, is opening doors for others to come together and explore possibilities for more effective cybersecurity capacity building across Africa.

These APC priorities were reiterated in a statement delivered at the informal dialogue with the Chair of the UN Open-ended Working Group on developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security (OEWG) 2021-2025.

Civil society organisations have an important role in making sure that cyber capacity building is informed by human rights, following one of the capacity-building guiding principles in the previous OEWG final report.

Women and girls as well as people of diverse sexualities and gender expressions are more often the targets of online violence, and are increasingly targeted by disinformation campaigns, which can have a more severe impact on these groups because of historical and structural inequalities.

In this statement, APC calls on the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) to recognise that existing and emerging cyber threats impact differently on groups subject to intersecting forms of discrimination, including women and people of diverse sexualities and gender expressions.

A group of more than 140 members of the multistakeholder community have signed a letter addressed to Ambassador Burhan Gafoor, Chair of the UN OEWG, about multistakeholder participation in the upcoming sessions.

The aim of this brief is to support the implementation of the agreed language in the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) resolution pertaining to stakeholder engagement.