This extract is taken from the March 2019 issue of The digest, GPD’s flagship newsletter. Sign up here.
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In the last newsletter, we reported that the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), which is providing secretariat support to both the UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) and the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG), was considering options for modalities for engaging non-governmental stakeholders in both processes.
In March, we learned that there will be a dedicated intersessional consultation for non-governmental stakeholders in December in New York (tentative dates: 2-4 December), intended to feed into the OEWG’s discussions. Although modalities for the OEWG will only be decided in June at its organisational meeting, the intersessional in December should offer a useful focal point for civil society engagement.
Over the next month, we expect the announcement of the members of the new GGE, along with more information from regional organisations (including the African Union, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, European Union (EU) and the Organization of American States) on their plans to input into the GGE’s first session in December. The EU has already started discussing its positions and approach to the processes through its Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues (HWP).
There will be a few opportunities for non-government stakeholders to coordinate at existing multistakeholder forums in the coming months. One is RightsCon, where we now know GPD will be hosting a workshop on cyber norms. At that session, we’ll be joined by representatives of governments as well as other stakeholders to discuss the First Committee processes and opportunities to engage.