Governments, institutions and organisations endorse Accra Call for cyber capacity building
Today in Accra, more than 30 countries, institutions and organisations endorsed the Accra Call.
The Accra Call is an action framework that governments, international organisations and institutions have willingly affirmed to, to promote, pursue and coordinate efforts on sixteen specific actions to elevate cyber resilience across international and national development agenda.
The Accra Call was signed today November 29, 2023 at the opening of the Global Conference on Cyber Capacity Building (GC3B), in Accra, Ghana.
The bi-annual conference, the very first one, was organized to raise awareness of the importance that every nation has the expertise, knowledge, and skills to invest in their digital future, and to encourage countries to work together on developing these capabilities to ensure a free, open, and secure digital world.
The organisers say, for the first time, high-level leaders, experts on cyber security and capacity building, and the international development community from around the world were brought together to work on common goals and solutions.
The GC3B also addressed the international need to increase resources for cyber capacity building, which is a key enabler for sustainable development, economic growth, and social progress.
The framework is subject to review every two years.
Endorsed by governments, development donors and partners, multilateral and bilateral financial institutions, international and regional organizations, the private sector, the technical community, civil society, academia, and philanthropic institutions. The action framework consists of sixteen actions, divided in four categories:
It is aimed at strengthening the role of cyber resilience as an enabler for sustainable development: cyber resilience can play a crucial role in achieving sustainable development objectives, managing risks in national and international development investments, and contributing to international security and stability.
To advance demand-driven, effective, and sustainable cyber capacity building: cyber capacity building experience to date highlights the need to tailor investments and efforts to the financial, institutional, technical, and human capabilities of developing countries and address all segments of society to foster effective, inclusive, and locally sustained change.
Fostering stronger partnerships and better coordination: the cross-sectoral and interdependent nature of cyber resilience also necessitates whole-of-society and whole-of-ecosystem approaches to cyber capacity building that promote meaningful multistakeholder partnerships, leverage the value added that the private sector, the technical community, and civil society bring in terms of expertise and investment, and enable effective coordination within national, regional, and international levels.
The following governments and organizations from all over the world endorse the Accra Call: Microsoft; European Union (EEAS); ValU; Interpol; United Kingdom; Global Partners Digital; GFCE; CyberPeace Institute; Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, Inc. (FIRST); CREST; Africa Youth Forum International; Tonga Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT Tonga); Orizur Consulting Enterprise Pty Ltd; Government of The Netherlands (Ministry of Foreign Affairs); Government of the Republic of North Macedonia; Royal Holloway University of London; BAE Systems Digital Intelligence; Switzerland; Cyber Intelligence And Security Aid Bureau – CISAB; Neurometrics; Mexico – Ministry of Foreign Affairs; France; Word of Life Permanent Mission Office to the United Nations (Office of the Special Envoy to Government); Global Cyber Alliance; Republic of Slovenia; ESET; West Africa ICT Action Network; Austria; African Telecommunications Union (ATU); Sweden; The Shadowserver Foundation; NetHope; IST; ICC; Canada; African Union – David; Estonia Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The two-day conference is under the theme: “Cyber Resilience for Development.”
By Emmanuel K Dogbevi