International Telecommunication Union empowers women on Cybersecurity Policy Negotiations

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has announced a new initiative to prepare women from developing and middle-income countries for meaningful roles in cybersecurity policy negotiations.

The Her CyberTracks initiative, set to run this year from June to December, with an initial focus on select African and European countries, aims at promoting the equal, full, and meaningful representation of women in cybersecurity, to create a more resilient cyberspace for all.

The first edition focuses on delivering a comprehensive curriculum on cybersecurity policy-making, and cyber-diplomacy.

Cyber Ambassador from Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, Regine Grienberger said Investing in cyber capacity-building, particularly for women, goes beyond technical proficiency.

“It aims at full, equal, and meaningful representation. By empowering women policy-makers and women diplomats in cybersecurity, and amplifying their voices, we unlock a realm of possibilities to safeguard our digital landscape.”

Sponsored by Germany, the new initiative offers targeted cyber capacity-building activities for women involved in national and international cybersecurity policy processes and negotiations. The comprehensive training curriculum seeks “to enable our cybersecurity women leaders of tomorrow.”

Grienberger also emphasised the transformative potential of the Her CyberTracks initiative.

“We foster diversity, inclusivity, and innovation – ultimately fortifying our collective defences against cyber threats, Let us unite, bridge the gender gap, and forge a safer and more resilient digital future together,“ she said.

According to the ITU, those emerging policy-makers and cyber-diplomats struggle with pronounced inequality and continue to encounter steep professional barriers in their heavily male-dominated field.

Her CyberTracks offerings, building on 30 years of gender mainstreaming efforts at ITU, incorporate the well-established Women in Cyber Mentorship Programme, now running in its third year, aiming to enhance its successes and lessons learned.

ITU – the United Nations Agency for digital technologies – is committed to achieving gender equality in all areas of its work.

To assemble the first Her CyberTracks cohort, ITU’s development arm asked national governments in two regions facing digital development challenges to nominating suitable women cyber-professionals.

For this first edition, Her CyberTracks seeks participants from ITU Member States in the:

Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo
Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine

Her Cyber Tracks was launched by the Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, and is managed within the ITU Development Sector.

The three-part initiative – with Build, Inspire, and Empower components – will incorporate online and on-site training sessions in cybersecurity policy and diplomacy, simulation exercises in negotiation, as well as training in the soft skills needed to meaningfully participate in key policy-making processes.