WSIS Forum 2023: Building Cyber resilience in the humanitarian and development sectors

Technology and innovation play important roles in the delivery, effectiveness and scaling of humanitarian action for people affected by complex emergencies and contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While it is recognized that the increased digitalization of humanitarian action is resulting in many positive outcomes, it is creating an environment in which humanitarian and development organizations are increasingly victims of devastating cyberattacks disrupting their operations, affecting the delivery of critical services and even the lives of their beneficiaries already made vulnerable from conflict, violence and disaster

Yet as recent attacks on NGOs have shown, these organizations must divert focus and resources to managing the impact of cyberattacks and identifying potential harm to beneficiaries. Safeguarding NGOs against cyber threats needs adequate attention and now. In response to this, the CyberPeace Institute launched the Humanitarian Cybersecurity Center (HCC) – developed and hosted in Switzerland, and operating globally. This is a partnership platform, scaling-up cybersecurity solutions for humanitarian NGOs. The CyberPeace Institute believes in value-led partnerships bringing together the best expertise to act on major societal issues and empower sustainable progress. This workshop aims to welcome and bring together all the different types of actors from NGOs, to private sector and government agencies to discuss and identify best practices, and measures to build cyber resilience and better protect the humanitarian sector.