Since 2014, the EU’s ambition has been to act as an
‘honest broker’ on multilateral discussions surrounding issues of cyber governance and norms of responsible state behaviour, aiming to ensure the support and partnership of proactive players in the context of the global debate. The EU has long promoted the need for voluntary, non-binding norms. It believes that norms crystallised under the UN GGE process should generally not be revisited and that progress should be made on matters relating to their implementation.
Within the OEWG, the EU advanced a
suggestion to develop a global repository of existing practice within the United Nations, which would enable UN member states to showcase how they are implementing the voluntary norms of responsible state behaviour, confidence building and other measures.
Cuba has been represented in the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts (UN GGE) on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security. It participated in multiple sessions of the UN GGE and has made contributions as part of the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement), a group of countries that are not formally aligned with any major power bloc. As such, a 2017 statement by Cuba emphasised the need to avoid a
‘state militarisation’ of cyberspace and concentrate on peaceful settlement of disputes and conflict prevention. In 2019, for instance,
Cuba called for the development of a safe cyberspace environment that can promote well-being, knowledge and human development.
El Salvador has been actively involved in promoting a safe cyberspace. The Latin American country, back in 2015, signed a
memorandum of understanding with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to support the fight against cybercrime, with training in capacity building, prevention and cooperation.
El Salvador has expressed views on the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes at the UNGA.
As part of their statement, it was noted the lack of regulation obliging network administrators of public, private, or non-profit institutions to establish, maintain, and safeguard the connection logs of their internal clients, which can be exploited for the commission of traditional crime and cybercrime.
As part of the OEWG discussions, El Salvador has identified the
norm regarding ICT product supply chains as the most important for states, in addition to proposing that the OEWG
highlights the efforts and progress that countries are making in cybersecurity, making the spirit of cooperation in this area clear.