NEW YORK, Feb 22 (KUNA) -- The Arab Group at the United Nations praised Kuwait's proposal on confidence and capacity building in cybersecurity, submitted during the ninth session of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) on security of and in the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs).
This came in a speech delivered by Head of the ICT Department at Kuwait's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Al-Qadiri on Friday evening on behalf of the Arab Group during the 10th session of OEWG.
Kuwait's proposal suggests a platform for measuring the implementation of the list of rules and standards for responsible behavior of countries in the use of information technology.
The Arab Group considered the Kuwaiti proposal a qualitative addition to enhance international cooperation and should be built upon to support the implementation of agreed-upon standards.
Al-Qadiri stressed the group's support for efforts to enhance cybersecurity and the need to include the "Rules and Standards Platform" as a key element within the global portal.
He pointed to the establishment of the Ministerial Council for Cybersecurity of the League of Arab States, explaining that successive steps are being taken to fully activate it as a specialized regional platform.
He expressed the Arab Group's aspiration to achieve a smooth transition to the permanent mechanism for regular institutional dialogue next July, praising their efforts to discuss cybersecurity issues.
Al-Qadiri added that the continuous increase in the use of digital technology and reliance on cyber systems would require strengthening international cooperation to confront threats that include attacks on infrastructure, disinformation campaigns, and ransomware attacks.
He stressed the full support of Kuwait for establishing a global portal dedicated to cooperation in ICTs security and capacity building led by member states.
On behalf of the group, Al-Qadiri called for strengthening confidence-building measures and supporting cyber capacity building for developing countries through the establishment of training fellowship programs and an international fund. (end) ast.ao