Simulation of UN OEWG negotiations for delegates from West African countries

Event summary

Diplo delivered a very interesting and engaging simulation of the negotiations of the UN Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Cybersecurity for the delegates of Ministries of Foreign Affairs from West African countries. Over two and a half days, participants had the opportunity to experience a UN discussion and negotiation process in line with formal rules of procedure delivered by an experienced committee chairman. The simulation was interspersed with panel discussions involving negotiators with UN experience as well as lively Q&A sessions. The proceedings were concluded by Diplo's AI platform which was able to generate an impressive parallel report of the deliberations. This simulation exercise was organised as another step – along with previous trainings and online courses – to refine the cyber diplomacy capacity of the MFAs of ECOWAS member states, in partnership with the ECOWAS Commission, the German Federal Foreign Office, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), under the Joint Platform for Advancing Cyber Security. Participants appreciated the unique and practical approach of the training and expressed a desire for regular engagement of this type to equip African delegates to participate effectively in UN groups.