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For three days, between October 26 to 28, 2022, the Global Programme on Cybercrime organized the first-ever UNODC Women in Cyber (WIC) Summit. Held in Bangkok, Thailand, the Summit brought together over 40 women from Africa and Southeast Asia in an event that aimed to strengthen women working in cyber-related fields.
Participants came from diverse backgrounds, including IT experts, digital forensics experts and investigators, cyber-law experts as well as law enforcement officers, judges and prosecutors.
For Carmen Corbin, the Head of Counter-Cybercrime Programming for the UNODC Global Programme on Cybercrime in Africa based in Dakar, Senegal, the Summit offered an opportunity for these women to elevate themselves and others, especially the women from the UNODC Africa Women in Cyber (AWIC) Networking Group.
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“The cyber field is still predominantly male-dominated and for the past year, we have worked with amazing women from all over Africa through our monthly online professional networking and coaching sessions to provide a platform for exchange and learning. This summit has topped off our efforts by giving these women a strong network for professional growth in their fields across continents.”
The AWIC Networking Group was created in 2021 by the Global Programme on Cybercrime with the aim to provide women working in cyber professions in Africa with a reliable professional network. Since then, the group counts about 206 members working in cyber in over 28 African countries.
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Women with successful careers in counter-cybercrime work and in other cyber-related fields were invited to serve as mentors and empower the WIC participants. However, participants at the WIC summit all played key roles either as speakers or panelists, sharing their experiences while creating space for dialogue on common experiences as women in the cyber field. They tackled several topics through panel discussions and mentoring sessions, from the challenges women face in counter-cybercrime work to women’s leadership in cyber. They were also encouraged to create action plans to elevate other women and girls in their communities and workplaces, and for most participants, the approach was a novel experience.
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“As someone specializing in cyber law, my work in counter-cybercrime felt included and seen in this summit and it was interesting to see that women face the same challenges no matter where they find themselves,” says Ifeoma Nwafor, a lawyer specializing in cyber law and policy in Nigeria. “I am glad to have met dynamic women in my field who are doing great things and plan to keep these connections for future needs,” concludes Ifeoma.
The Women in Cyber Summit proved successful, and UNODC, through the organization of the Summit, hopes to create a network of women who will go on to impact the cyber field in their various countries by empowering other women and girls interested in, or working in, cyber, especially in Africa.
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