Credit: MAEE
On Thursday 17 November 2022, the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid of Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the International Committee of the Red Cross (Comité international de la Croix-Rouge - CICR) announced the official opening of a humanitarian office dedicated to cyberspace.
Equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure and a secure ecosystem, this new office will be the epicentre of research and development activities on all aspects of cyberspace (technological, political, operational and legal).
“We are very proud to provide the CICR with a safe space where it can carry out research and development work aimed at better protecting people affected by armed conflict and violence,” said the Minister of Cooperation and Humanitarian Action, Franz Fayot. “I am convinced that the important tech and cyber ecosystem available to our country will contribute significantly to the efforts deployed by the CICR to achieve this overriding objective.”
According to the ministry, in recent years, the entire humanitarian sector has embarked on a vast process of transformation driven by digital tools and solutions, which has given rise to new services and new forms of assistance. Examples include cash transfers through mobile applications, participatory platforms for exchanging information with people affected by armed conflict, the provision of means of connectivity (Internet and mobile phones) or the provision of digital services promoting the protection of personal data or facilitating the search for a missing relative.
“It is our duty to use the many opportunities offered by digital transformation in a responsible and ethical way to better protect those affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence,” said Martin Schüepp, Director of Operations at the CICR. “We would like to thank the government of Luxembourg for supporting this new cyberspace office. Through this initiative, it recognises the importance of cyberspace for humanitarian organisations, which must continue to explore its potential in order to make it a more efficient tool of assistance at the service of the most vulnerable.”
Recent events have highlighted the need for humanitarian organisations to invest more resources in understanding and mastering cyberspace. Thus, last January, the CICR revealed that it had been the target of a sophisticated cyberattack that led to the hacking of the personal data of more than half a million vulnerable people around the world. Cyber operations are a new reality of armed conflict, with an increasing number of States working to strengthen their military cyber capabilities. And disinformation campaigns – online or otherwise – targeting people or humanitarian organisations are on the rise.
“Our main objective is to ensure that digital technologies do not expose people to additional risks, and that assistance programmes based on these technologies lead to real improvements in the situation of people affected by armed conflict”, said Martin Schüepp. “This new office will focus on promoting technical solutions that comply with our fundamental principles of neutrality, impartiality, independence and humanity, and that can be deployed safely in the digital space.”
"The opening of this office dedicated to cyberspace is a major step forward, not only for the partnership of trust that binds our country to the CICR, but also for the entire humanitarian sector", concluded Minister Fayot.
