Cyber CBMs

Background: As of 2024, women accounted for only 20% to 24% of the cybersecurity workforce in Latin America and the Caribbean. They also face barriers to digital inclusion, with lower levels of internet access, less training in digital technologies, and reduced confidence in their tech skills. This CBM directly addresses that gender imbalance, targeting not only technical roles but also policy and decision-making positions. The rationale is clear: underrepresentation can lead to technologies that reflect the biases and blind spots of a limited demographic, potentially perpetuating gender disparities and even gender-based violence. Promoting gender diversity in cybersecurity therefore enhances fairness, builds safer and more inclusive digital systems, and contributes to sustainable peace, aligning with the “Women, Peace, and Security Agenda.”

Practice: The OAS collaborates with non-profit organizations such as WOMCY and LATAM Women in Cybersecurity facilitating research like diagnostic studies on the status of women’s inclusion in the cybersecurity sector and capacity-building initiatives to close the regional skills gap and encourage greater female participation, engaging more than 2,000 women in cybersecurity exercises. With support from Canada, it also launched two diversity-focused initiatives: the “Creating a Cybersecurity Pathway program”, which introduced cybersecurity fundamentals and career opportunities to over 500 young people across the Americas and the Caribbean, and the “Cyber Women Challenge”, which has trained more than 1,900 women between 2018 and 2023 to strengthen workforce diversity and build inclusive responses to cyber threats, or the “Women in Cybersecurity Empowerment Network”, creating a platform for more than 800 women working in cybersecurity. The OAS has also cooperated with UNIDIR on the publication “A Novel Approach to the 11 UN Norms for Responsible State Behaviour in Cyberspace: Guidelines for Gendered Implementation,” which provides recommendations for gender-responsive application of the norms, linking CBM 7 with CBM 9. At the international level, the “Women in International Security and Cyberspace (WIC)” Fellowship - organized and sponsored by Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, the US, and Germany - has increased the participation and skills of women from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador, among others, in UN cyber diplomacy negotiations. While not created under this CBM, it aligns closely with its objectives. In parallel, states such as Chile and Colombia have highlighted gender equality in OEWG sessions, for example through their involvement in a cross-regional group on gender. Moreover, for example, Chile has integrated gender considerations into its national cybersecurity policy, while Canada addresses gender equality and cybersecurity in its National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.

Although many of these initiatives were not explicitly designed to fulfill this CBM, they implicitly advance its goals by fostering greater inclusion and gender equality in cybersecurity. This CBM therefore represents a formal commitment by states to strengthen women’s participation in the field, while also prompting explicit actions. Implementation is further supported by the Cyber Diplomacy Training Program, which helps empower women to take on meaningful roles in cyber policy and practice. Looking forward, the redesigned Web Portal will include tools to track women’s participation in training programs, enhancing transparency and accountability. Working Group Meetings also provide an important platform for states to share progress: for example during the fifth meeting, the Dominican Republic has reported efforts to strengthen its cyber diplomacy capacity with a focus on gender inclusion. The fifth meeting even dedicated a session to “Encouraging and Promoting the Inclusion, Leadership, and Effective and Meaningful Participation of Women in Decision-Making Processes Linked to ICTs,” reaffirming the region’s collective commitment to advancing gender equality in cyber governance. Overall, this CBM is implemented, but not widely.

CBM 7: Promote gender equality

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Key Implementation Activities and Resources