Thank you very much Mr President, and thank you for your guidance to restrict today’s session to questions. I will do so. I have to say, following our Polish colleagues intervention, he’s already taken some of my questions so I think you’re in a very bad time yourself going last. You’ll have to really think of something new. Thank you also to Force Commanders here. May I, like my Polish colleague, pay tribute to the men and women who serve in blue for this Security Council and for this United Nations and pay tribute to those who’ve lost their lives in doing so, but also ask you please to pass on the thanks of this Council to your own troops for all that they’re doing in sometimes very difficult circumstances. It is very, very helpful and important for this Council to hear ground truth from you so I hope you’ll feel enabled and emboldened to answer any questions fully and without any need to be diplomatic.

My questions:

So a general question if I might, to either or both of you, and that is to ask what impact you’re seeing on the ground and in the support provided from UN HQ as a result of the Secretary-General’s reforms of the peace and security architecture? What impact do you see on the ground?

A second general question; there’s a lot of focus on improving performance of uniformed components in Missions. Do you have access to the data you need to be able to drive forward performance improvement efforts on the basis of evidence?

A question to General Ngondi, specifically on UNAMID; I echo the question my Polish colleague asked about cooperation between the Mission and Sudanese authorities since the removal of President Bashir. I also just wanted to ask you after the looting the Janina camp, what what lessons learned exercise was carried out and what you’ve you’ve taken from from that? Recognising of course, as you say General Ngondi, there’s been a suspension of handing over of team sites for now, what do you take away from that?

And finally on UNFICYP: You mentioned General Pearce, the work UNFICYP does in talking, liaising between the two sides. The most recent mandate calls on cause there to be a mechanism established for direct contact between the two sides to resolve security and other issues as is fairly commonplace in other sort of UN Missions settings. I just wondered if you could tell us anything about how those efforts to establish that are progressing or if not what the blockages might be?

Thank you Mr President.

Statement by Ambassador Jonathan Allen, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the Security Council briefing on UN Peacekeeping operations

Notifications of infectious diseases (NOIDs) for the last 52 weeks.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster David Lidington called for more opportunities for women in the cyber security profession during a speech to the Women in Security Network.

Cyber-savvy female students who took part in an online competition founded by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) were praised today in a speech by David Lidington. Speaking at the ‘Women in Security Network’ conference, the Minister for the Cabinet Office also warned that more needs to be done to open up opportunities in cyber security for women.

Nearly 12,000 girls aged 12 – 13 from across the UK took part in the competition in 2019, which was launched by the NCSC as part of the CyberFirst initiative. The competition breaks down gender barriers by encouraging girls to engage with cyber security before they make their GCSE choices, with over 24,000 female students having taken part since the competition was launched in 2016. Promising youngsters from across the UK have been attending cyber security courses throughout the year, with some securing bursaries and apprenticeships through the CyberFirst programme.

However, with women accounting for just 7% of the cyber security workforce across Europe, David Lidington called for more to be done to encourage women into the sector:

There remains a severe lack of diversity in the cyber industry. Cyber security is among the most important aspects of our national defence today, so we need talent from every part of society enriching our workforces.

Women have been pioneers in security and technology, and we want to see this reflected in the cyber security sector too.

As well as reaching out to the cyber professionals of tomorrow, the NCSC has developed an online learning tool to give workers of today the skills they need to protect themselves from potential cyber attacks.

Aimed at SMEs, charities and the voluntary sector, the brand new, targeted 30-minute programme ‘Stay Safe Online: Top Tips for Staff’ educates users about how attacks happen, where vulnerabilities lie and how to defend themselves. During his speech, David Lidington said the new training package will empower any user – not just cyber experts – to play their part in boosting their organisations’ cyber resilience.

Commenting on the new software, Clare Gardiner, NCSC Director of Engagement, said:

We all have a part to play in making the UK the safest place to live and work online. Employees are vital in helping keep their organisations’ networks safe and need to be aware of how to protect themselves.

Our recent Cyber Survey discovered that 25% of organisations don’t see cyber security as a top priority and we hope this tool will empower staff to start conversations around best practice. 

Once people are more cyber literate as a whole, we hope to see this having a positive impact on the diversity of people that are interested in working in the sector.