The Kingdom of the Netherlands’ response to the pre-draft report of the OEWG 36. The Netherlands underlines that international law, complemented by the norms formulated in the UN GGE reports, provides states with a framework for responsible behaviour in cyberspace. It is up to states to closely stick to this framework and to demonstrate the requested restraint. The Netherlands suggests that the OEWG advices States to make declaratory statements to adhere to this framework, to the positive and negative obligations, and demonstrate restraint. Capacity building 37. The Netherlands deems cyber capacity building as the vehicle that strengthens the overall security and resilience in cyberspace. The report should underline the necessity to have a cross-sectoral, holistic and multidisciplinary approach to capacity building in the context of cybersecurity. The Netherlands would like to underline that capacity should be built in multiple areas, as are listed in paragraph 50. However, we believe that capacity building should be done around the “legal” aspect as well and is missing in the current listing. 38. The Netherlands supports a stronger involvement of other stakeholders in the field of capacity building, as expertise and capacities lie in the hands of the private sector, the technical community, academia and civil society. 39. During the substantive meetings of the OEWG, a great number of delegations mentioned the interplay between capacity building and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Netherlands thinks that the report should clearly affirm that capacity-building efforts in the field of ICTs are a foundational element of the achievement of the SDGs. We suggest that a recommendation in that sense be added. 40. The Netherlands would like to suggest that the report becomes more specific and explains how cybersecurity capacity building and SDGS’ mutually reinforce each other. In the written contribution of the Netherlands to the Chair, we specifically point out several SDGs of specific relevance to the discussion, including SDG9 on resilient infrastructure, SDG10 on reducing inequalities and SDG5 on gender equality. The Netherlands thinks these could be useful examples on how the SDGs and cybersecurity capacity building are interlinked. 41. As raised in the Netherlands submission to the Chair 1, we believe that the OEWG in its recommendation should call for the endorsement of the principles of capacity building that have been recognized by the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise in the Delhi Communiqué namely: i. Ownership: nations need to take ownership of capacity building priorities focus on sustainable developments; ii. Sustainability: obtaining sustainable positive impact should be the driving force for cyber capacity building; iii. Inclusive partnerships and shared responsibility: effective cyber capacity building requires cooperation among nations, through a multi-stakeholder approach; iv. Trust, transparency and accountability: transparency and accountability play a key role in establishing trust, which is necessary for effective cooperation. In our view, this will support a more effective capacity-building co-operation, based on mutual trust between all parties involved. 42. When referring to a global capacity-building agenda, the Netherlands would like this proposal to be further clarified. At the moment, it is unclear what is meant by such an agenda and if it is something that already exists. 43. The Netherlands sees merit in the UN playing a more distinct convening role in the area of capacity building as long as it enhances and supports the work of regional organizations and existing global multistakeholder endeavors such as the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE)The UN could play a meaningful role in creating a venue where those organizations interact in order to ensure complementarity and mutual reinforcement of initiatives. We would thus like to caution against duplication of the abovementioned existing widely supported regional and multistakeholder initiatives and would welcome more clarification in the text to this end. The Netherlands is ready to share additional information on the 1 https://unoda-web.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/letter-to-chair-of-oewg-kingdom-of-thenetherlands.pdf Page 5 of 6