Consultant on Policy Network on Cybersecurity and Digital Inclusion

Result of Service

The performance of the consultant will be measured by: • Level of cooperation with the MAG issue coordinator(s) and other PNC and PNDI participants; • Timely submission of outputs; • Quality of synthesis and summarizing of the community discussions, outputs demonstrating high-level knowledge of the subject matter; • Readability of the outputs; • Positive feedback from experts.

Work Location

Remote

Expected duration

75 working days

Duties and Responsibilities

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was established following the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Tunis from 16 to 18 November 2005. In the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, Governments requested the United Nations Secretary-General to convene “a new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue” on Internet governance. The mandate of the IGF, set out in paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda, is to discuss public policy issues related to Internet governance in order to foster sustainability, robustness, security, stability, and development of the Internet. The IGF Secretariat is based at the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG). As the Forum evolved, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Working Group on Improvements to the IGF recommended the development of more tangible outputs to enhance the IGF’s impact on global Internet governance and policy processes. In response, the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) established a range of intersessional workstreams designed to complement the annual IGF meeting and enable continuous collaboration throughout the year. The outputs produced through these activities are intended to serve as practical resources for stakeholders, inform discussions in relevant policy forums, and evolve over time. The IGF’s intersessional workstreams provide substantive opportunities for the global multistakeholder community to develop concrete outputs and contribute to policy discussions on emerging and cross-cutting digital issues. Among them, the Policy Networks serve as open, inclusive, multistakeholder and bottom-up platforms that bring together stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to examine specific topics in greater depth, assess the current state of play, identify good and emerging practices, and explore possible ways forward. Through an open, consultative and multistakeholder methodology, the Policy Networks produce substantive outputs that have proven valuable in informing policy debates and decision-making processes. These outputs are designed as iterative and living resources that remain flexible and can be updated to reflect changing priorities, new evidence, and the rapid pace of technological developments affecting Internet governance and digital policymaking. In December 2025, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/80/173, which established the IGF as a permanent forum of the United Nations. The Resolution calls upon the Forum to strengthen its intersessional work, support national and regional initiatives, and apply innovative, open, inclusive, transparent, and agile methods of collaboration. The continued development of the Policy Networks directly contributes to the implementation of these objectives by fostering year-round multistakeholder cooperation and producing substantive outputs on key digital policy issues. Under the supervision of the IGF Secretariat’s head of office, the consultant will be responsible for facilitating and documenting the work related to the following Policy Networks: 1. Policy Network on Cybersecurity (PNC) 2. Policy Network on Digital Inclusion (PNDI) The Consultant will be responsible for carrying out tasks related to hosting and reporting on the two PN meetings, synthesis and drafting of outputs, presenting and discussing them during dedicated sessions at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum. The assignments are the following: 1. Work closely with the MAG-appointed facilitators for the Policy Network on Cybersecurity (PNC) and Policy Network on Digital Inclusion (PNDI) to develop the implementation strategy and workplan for each, as well as to ensure that the convening work and preparation of outputs are consistent with the work done by the IGF multistakeholder intersessional teams, including the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) work and PNs multistakeholder working group. 2. Suggest and advise the PNs on modalities and concrete actions to effectively respond to: a) The recommendations of the UN Secretary-General (in his statement at IGF 2018/19) to extend from multistakeholder to multidisciplinary; create shared language and references; and include and amplify the weak and the missing voices. b) The Secretary-General priorities “to strengthen the Internet Governance Forum to serve as a central gathering point to discuss and propose effective digital policies” (remarks to UN GA 22 January 2020). c) The United Nations Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation that envisages a strengthened IGF including better integrating programme and intersessional work policy development work in other priority areas of the roadmap (Roadmap, para 93). d) The recommendations to enhance future BPF work included in the final report of the 2020 “BPF on BPFs”. e) The Secretary-General’s call for the IGF to “adapt, innovate and reform to support effective governance of the digital commons and keep pace with rapid, real-world developments” (Our Common Agenda report, para 93), and the implementation of the Global Digital Compact. f) The call by Member States upon the Forum to “reinforce its intersessional work, support national and regional initiatives, and apply innovative, open, inclusive, transparent and agile collaboration methods” as well as to “enhance its working modalities and to broaden the participation of Governments and other stakeholders from developing countries and underrepresented communities” (General Assembly Resolution 80/173 - Outcome document of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society). 3. Monitor and manage the discussion mailing lists and carry out meetings using Zoom or other methods setup for the assigned PNs and document the process by compiling meeting summaries, feeding into the output documents and the related substantive sessions at the 21st IGF. 4. Gather information on the subject of the PNs, in consultation with the MAG appointed facilitators, the multistakeholder working groups and the IGF Secretariat, in line with the methodologies discussed. It is recommended to use the list of questions defined in the PNs proposals. 5. Support the two PNs facilitators in coordinating the organization of the PNs sessions at the 21st annual IGF meeting and for each session, summarize discussions, taking into account the proceedings, and adjust the outputs if necessary. 6. Together with the full IGF Secretariat team, under the guidance of the supervisor, taking into account the reports from the session organizers, contribute to the drafting of the IGF 2026 Messages (minimum 4 pages in 12-point font single-spaced). 7. Prepare the substantive output report for the PNC and PNDI (minimum 20 pages, maximum of 40 pages, each (annexes not included) in 12 points single space, using preferably the font, “Times New Roman”), based on the inputs and the work produced by the PNs community participants, other identified stakeholder groups, complemented with independent research. 8. Invite and engage the wider community, including members of the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG), members of the PNs multistakeholder working groups and their affiliated networks, networks of National, Regional and Youth IGFs (NRIs) as well as the network of Dynamic Coalitions (DCs), to comment on the draft output reports and incorporate comments into a revised paper. 9. Prepare summaries, introductions and background materials that can be used to brief the press and experts on the subject matter and conduct outreach toward the wider community ahead of the PNs sessions at the annual IGF meeting, as well as summaries of achievements for subject experts after the meeting. This also includes populating the dedicated PNs sections on the IGF website, advising on social media outreach, and providing input for the online meeting schedule. 10. Act as rapporteur and summarize all inputs provided to the PNs work over the course of the contract, update and adjust the draft outcome document, and compile the final draft, as per the requirements referenced above. 11. For publication of the outputs on the IGF website and their distribution, produce publishable summaries of PNC and PNDI, including executive summaries, that could be used as stand-alone documents or compiled with the executive summaries of the other intersessional work- streams in one document and annexed to the final IGF 2026 report. On these, coordinate with the Secretariat on layout and structure of the final document (minimum 3 pages each in 12 points single space, using preferably the font, “Times New Roman”). 12. Over the course of contract, contribute to the IGF Secretariat’s capacity development activities, by contributing inputs from the PNC and PNDI into the capacity development workshops and other initiatives.

Qualifications/special skills

1. Master’s degree in information communication technologies, social sciences, development studies, management or other relevant disciplines or equivalent fields, or 2 additional years of relevant work experience in lieu of a Master's Degree. 2. A minimum of 5 years of professional experience including analytical work related to ICT, Internet governance, digital public policymaking, development management, participatory governance, capacity building, etc. Considerable related experience drafting high-level reports, meeting summaries, and synthesizing complex information and inputs. Evidence of high-level knowledge, particularly in the discourse of cybersecurity, digital inclusion, gender policy, participatory policy development or other related areas is required. 3. Excellent written and oral English language skills are required. Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable.

Languages

Excellent written and oral English language skills are required. Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.