New York: Europe and the Arabs
A few days before the UN General Assembly, the UN Committee for Negotiating a Convention against Cybercrime approved the text of the new convention, in preparation for submitting it to the UN General Assembly for adoption.

In a statement issued earlier, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime described this step as historic and comes in light of the unprecedented developments witnessed by the world in information technology, and the increasing use of these tools for criminal and terrorist purposes.
The office said in its statement that the committee - which included representatives of all UN member states - succeeded in reaching an agreement after three years of intensive negotiations, with technical and organizational support from the office.
Ghada Wali, Executive Director of the office, stressed that agreeing on this text represents a very important step in terms of strengthening international action in combating cybercrime, which has witnessed a significant increase in recent years, resulting in a large number of victims of exploitation, looting and other crimes, and costing the world billions of dollars.
She explained that adopting the agreement will help countries, especially developing countries, to confront this serious and growing threat, by facilitating judicial cooperation and the exchange of electronic evidence between countries, in addition to providing technical assistance, capacity building and technology transfer. Wali added that reaching this agreement under the current international circumstances demonstrates the ability of the international community to reach understandings in order to confront international challenges, even in the face of differences and division. She also highlighted in this regard that the text of the agreement was approved unanimously by all member states. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime explained that if the General Assembly adopts the text of the agreement as expected, the office will play a fundamental role in its implementation, as it will supervise the organization of implementation follow-up mechanisms, in addition to providing technical support to countries and providing the necessary mechanisms for effective international cooperation.