Second in-person International User Community Meeting on goTravel
The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) Countering Terrorist Travel (‘CT Travel’) Programme and the Passenger Information Unit (PIU) of the Luxembourg Police hosted the second in-person meeting of the goTravel International User Community (IUC) in Luxembourg from 22 to 23 October 2024, with over 25 representatives from IUC Member countries.
The objective of the goTravel International User Community is to support the continuous development of the United Nations goTravel software in order to ensure the platform is more effective for Member States using or planning to use it. This software provides national Passenger Information Units (PIUs) with an innovative tool to combat terrorism and transnational organized crime using Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR).
The meeting participants examined the features included in the most recent technical release of goTravel, discussed common challenges, and explored the development of potential operational solutions. They also examined the business requirements for a number of priority goTravel features for 2025 and 2026.
The event was co-hosted by the Passenger Information Unit (PIU) Luxembourg, which was established in August 2018 following the enactment of the national PNR law, based on the European Directive 2016/681. The PIU provides relevant authorities - both local, European, and third-country entities - with access to Passenger Name Record (PNR) data for historical searches, watchlisting, and rule-based targeting.
In July 2023, Luxembourg signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the use of the UNOCT goTravel solution and adopted the software to enhance their API and PNR analysis capacity. The application, developed largely in response to PIU Luxembourg’s specific needs, has become a real-time flight management tool, which automatically notifies all commercial carriers in case of missing data submissions, in compliance with recent court rulings regarding PNR regulations.
The UN Countering Terrorist Travel (‘CT Travel’) Programme was launched in 2019 to support Member States in addressing the growing threat posed by the movement of foreign terrorist fighters. A flagship global initiative of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the Programme follows a ''One-UN'' partnership to provide comprehensive, yet tailored assistance to 57 beneficiary Member States, with the support of six implementing partners, notably, United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), the , the , the , the , and the .
The Programme is a global initiative that aims to build Member States’ capacities to prevent, detect, and investigate terrorist offences and other serious crimes, including their related travel, by collecting and analyzing passenger data, both API and PNR, in line with United Nations Security Council resolutions, international standards and best practices and human rights principles. Indeed, promoting and protecting human rights is a crucial component of effective counter-terrorism efforts. In line with the United Nations Human Rights Due Diligence Policy, CT Travel promotes compliance with human rights laws and ensures appropriate data privacy safeguards are embedded in the goTravel code. In addition, reinforced throughout the Programme cycle, from the initial engagement with a beneficiary Member State throughout the phased implementation process.
