Partnership Briefing to appeal for support for UN victims of terrorism Programme

The Global Programme on Victims of Terrorism of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) held a Partnership Briefing for representatives of Permanent Missions to the United Nations and partners in New York on 24 June.

Organized in the lead-up to the October 2024 International Conference on Victims of Terrorism to be held in Spain, the Briefing intended to galvanize the international community’s support to uphold concrete progress in advancing the international victims of terrorism agenda and the commitments made at the first United Nations Global Congress of Victims of Terrorism in 2022.

In his opening statement, the Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism and Director of the United Nations Centre for Counter-Terrorism, Mauro Miedico stressed the need to maintain momentum in supporting the rights and needs of victims and survivors of terrorist attacks. “In times of insecurity and uncertainty our attention is pulled in many different directions. As we continue to grapple with overlapping crises, we must not forget our responsibilities to victims of terrorism,” he stated.

He called for Member States’s financial support to:

Further develop and sustain UNOCT’s capacity-building support for victims of terrorism;
Revitalize the United Nations Victims of Terrorism Support Portal;
Design and launch knowledge products to support victims and survivors of terrorism as well as service providers; and
Enable broader participation in the International Conference on Victims of Terrorism.

Mr. Miedico’s opening statement was followed by statements from the Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations, Héctor Gómez, and the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations, Abdulaziz M. Alwasil. As key funding partners of the Global Victims of Terrorism Programme, they reaffirmed their support to the international victims of terrorism agenda and the work of UNOCT.

"We believe that guaranteeing the financial sustainability of the Global Victims of Terrorism Programme in the mid- to long-term is critical to continuing to advance the international victims of terrorism agenda, continuing to give victims a voice, and supporting their rights and needs." affirmed the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations.

The Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations stated “this is an issue of special importance for Spain, which takes its commitment to victims of terrorism very seriously, both as co-chair of the Group of Friends on Victims of Terrorism and as the host country for the upcoming International Conference on Victims of Terrorism on 8-9 October 2024 in Vitoria-Gasteiz. We encourage member states to respond to UNOCT’s appeal."

Participants were briefed on the work of the Global Programme on Victims of Terrorism, which is dedicated to addressing and advocating for the rights and needs of victims of terrorism globally and delivering capacity-building in this area. Members of the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism, co-chaired by Spain and Iraq, were also thanked for their role as key partners in promoting the victims of terrorism agenda and collaborating with UNOCT to grant visibility to this agenda, as well as to victims and survivors of terrorism.

At the conclusion of the event, representatives of the many Permanent Missions present expressed solidarity with the international victims of terrorism agenda and the need to prioritize the needs, rights, and voices of victims and survivors of terrorism in all efforts to prevent and counter terrorism. They thanked the Global Programme on Victims of Terrorism for its achievements and expressed support for its efforts to secure sustainable financing.

“Let us come together to carry on this important work, so that we can turn recommendations into realities and continue to deliver on our vision of a victim-less future.” concluded Mauro Miedico.

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