The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), through its flagship Countering Terrorist Travel (‘T Travel’) Programme, organized a two-day Informal Working Group (IWG) meeting for 34 delegates representing law enforcement, counter-terrorism, security, and civil aviation agencies from 11 countries in the Southern African region, on the 24th of November in Gaborone, Botswana.
The regional IWG on the use of Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, which was virtually launched on 30 June 2022, aims to foster regional cooperation and coordination to support the detection of terrorists and other criminals.
A day prior to the regional IWG meeting, UNOCT and the Government of Botswana officially inaugurated the national Passenger Information Unit (PIU), which becomes the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to establish its PIU with the support of CT Travel Programme.
The Southern Africa regional IWG was established as a mechanism to support Member States in the region to implement UN Security Council Resolutions (2014), (2017), and (2019) by providing a forum to exchange best practices and lessons regarding the collection and use of passenger data.
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