Panelists and moderators in the virtual launch event.
On Friday, 15 July 2022, the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) held a virtual launch event to discuss concerns over the use of proceeds from the exploitation, trade, and trafficking of natural resources for the purposes of terrorism financing, with reference to its most recent Trends Alert issued on 30 June 2022.
Discussions with experts in this field referred to several well-documented examples of terrorism financing through the proceeds from exploitation or trade in natural resources in several regions of the world, including in relation to oil and natural gas, natural resources used for agriculture and fishing (e.g., livestock, red pepper, cocoa, coffee, and timber), wildlife, minerals, and precious metals (with a particular focus on gold mining) and charcoal.
Panelists reflected on financing methods related to natural resources used by terrorist groups in the Horn of Africa; trends observed in Libya and the Syrian Arab Republic; links between terrorism financing and illicit activities related to artisanal gold mines in certain parts of West Africa. Participants also highlighted alarming trends in parts of Latin America.
They also offered their insights on remaining challenges, including with regards to gaps in national risk assessments; the lack of AML/CFT regulation and risk-based supervision in the sectors concerned; lack of mechanisms for exchanging information with other States regarding the unusual transportation of resources such as gold or precious stones; insufficient capacity and expertise to investigate cases with potential terrorism-financing linkages; weaknesses in building networks of practitioners and establishing channels for intelligence-sharing; the need to use new technologies that enable relevant authorities to understand supply chains and detect emerging trends; the need to extend and sustain public-private partnerships, for which the coordination with civil society and academia plays an essential role. The importance of international and regional cooperation was reiterated as being key in understanding and addressing the problem.
Full video recording of the event is available
Agenda & meeting materials:
Opening Remarks by Mr. David Scharia, Director and Chief of Branch (CTED)
Conversational discussion with panelists focusing on identified cases of terrorism financing through proceeds from exploitation of natural resources and current challenges in preventing and countering such abuses:
? Dr. Katharine Petrich, Visiting Assistant Professor of Terrorism and Non-proliferation Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies
? Ms. Chania Lackey, Regional Programs Coordinator, Global Center on Cooperative Security
? Mr. Maurice Toupane, Senior Researcher at the Regional Office for West Africa, the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin, Institute for Security Studies
? Ms. Sofia Dems, Associate Expert on Countering the Financing of Terrorism, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Pre-registered statements from the floor and Q & A
Closing Remarks by Ms. Svetlana Martynova, Senior Legal Officer and Coordinator on Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CTED)
The Trends Alert was prepared by CTED in accordance with Security Council resolution 2395 (2017), which directs CTED to conduct analytical work on emerging issues, trends, and developments and to make its analytical products available throughout the United Nations system. CTED Trends Alerts aim to provide the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee, United Nations agencies, and policymakers, with a concise analysis of specific issues, trends, and developments, as identified through CTED’s engagement with Member States in terms of their implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions.