Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - Violent Extremism

Joint high-level consultations of UN counter-terrorism bodies in Tajikistan

AKHVEDELID — Wed, 09 May 2018 05:39:00 +0000

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On 3-4 May 2018, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) participated in a high-level international conference on Countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism. Held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, the conference was co-organized by the Government of Tajikistan, several United Nations bodies, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the European Union (EU), with financial support from the State of Qatar.

CTED Executive Director Michèle Coninsx delivered a statement during the plenary session of the conference, highlighting CTED’s current efforts aimed at countering terrorism and the evolution of its mandate pursuant to the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, as well as its work in Central Asia. One of CTED’s Legal Officers also delivered a presentation on evolving new threats and terrorist tactics with a focus on returning and relocating foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs).

The main objectives of the Conference included creating a common understanding of current challenges and obstacles in the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in the region and globally; exploring opportunities for strengthening partnerships and cooperation at national, regional, and international levels; sharing opportunities and challenges of Tajikistan’s National Counter-Terrorism Strategy implementation; identifying trends and challenges of radicalization, and the role of youth, ideology and information in preventing and countering violent extremism leading to terrorism; exchanging experiences in countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism with a focus on FTF threat prevention; stock-taking of domestic and regional mechanisms to counter terrorism and prevent violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism; and strengthening cooperation against cyber-terrorism and developing directives/guidelines for countering violent extremism in cyber space.

The conference was attended by delegations from 47 Member States, several United Nations delegations, and many regional organizations.

On the margins of the conference, Ms. Coninsx held several bilateral meetings, some of these jointly with UNOCT, the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy (UNRCCA), and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). These meetings included discussions with the President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, high-level officials of Afghanistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, the UN Resident Coordinator in Tajikistan, and heads of regional organizations.

Meeting with the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Mr. Rashid Alimov (centre).

Meeting between the President of Tajikistan and the UN delegation.

In the last three years, CTED has conducted assessment visits, on the Counter-Terrorism Committee’s behalf, to all five countries of Central Asia, and is working closely with UNOCT in the framework of the third phase of the Joint Plan of Action (JPoA) for Central Asia, which was launched on 30 April 2018 in Ashgabat. The recommendations made during these country visits – including those requiring the provision of technical assistance – will be addressed at the Counter-Terrorism Committee’s open briefing in New York on 2 July 2018.

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CTED and UN Women partner in countering violent extremism in South and South-East Asia

BMUSONI — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 14:07:00 +0000

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South and South-East Asia are among the world’s regions most severely affected by the threats of terrorism and violent extremism, with South Asia often cited as the second most impacted region in the world. The Security Council has stressed that these threats can best be countered by a comprehensive, whole-of-society approach that seeks to develop partnerships between Governments and other social actors. It is also essential to integrate a gender perspective, which means engaging with women and girls, who bring an expanded range of insights, expertise, and experience and may be differentially affected. In accordance with Security Council resolution 2354 (2017), effective action also entails countering and responding to terrorist narratives, both on-line and off-line, through creative messaging initiatives that include a prominent role for civil society and the private sector actors, especially young people.

To address these challenges, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and UN Women held two regional workshops in Bangkok, Thailand, during the week of 25 to 29 September 2017 on the topic of “Engaging communities in approaches to countering violent extremism (CVE) and incitement in Asia.” The workshops, organized with the support of the Government of Japan, brought together Government officials, civil society representatives, and academic experts, and provided an opportunity to share good practices and recommendations from South and South-East Asia, as well as learn from one another’s experiences. The week also included a special day-long session guided by Facebook, Google, and the Bangkok-based non-governmental organisation Love Frankie on effective approaches to countering terrorist incitement and recruitment on-line“In countering violent extremism, all-of-society approaches and public-private-partnerships have never been so important. We need to identify and mobilize more community stakeholders and break down firewalls between the public and private sectors,” said Sué Takasu, Senior Legal Officer with CTED.

CTED has long been active in both South Asia and South-East Asia, working closely with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), respectively. CTED’s work in the field of CVE is guided by Security Council resolutions 1624 (2005), which calls upon Member States to prohibit and counter incitement to commit terrorist acts, and resolution 2178 (2014), which urges States to consider an inclusive approach to countering the threat of violent extremism, particularly with respect to stemming the flow of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs). Meanwhile, Security Council resolution 2242 (2015) consolidates the mandate of UN Women to work in the areas of counter-terrorism and CVE. It further requests the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and CTED to integrate gender as a cross-cutting issue throughout the activities within their respective mandates, and it encourages the CTC and CTED to hold further consultations with women and women’s organizations to help inform their work.

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CTED facilitates Tunis workshop on countering terrorism and violent extremism

BMUSONI — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 16:03:00 +0000

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The Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) facilitated a workshop on “Strengthening Community Engagement in Implementing Security Council resolutions 1624 (2005) and 2178 (2014) and the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy” in Tunis, Tunisia, from 19 to 20 July 2017.

The workshop was organized in cooperation with the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) – The Hague and the Human Security Collective, with the support of the Government of Tunisia and funding from the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT).

The event brought together representatives of Tunisia’s National Commission on the Fight against Terrorism (Commission Nationale de la Lutte contre le Terrorisme, CNLT); representatives of Tunisian ministries; civil-society and private-sector representatives; and international experts, including from other North African States. Representatives of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also participated.

The workshop featured a presentation by the Deputy Mayor of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, who explained measures taken by the city to promote greater engagement with local communities, particularly youth, in countering radicalization leading to terrorism, including through job training and civic-engagement programmes.

CTED referred to the relevant Security Council resolutions identifying engagement with communities and other social actors as part of an effective approach to countering incitement and violent extremism.

Speakers also underlined the value of comprehensive approaches that took account of the underlying conditions conducive to terrorism and violent extremism, as well as the need to ensure respect for human rights and the rule of law in all counter-terrorism efforts.

The event provided an opportunity to explore ways in which Government bodies, civil society and the private sector can cooperate most effectively in implementing strategies to address the full range of counter-terrorism and CVE issues, including the question of factors that lead to terrorist activities, as highlighted in Security Council resolution 2129 (2013).

The United Nations Acting Resident Coordinator informed participants that the United Nations Country Team in Tunisia was ready to support all relevant efforts taken by the Government.

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