CTED conducts comprehensive visit to the Federal Republic of Germany

BMUSONI — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 15:07:00 +0000

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On behalf of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, its Executive Directorate (CTED) conducted a comprehensive visit to Germany, from 20 to 24 November 2017, to discuss Germany’s progress in implementing Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005), and 2178 (2014), the latter on stemming the flow of foreign terrorist fighters.

Discussions with Government officials and other relevant stakeholders focused on legislation and judicial practice, counter-financing of terrorism, law enforcement, border control, international cooperation, countering violent extremism that leads to terrorism, the role of women in countering terrorism and violent extremism, information and communications technologies (ICT) in the context of counter-terrorism, and the importance for rule-of-law-based responses to terrorism.

“The German Federal System involves many players in the fight against terrorism, thus making the endeavour more complex. However, it ensures a high degree of ownership of this fight not only in the Federal Government but on the level of the 16 Federal States as well. This might be the secret why there is such a broad understanding in Germany on all levels of how essential this fight is,” said Bernd Henize, Head of Division International Cooperation against Terrorism, Federal Foreign Office.

The delegation noted Germany’s innovative and comprehensive approaches to counter-terrorism, which aim at keeping pace with the evolving terrorist threat. Germany has also taken multiple steps to address the challenges of national and international co-operation and information sharing. The delegation was briefed on the wide array of measures put in place on border management and law enforcement-related issues. The delegation acknowledged Germany’s advanced efforts to promote dialogue and engage with different communities to enhance inter-cultural understanding and counter incitement and violent extremism, and met with several non-governmental organizations actively involved in building societal resilience against all types of extremism.

“Germany employs a multidisciplinary approach to counter-terrorism, and the delegation is thankful to the authorities for facilitating meetings with multiple Governmental officials through different onsite visits, as well as with non-governmental and academic institutions,” said Seif El-Dawla, CTED’s Chief of Section.

Germany reaffirmed its strong commitment to countering terrorism in all its aspects, including foreign terrorist fighters and returnees. The delegation also welcomed Germany’s commitment to continue its provision of counter-terrorism assistance to a wide range of Member States.

In addition to CTED experts, the delegation included representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the World Customs Organization.

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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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Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - extremism

CTED conducts comprehensive visit to the Federal Republic of Germany

germany.jpg

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

bangkok_workshops_25_29_september_2017.jpg