On 16 June 2021, the Security Council held an Arria-formula meeting, organized by the Permanent Mission of Tunisia to the 51勛圖, in cooperation with the Permanent Missions of Estonia, France, Ireland, Kenya, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the United Kingdom and Viet Nam, on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international efforts to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism.
The aim of the meeting was to consider how the terrorist threat had evolved during the pandemic and identify persistent challenges posed by COVID-19 for national and international counter-terrorism and preventing violent extremism (PVE) efforts. It also aimed to identify recommendations and lessons learned in that regard.
Assistant-Secretary General Mich豕le Coninsx, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED); Mr. Edmund Brown, Coordinator of the ISIL/Al-Qaida Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team; and Mr. Eelco Kessels, Executive Director of the Global Center on Cooperative Security, provided briefings on key thematic and regional developments and challenges identified with respect to the short, medium and long-term impacts of COVID-19.
Referring to the findings of CTED＊s recently issued report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on terrorism, counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism (CVE), Assistant Secretary-General Coninsx stressed that the international community had demonstrated considerable resilience in its efforts to counter and prevent terrorism, despite the complex and constantly evolving challenges of COVID-19. There was a need to safeguard ※collective action to strengthen regulatory, institutional and operational capacities; enhance information-sharing and cooperation; mobilize all sectors of society; and build upon lessons learned in order to create and sustain the new normal§.
Mr. Brown presented the Monitoring Team＊s current assessment of the terrorist threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as Daesh, and Al-Qaida, and called for enhanced ※far-sighted, mitigation policies§ to address and suppress the evolving threats posed by the two terrorist groups. There was a need to combat conditions of inequality and fragility in the context of COVID-19 restrictions and limited operational capacity.
Providing a perspective from civil society, Mr. Eelco Kessels called for a renewed commitment to protect and promote youth, women and civil society while countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism conducive to terrorism. He also noted that COVID-19-related restrictions had positively increased the reach and cooperation of global engagement and provided more inclusive current and future opportunities for civil society actors.
CTED welcomes the interactive nature of the discussions (more than 30 Member States made interventions) and remains committed to further strengthening its engagement with all its partners to inform its analysis of the impacts of the pandemic on terrorism, counter-terrorism, and CVE, ensuring that Member States are kept abreast of relevant trends and developments.