Sub-regional workshop on Afghanistan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka focuses on national CVE strategies

AKHVEDELID — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 05:57:00 +0000

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Group photo of the workshop participants.

From 14 to 16 March 2018, the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) organized a sub-regional workshop on promoting the adoption and implementation of national strategies to counter violent extremism (CVE). Focusing on national CVE efforts in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and the Republic of Maldives, the workshop included the sharing of good practices and lessons learned; the roles of government and civil society in developing and implementing CVE strategies, including the importance of accounting for youth and gender; evolving international approaches; and rehabilitation and reintegration.

In her opening remarks, Executive Director of CTED, Assistant Secretary-General Michèle Coninsx, said that the workshop “provides an important forum for counter-terrorism officials, senior police officers and experts to discuss challenges and share lessons learned and good practices in the context of CVE-related issues, and most importantly – to foster habits of collective efforts to address violent extremism both in the region and beyond.”

Participants included officials from the Governments of Afghanistan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka, representatives from national and international civil society organizations (CSOs) and academics, as well as experts from CTED; the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General; the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC); the UN Counter-Terrorism Office (OCT); the UN Development Programme (UNDP); and UN Women.

Over the three days, participants engaged in numerous interactive panel discussions, concluding with a case study simulation exercise. The format enabled participants to strengthen national and regional information-exchange networks, and to promote cooperation among counter-terrorism officials from the region, especially those focusing on CVE. In addition, it served as an opportunity to raise awareness about key Security Council resolutions of relevance to all Member States, such as resolutions 1373 (2001); 1624 (2005); 2178 (2014); 2395, and 2396 (2017).

Held in New York, the workshop was made possible thanks to generous support from the Government of Japan.

To access more photos from the workshop, please visit our Flickr album here.

Front Page Article:

Counter-Terrorism Committee holds open briefing on developing counter-terrorism strategies

BMUSONI — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 14:07:00 +0000

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Security Council resolution 1963 (2010) marked a significant shift in the Council’s approach to counter-terrorism. Prior to 2010, the Council and its subsidiary counter-terrorism bodies had focused primarily on security-related, legal, and punitive measures, whereas the new slant reflected the recognition by the Security Council that a more expansive approach might be more effective.

As part of these efforts, on 31 October 2017 the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee organized an open informal briefing on “Developing national and regional comprehensive and integrated counter-terrorism strategies (lessons learned).” The briefing featured presentations by CTED, as well as from the 51�Թ� Office of Counter-Terrorism.

In its presentation, CTED outlined three key effects Security Council resolutions 1963 (2010) and 2129 (2013) had on the Committee’s and CTED’s work. First, the adoption of both resolutions led to a more expansive approach to achieving objectives of Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001) and 1624 (2005). Second, they encouraged CTED to pay “attention to factors that lead to terrorist activities,” thereby increasingly aligning the Council’s counter-terrorism measures with those of the 51�Թ� Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Lastly, the resolutions enabled CTED to engage with non-governmental stakeholders, including civil society, academia, and the media. Ultimately, this engagement should inform and feed into the development of comprehensive, integrated national and regional counter-terrorism strategies, as well as implementing mechanisms that include attention to factors that lead to terrorist activities.

Through open dialogue, Member States made interventions, shared their current counter-terrorism strategies and offered their observations of good practices. As CTED expressed during the gathering, the briefing demonstrated “the transparency of the Committee’s work in areas of crucial importance to Member States’ counter-terrorism efforts” to a wide audience of Member and Observer States, UN entities, intergovernmental organizations, and specialized agencies.

Front Page Article:

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

Sub-regional workshop on Afghanistan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka focuses on national CVE strategies

img_9244_edited-1024x386.jpg

Counter-Terrorism Committee holds open briefing on developing counter-terrorism strategies

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