Delivered by: Her Excellency Lana Nusseibeh, Ambassador and Permanent Representative
Thank you, Mr. President.
Excellencies, distinguished participants,
On behalf of the Chairs of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolutions 1267, 1989 and 2253, concerning the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities; Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 concerning counter-terrorism; and the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540, I have the honour to deliver a joint statement on cooperation between the three Committees.
Over the past year, the three subsidiary bodies have coordinated their work to strengthen approaches to counter-terrorism and to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery by non-state actors.
Today, I will detail the form this work has taken.
First, cooperation visits.
In 2023 CTED, on behalf of the CTC, visited Benin, Canada, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Jordan, the Republic of Korea and Spain.
These CTC visits enable the Security Council to monitor, promote and facilitate the implementation of relevant counter-terrorism resolutions by all Member States. They allow the CTC to evaluate the threat of terrorism at national and subregional levels, as well as identifying progress, strengths, gaps and good practices, including the delivery of technical assistance. An expert from the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team pursuant to resolutions 1526 and 2253 participated in the visits to Canada and Ecuador and provided advice to the delegations visiting Benin and the DRC. The Monitoring Team’s participation in CTC assessment visits is invaluable in assisting the CTC to better evaluate the threats posed by terrorism and the to identify gaps. The Monitoring Team’s advice also helps inform the development of tailor-made capacity-building priorities for Member States, technical assistance providers and implementing partners.
Second, an important aspect of the work over the past year has been on information exchange.
CTED, the Monitoring Team and 1540 Group of Experts continued to exchange information on issues related to the mandates of the three Committees prior to and after country visits, including when experts of the Monitoring Team and 1540 Group of Experts were unable to join the respective assessment teams. For example, it has become practice for the Monitoring Team and 1540 Group of Experts to discuss threat assessments related to individuals and organizations listed under the 1267 and 1988 sanctions regimes, as well as those designated on national sanction lists in line with resolution 1373.
The Executive Director of CTED met regularly in 2023 with the coordinators of the Monitoring Team and 1540 Group of Experts. CTED also shared its monthly activities reports and CTC monthly bulletin on its visit schedule with the Monitoring Team and Group of Experts, to keep them abreast of CTED outreach activities.
CTED, the Monitoring Team and 1540 Group of Expert continue to meet regularly at the working level to take stock of the latest developments in their respective mandates, and to identify further possible areas of cooperation. This includes quarterly briefings during which the Monitoring Team Coordinator provides an update on the terrorism threat.
Third, collaboration has taken place on events.
The Monitoring Team and CTED collaborated on two side-events during the Third United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week in June. A Monitoring Team expert participated in the side event on “The Nexus between Organized Crime and Terrorism in the Americas”, co-organized by CTED, the OAS, UNICRI and the Permanent Mission of Chile to the United Nations. Experts from the Monitoring Team and CTED also partnered in the side event organized by the Permanent Missions of Canada and Spain and Princeton University on “Tackling the Multiplicity of Security Challenges in Taliban-run Afghanistan and Neighboring Countries: Terrorism, Organized Crime, Human Rights and Humanitarian Assistance”.
Fourth, experts have contributed to important reporting.
In 2023, experts of CTED and the Monitoring Team cooperated closely in the drafting of the mandated Sixteenth and Seventeenth reports of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by ISIL(Da’esh) to international peace and security and the range of United Nations efforts in support of Member States in countering the threat.
In the wake of the Counter-Terrorism Committee’s Special Meeting held in October 2022 in Delhi, the Monitoring Team has continued to collaborate with CTED experts following the adoption of the Delhi Declaration. Monitoring Team experts have contributed to consultations held by CTED to facilitate the drafting of the non-binding Guiding Principles on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.
CTED also consulted with the Monitoring Team as it prepared its thematic summary assessment of gaps in implementing key provisions of relevant Security Council resolutions on countering the financing of terrorism, prepared annually pursuant to paragraph 35 of resolution 2462.
CTED and the Monitoring Team participated in project teams, attended working group and plenary meetings of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and provided consolidated inputs on ISIL(Da’esh) and Al Qaeda financing.
Fifth, cooperation has taken place within the framework of the Global Counter-Terrorism Compact Working Groups, some of which are chaired by CTED.
In their dialogue with Member States, Monitoring Team and CTED experts have partnered on seminars, workshops and expert briefings. This includes the Monitoring Team’s participation in the CTED-Naif Arab University for Security Sciences High-level Seminar and their joint briefing of a delegation of jurists and academics from Bangladesh about the terrorism threat in South and South-East Asia, facilitated by the US State Department.
Since the last joint statement, experts of the Monitoring Team have attended the following CTC briefings:
- the Financial Action Task Force for Latin America, or GAFILAT briefing;
- the open briefing of the CTC on “The Outcomes of its Special Meeting on New and Emerging Technologies”;
- CTED’s briefing to the CTC on “Integrating Gender into Counter-Terrorism Responses”;
- CTED’s briefing of the CTC on “Terrorist threats to civil aviation and the status of implementation of Security Council resolution 2309”;
- CTED’s closed briefing of the Counter-Terrorism Committee on “Addressing transnational threats posed by terrorist groups”;
- and CTED’s briefing to the five incoming Security Council members on the work of CTED.
Sixth, the Monitoring Team, CTED and the 1540 Group of Experts have been engaged in awareness raising efforts on the growing threat of non-state actors developing, acquiring, manufacturing, possessing, transporting, transferring or using nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, related materials, and dual-use items for terrorist purposes. This includes raising awareness and assisting Member States to establish appropriate domestic controls to prevent the illicit trafficking of these items.
The Monitoring Team also joined CTED to lead awareness-raising efforts with Member States regarding the enhanced implementation of travel ban measures. This includes the effective usage of the 1267 and 1988 Sanctions Lists along with the INTERPOL Special Notices, advance passenger information and passenger name record (API/PNR) systems and national watchlists.
Mr. President,
As such, the twentieth programme of work of the 1540 Committee, covering the period from 1 February 2023 to 31 January 2024, was submitted to the Security Council on 16 February 2023.
The Programme includes a comprehensive list of the Committee’s planned activities to support full implementation of the requirements of resolution 1540 by all Member States. The activities take place in the areas of outreach by the Committee, the Committee’s assistance mechanism, cooperation with international, regional and subregional organizations, and transparency.
Mr. President,
The three Committees will continue to cooperate and coordinate their work under their respective mandates, including through joint visits at the invitation of Member States. This will ensure an effective and efficient approach to counter-terrorism and to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their means of delivery and related materials by non-state actors.
Furthermore, the three Committees reaffirm their continued commitment to supporting Member States in accordance with the requirements of relevant Security Council resolutions.
Thank you.