Delivered by: Her Excellency Lana Nusseibeh, Ambassador and Permanent Representative
Thank you, Mr. President.
Excellencies, distinguished participants,
As Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1373 concerning counter-terrorism, I have the honour to brief the Council on key aspects of the work of the Committee, supported by its Executive Directorate (or “CTED”).
The past year has seen a continued evolution of threats and challenges posed by terrorist activities across the globe. The terrorist threat from Da’esh and Al Qaida, respectively, remains concentrated in conflict zones where fragilities are more easily exploited, even though counter-terrorism measures have effectively been mitigating their activities elsewhere. Their respective terrorist activities in the Middle East, Asia and Africa have become more decentralized and are often framed by local dynamics. As technologies have become cheaper and easier to access, terrorist groups have become increasingly adept at exploiting such technologies, including planning and conducting attacks with unmanned aircraft systems. Terrorism motivated by xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance, or in the name of religion or belief is increasing in some Member States – often perpetrated by lone actors that are challenging to detect and identify pre-emptively.
With the support of CTED, the Committee has continued to engage with Member States, UN entities, international and regional organizations, academia, and civil society organizations to assist Member States to address those threats and challenges in accordance with relevant Council resolutions on terrorism.
In doing so, the Committee has focused on three key areas of work:
First, the assessment of Member States’ implementation efforts.
Acting on the Committee’s behalf, CTED has conducted 8 visits this year, bringing the total number of visits conducted since 2005 to precisely 200, and the total number of visited States to 117.
The visits have continued to provide an effective mechanism for direct and constructive engagement and dialogue between the Committee, CTED, and Member States, and remain a critical component of the Committee’s assessment process.
The Committee also continued its stocktaking work with the enhanced assessment and stocktaking tool, the electronic Detailed Implementation Survey, as well as the revised Overview of Implementation Assessment.
These tools are designed to ensure continued thoroughness, consistency and transparency during desk reviews and stocktaking assessments. They also help produce quantitative and qualitative analysis to inform the relevant policy decisions of the Committee and the Council.
In this regard, the Committee and the other Security Council subsidiary organs have continued to work closely together, in accordance with their respective mandates.
The second key area has been the facilitation of technical assistance to Member States.
The Committee and CTED maintained their close cooperation and coordination with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), together with a wide range of other UN entities, and regional and bilateral stakeholders.
The Committee regularly receives briefings from UNOCT and UNOCT observers attend CTED’s briefings to the Committee on Member State assessment visits, while UNODC has participated in most of CTED’s visits to Member States.
High-priority technical assistance needs identified during the Committee’s assessment visits, as well as several visit reports, are posted on the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact Portal for access by relevant UN implementing partners. In this regard, CTED has been working closely with UNOCT to update the database of recommendations and improve its functionality.
CTED, serving as Chair, Co-Chair or Vice Chair of several Working Groups of the Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact, continues to work closely with UNOCT, UNODC and other relevant UN entities to ensure that technical assistance achieve specific and measurable impact and results for assisted Member States.
The third key area has been the continued promotion of Member States’ implementation efforts.
Since its adoption of the Delhi Declaration on 29 October 2022 during the Special Meeting on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, the Committee has undertaken the tasks set forth in the declaration. These include the development of recommendations and non-binding guiding principles covering the three significant areas in which emerging technologies are experiencing rapid development, growing use by Member States for security and counter-terrorism efforts, and increased risk of terrorist exploitation, namely Information and Communication technology, new payment technologies for fundraising, and unmanned aircraft systems.
Over the past year, the Committee has held four open and closed briefings on regional and thematic topics to address the interests and concerns of Member States on counter-terrorism. This includes the open briefing on countering terrorist narratives, highlighting the latest trends such as the impact of artificial intelligence and emphasizing preventive measures, as mandated by the Council.
CTED’s analytic products – which are informed by its close cooperation with the member entities of its Global Research Network – have helped raise the awareness of the Council, the Committee, and Member States concerning emerging terrorism trends and threats.
The Committee has also continued addressing the human rights and gender aspects of counter-terrorism. It reminds Member States that any measures taken to counter terrorism must comply with all their obligations under international law, including international human rights law, international refugee law and international humanitarian law.
The Committee strengthened its engagement with parliamentarians, civil society organizations, the private sector, and academia within the framework of its various activities and events.
The Council, in resolution 2617, decided to conduct, by 31 December this year, an interim review of the mandate of CTED as special political mission. The Committee will be assisting the Council in its review and will continue to provide policy guidance to CTED on enhancing its operation and functionality.
In closing, I wish to express my thanks to the CTED Executive Director, Assistant Secretary-General Natalia Gherman, for her leadership, and thank her team, as well as the Committee’s secretary for the support provided to the Chair and the Committee over the past year.
I also wish to convey my deep appreciation to the members of the Committee for their constructive engagement.
Thank you, Mr. President.