UN ACTION AGAINST TERRORISM
The entire family of United Nations agencies, funds and programmes is committed to counter-terrorism efforts around the globe, whether by combating nuclear terrorism and stemming the proliferation of nuclear weapons or providing technical assistance to countries with a view to ratification and implementation of the legal instruments against terrorism.
The Vienna-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), for example, provides countries with assistance on counter-terrorism legislation; the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) addresses developmental and governance issues in a broad context of counter-terrorism work; the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) focuses on nuclear terrorism and the World Health Organization (WHO) on bio-terrorism.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have been addressing the issue of the security of commercial aviation and of ships and port facilities, respectively, for decades. Other non-UN entities with a key role include the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
The 2005 World Summit
For their part, all Member States agreed at the United Nations 60th anniversary World Summit in New York from 14 to 16 September 2005 on a clear and unqualified condemnation of terrorism "in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes."
World leaders also agreed to make every effort to reach agreement on a common definition of terrorism and to finalize a comprehensive convention on combating terrorism and welcomed the elements of strategy put forward by the Secretary-General in Madrid. They also asked the General Assembly to further develop this strategy with the aim of promoting comprehensive, coordinated and consistent responses to terrorism at the national, regional and international levels.
UN global counter-terrorism strategy
A year later on 8 September 2006, the General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/60/288 
to create a Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, marking the first time that all Member States have agreed to a common strategic and operational approach to fighting terrorism.
The Strategy also gathers all the various counter-terrorism activities of the United Nations system into a common strategic framework and builds on the consistent, unequivocal condemnation of terrorism by Member States. It seeks to strengthen the individual and collective capacity of countries and the United Nations to prevent and combat terrorism all while ensuring the protection of human rights and upholding the rule of law.
The Strategy also clearly affirms that terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group.
Important new initiatives set forth in the Strategy include:
- Improving the coherence and efficiency of counter-terrorism technical assistance delivery so that all States can play their part effectively;
- Voluntarily putting in place systems of assistance that would address the needs of victims of terrorism and their families;
- Addressing the threat of bioterrorism by establishing a single comprehensive database on biological incidents, focusing on improving States’ public health systems, and acknowledging the need to bring together major stakeholders to ensure that biotechnology’s advances are not used for terrorist or other criminal purposes but for the public good;
- Involving civil society, regional and subregional organizations in the fight against terrorism and developing partnerships with the private sector to prevent terrorist attacks on particularly vulnerable targets;
- Exploring innovative means to address the growing threat of terrorist use of the Internet;
- Modernizing border and customs controls systems, and improving the security of travel documents, to prevent terrorist travel and the movement of illicit materials; and
- Enhancing cooperation to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
In September 2008, the General Assembly held a two-day meeting to review implementation of the Strategy and adopted resolution A/RES/62/272 reaffirming its support for the Strategy.