UN Action to Counter
Terrorism

All too often we are reminded that terrorism continues to inflict pain and suffering on people’s lives all over the world. Almost no week goes by without an act of terrorism taking place somewhere in the world, indiscriminately affecting innocent people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Countering this scourge is in the interest of all nations and the issue has been on the agenda of the United Nations for decades.

Eighteen universal instruments (fourteen instruments and four amendments) against international terrorism have been elaborated within the framework of the United Nations system relating to specific terrorist activities. Member States through the General Assembly have been increasingly coordinating their counter-terrorism efforts and continuing their legal norm-setting work. The Security Council has also been active in countering terrorism through resolutions and by establishing several subsidiary bodies. At the same time a number of programmes, offices and agencies of the United Nations system have been engaged in specific activities against terrorism, further assisting Member States in their counter-terrorism efforts.

To consolidate and enhance these activities, Member States in September 2006 embarked upon a new phase in their counter-terrorism efforts by agreeing on a global strategy to counter terrorism. The Strategy marks the first time that all Member States of the United Nations have agreed to a common strategic and operational framework to fight terrorism. The Strategy forms a basis for a concrete plan of action: to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism; to prevent and combat terrorism; to take measures to build state capacity to fight terrorism; to strengthen the role of the United Nations in combating terrorism; and to ensure the respect of human rights while countering terrorism. The Strategy builds on the unique consensus achieved by world leaders at their 2005 September Summit to condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

United Nations Commemorates the 10th Anniversary of 9/11

The United Nations marked on 9 September 2011 the 10th anniversary of the 11 September attacks on the United States with a solemn commemoration in the General Assembly Hall, music, poetry and a vow to intensify the battle against terror wherever it is perpetrated in the world.

“We want to be here to express our compassion and solidarity for all the victims of terrorist acts who are attacked randomly and without respite throughout the world. We are here to express our indignation at the cowardice of terrorism, condemn it firmly and categorically, combat it and see that the guilty are punished.”

– The President of the General Assembly

“The attacks targeted more than one single country; they were an assault on humanity itself, and on the universal values of peace and dignity that the United Nations was created to promote and defend.”

– The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations

The Security Council also issued a Presidential statement:
The members of the Security Council “reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to peace and security, and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivation, whenever and by whomsoever committed.”