Coordinating counter-terrorism actions within and beyond the UN system
Member States receive assistance with their counter-terrorism efforts through the work of various United Nations departments, programmes and specialized agencies. 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 development and governance issues that have bearing on counter-terrorism work; the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) undertakes work to prevent nuclear terrorism and the World Health Organization (WHO) promotes measures to address the threat of 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.
The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy adopted by Member States on 8 September 2006 serves as the common platform that brings together the counter-terrorism efforts of the various United Nations system entities into a common, coherent and more focused framework.
In an attempt to ensure coordinated and coherent efforts across the UN system to counter terrorism, the Secretary-General established the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) in July 2005. The Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy gives support to the practical work done by the Task Force and welcomes the Secretary-General’s intention to institutionalize it.
The Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force includes representatives from:
- Counter-terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED)
- Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)
- Department of Political Affairs (DPA)
- Department of Public Information (DPI)
- Department of Safety and Security (DSS)
- Expert Staff of 1540 Committee
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
- International Maritime Organization (IMO)
- International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL)
- Monitoring Team of 1267 Committee
- Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA)
- Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
- Office of Legal Affairs (OLA)
- Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
- United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI)
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
- World Customs Organization (WCO)
- World Bank
- World Health Organization (WHO)
The Task Force currently has nine Working Groups:
- Preventing and Resolving Conflicts
- Addressing Radicalization and Extremism that Lead to Terrorism
- Supporting and Highlighting Victims of Terrorism
- Preventing and Responding to WMD Attacks
- Tackling the Financing of Terrorism
- Countering the Use of the Internet for Terrorist Purposes
- Facilitating the Integrated Implementation of the United Nations
Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy - Strengthening the Protection of Vulnerable Targets
- Protecting Human Rights While Countering Terrorism
The Task Force has also compiled an Online Handbook that contains information on the counter-terrorism activities of its member entities and also provides information on and access to existing counter-terrorism resources available through the UN system. The Handbook was launched on 16 February 2007 by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a meeting where several Task Force entities also briefed Member States on their work.
A compilation of activities undertaken by Task Force entities in implementing the strategy was issued in a report by the Secretary General in July 2008.