Secretary-General Addresses the UNCCT Advisory Board

In August 2014, the Government of Saudi Arabia and the United Nations completed an historic contribution agreement in the amount of $100 million for the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT). Addressing the UNCCT Advisory Board in November 2014, the Secretary-General expressed his gratitude to the late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and laid out his vision for the future role of the Centre.

“Every day, ISIS, Al-Qaida, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram and other terrorist organizations are threatening innocent civilians in seemingly new and more gruesome ways. I am deeply disturbed that these dangerous groups continue recruiting members of our societies, mostly young people,” the Secretary-General said. “World leaders understand that we must mobilize a stronger global response. That is the mission of the UN Centre”, he noted.

“Our goal is to transform the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre into a Centre of Excellence serving the world”. At the meeting, the UNCCT Executive Director, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Mr. Jeffrey Feltman expanded on the Secretary-General’s vision for the UNCCT which consists of six priorities.

First, the UNCCT will be built into a “Centre of Excellence” with subject matter experts that can provide counterterrorism capacity-building assistance, particularly in geographic and thematic areas that other CTITF entities may not be fully addressing.

Second, capacity building for Member States, particularly in countries and regions most threatened by terrorism, will be the primary role of the Centre as it contributes to the full implementation of all four Pillars of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

Third, capacity-building efforts will follow a strategic approach. As requested by the Advisory Board, the Centre will focus on fewer larger projects with a more significant impact.

Fourth, the UNCCT will support UN Country Teams, Special Political Missions and Peacekeeping Operations to ensure that counter-terrorism is mainstreamed into their work.

Fifth, the Centre will leverage the new contribution by working with Member States to jointly develop, fund and implement capacity-building projects.

And finally, the UNCCT will continue to ensure transparency as well as effective program and project management, including through regularly reporting. The Advisory Board unanimously welcomed the Secretary-General’s vision for the future role of UNCCT.

The Centre has since developed a Plan of Action for the implementation of this vision.