Photo: Visiting delegation at Massey University Oteha Rohe near Auckland, New Zealand, holding a community round-table discussion event on CVE with representatives from Government, civil society, community outreach programmes, religious leaders, and academia.
On 11-13 July 2018, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), acting on behalf of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, undertook a visit to New Zealand. Following the Committee’s initial assessment of July 2009, this was a focused visit concentrating on New Zealand’s implementation of Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005), 2178 (2014), 2396 (2017), and other relevant Council resolutions. In accordance with the practice followed for the Committee’s previous assessment visits, the human rights aspects of New Zealand’s counter-terrorism measures and the role of women in countering terrorism and violent extremism were also raised during the discussions.
Under the auspices of the New Zealand Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), representatives from a wide variety of national ministries and agencies, as well as of civil society and academia, took part in the three-day discussions, reflecting New Zealand’s cohesive methodology to counter-terrorism.
New Zealand has demonstrated a strong commitment to the enactment of a national framework on counter-terrorism and CVE. The diverse nature of New Zealand’s population, combined with its longstanding commitment to diversity, has major implications for its approach, including through its carefully constructed policies and measures in areas such as border management and community policing.
The CTED delegation, headed by Chief of Section Ms. Elizabeth Joyce, took note of New Zealand’s preventive and awareness-raising measures to prevent radicalization and counter violent extremism, and commended New Zealand for its bespoke, holistic approach to community outreach and collaboration.
The delegation noted the various measures taken by New Zealand to address terrorism threats related to the movement of terrorist actors and foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs), varying from enhanced border controls involving the use of cutting-edge technologies, through strengthening legal mechanisms for prosecution of terrorists and returning FTFs. The delegation also noted New Zealand’s preventive and awareness-raising measures to deal with radicalization and counter violent extremism, as well as a number of effective mechanisms aimed at ensuring inter-agency coordination and information-sharing, and welcomes New Zealand’s development of a draft national counter-terrorism strategy.
The delegation included CTED experts, as well as representatives of ICAO, INTERPOL, and UN Women.