On 14 September 2021, Assistant Secretary-General Michèle Coninsx, Executive Director of CTED, joined the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) in celebrating the Institute’s 25th anniversary at the 20th ICT World Summit on Counter-Terrorism. The annual ICT World Summit provides a vital forum for dialogue and the sharing of good practices and ideas within the framework of the global effort to combat terrorism.
In her keynote address, Assistant Secretary-General Coninsx expressed her continued appreciation for the cutting-edge, evidence-based research produced by the Institute, noting that its efforts had greatly informed the development of global counter-terrorism responses over the past 25 years.
Despite the significant progress achieved in countering the global terrorist threat over the past 25 years, the threat continued to evolve, creating new and diverse challenges.
Certain key principles must remain at the heart of the global counter-terrorism effort:
• It was essential to place the victims of terrorism at the centre of all counter-terrorism efforts.
• All counter-terrorism policies and programmes should be evidence-based, gender-and age-sensitive, and human rights-compliant.
• There was a need to ensure a whole-of-society approach in countering terrorism, its financing, and the spread of online violent extremist content. Partners, such as non-profit organizations, the financial sector and the private sector, should be increasingly included in all counter-terrorism strategies and programmes.
• It was essential to recognize that terrorist activities increasingly transcend jurisdictions and borders, including digital borders.
Assistant Secretary-General Coninsx concluded her remarks by calling for continued efforts to strengthen national, regional, and international cooperation in countering terrorism, including within the framework of global forums such as the annual ICT World Summit.