28 October 2022, Mumbai, India – A tribute to the victims of terrorism solemnly marked the start of the first day of the special meeting of the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes, held at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
During a somber ceremony paying tribute to the victims of terrorism, including those involved in the 2008 terrorist attacks on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, high-level officials laid wreaths and flowers at the Mumbai Terrorism Victims Memorial. A wreath-laying ceremony ensued, with Mrs. Ruchira Kamboj, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, heads of delegations of Security Council members, Mr. Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, and Mr. Weixiong Chen, Acting Executive Director of the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED). Mr. Michael Moussa Adamo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Gabon and the President of Security Council for October, delivered a statement on behalf of Council members and Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India, delivered a special statement. The opening session was followed by an informal briefing on combatting terrorism financing in local and regional contexts.
In his statement, Mr. Chen underscored the “important roles victims and their networks can play in countering terrorism; in particular, our analysis of effective practices and experiences includes measures adopted by Member States to compensate victims and provide support services.” Highlighting the unique role of CTED in global endeavours to combat terrorism and counter violent extremism conducive to terrorism, he emphasized that the Executive Directorate was “an assessor of Member States’ counter-terrorism efforts; a facilitator of delivery of technical assistance to States in need, a promoter of international standards, codes and effective practices, as well as an analyst of new and emerging trends and challenges for the policy-making of the Committee and the Council.”
On 29 October 2022, participants will meet in New Delhi for a day-long session, culminating with the Counter-Terrorism Committee’s consideration of an outcome document. The special meeting will specifically focus on three significant areas where emerging technologies are experiencing rapid development, growing use by Member States (including for security and counter-terrorism purposes), and increasing threat of abuse for terrorism purposes, namely (a) the Internet and social media, (b) terrorism financing, and (c) unmanned aerial systems (UAS). It will provide opportunities to discuss existing and evolving threats, the deployment of new and emerging technology to counter those threats, continuing challenges and good practices, as well as a range of related human rights and gender considerations.
During the day, experts on the special meeting’s three themes will make presentations on new and emerging challenges and responses, offering examples of good practices and sharing lessons learned.
The session on 29 October will be broadcast live and on-demand. Watch the morning session at 08:55 (IST) on UN Web TV (available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi) or the United Nations YouTube channel (English).
Follow the afternoon session at 14:15 (IST), when the Counter-Terrorism Committee will take action on the outcome document, on UN Web TV (available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi) or the United Nations YouTube channel (English).
Further details can be found on the CTC dedicated webpage [ https://tinyurl.com/UNCTCEmergingTech ], where the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) has made a range of materials available.
CTED will continue to post more information, including snapshots of expert presentations and outcome document excerpts. To keep abreast of daily updates and highlights, follow CTED and watch out for #UNCTCEmergingTech:
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