#UNGA: TERRORISM is one of the topics discussed at the General Assembly

On September 19, 2017 at his address to the General Assembly ANTÓNIO GUTERRES, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, raised the topic of terrorism as one of the challenges that humanity faces in the modern world.  "Terrorism continues to take a rising toll of death and devastation," he said in his opening speech.

The Secretary General emphasized that multilateral efforts against terrorism are significantly benefiting the entire world since they have "disrupted networks, reclaimed territory, prevented attacks and saved lives". He also noted that "stronger international cooperation remains crucial against terrorism."

ANTÓNIO GUTERRES shared that he intends to convene the first-ever gathering of heads of counter-terrorism agencies of Member States in 2018 in order to "forge a new International Counter-Terrorism Partnership."

UNODC is actively participating in the global counter-terrorism initiative. One of the projects aimed at contributing to anti-terroristic activities is the " Supporting Criminal Justice Capacity Building against Emerging Terrorist Threats, Including Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs in Central Asia)" project initiated by UNODC the Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB) in 2015.

The Project has a comparatively long timeline 2015-2017 and involves multiple stakeholders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The Project pursues the following objectives: 

  • Promotion of the implementation of preventive measures related to FTFs;
  • Strengthening of the resilience to terrorist threats of the targeted Central Asian counties;
  • Enhancement of regional and international cooperation between countries in the Central Asian region.

The project activities will be concluded by the end of 2017. It has performed a total of 7 activities covering nearly 200 law enforcement officials, prosecutors, judges and others specialists in the domain of criminal justice administration.

It is obvious that the above mentioned project and other efforts implemented as a part of the UNODC cooperation with international agencies and the UN Member States remain essential to ensuring peace and safety in the world. The Secretary General calls on to further strengthen these efforts. "We must do more to address the roots of radicalization, including real and perceived injustices and high levels of unemployment and grievance among young people" he says.