Director General/Executive Director
Delivered on behalf of the UNODC Executive Director by Chief, UNODC Terrorism Prevention Branch
Excellencies,
Thank you for this opportunity to speak on behalf of the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
UNODC remains your dedicated partner in strengthening the global alliance against terrorism, and helping victims of terrorism to be supported and heard.
As our Executive Director said on this year's International Day, "their voices rise above the twisted narratives of terrorists and sound a clarion call for justice."
It is our duty to amplify these calls. But solidarity must be backed by meaningful support.
Victims and survivors often face challenges in seeking justice. These can include difficulties with access to information before, during and after the criminal process, as well as a lack of appropriate gender- and age-sensitive mechanisms to provide longer-term medical, financial and psychosocial support.
UNODC, in close coordination with OCT and other partners, is helping governments to strengthen victim-centred, rights-based criminal justice approaches, as part of comprehensive counter-terrorism frameworks that address all aspects of victims' needs, even as they hold perpetrators to account.
Alongside our technical assistance and capacity building activities, we will soon be publishing a handbook on supporting victims of terrorism more effectively and involving them as partners in preventing and countering terrorism.
Going forward, we need to further advance coordination in and between countries, as well as with civil society. Cross-border cooperation is crucial as victims can be of many nationalities and may be affected far from home.
In closing, I would like to thank the Co-Chairs of the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism, Afghanistan and Spain, for their commitment. You can rely on UNODC's support.
Thank you.