Note to Correspondents

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO BRIEF MEMBER STATES ON IMPLEMENTATION OF UNITED NATIONS

 

GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY 16 FEBRUARY

 

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will launch a new online Counter-Terrorism Handbook when he briefs Member States at Headquarters on 16 February on progress taken by the United Nations in its Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy adopted last year by the General Assembly.

Since the Strategy was adopted in September 2006, the United Nations has been working to fulfil a number of its counter-terrorism commitments.

During the open briefing, Member States will be given an update of the work of the 24-member United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF). CTITF brings together United Nations departments, programmes, funds, offices and agencies that have a counter-terrorism mandate, as well as outside partner organizations such as the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).  Within the framework of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, CTITF has developed a work programme that focuses on specific areas of counter-terrorism.  A number of working groups have been established to carry forward initiatives based on the Strategy.  These include promoting intercultural and interreligious dialogue, enhancing technical assistance to Member States, establishing best practices on the protection of vulnerable targets, supporting and highlighting the victims of terrorism and assisting countries in addressing human rights in relation to counter-terrorism in their domestic legislation.

The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Online Handbook, compiled by the Task Force, is one practical outcome of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.  The Online Handbook illustrates the United Nations system-wide resources and activities in the field of counter-terrorism.  It is designed as a tool to better assist Member States to utilize these resources to enhance their own efforts at countering terrorism within the framework of the Global Strategy.

The Online Handbook offers global, as well as regional, tracking of counter-terrorism related activities and efforts of United Nations entities.  Those efforts can be searched according to broad themes, such as preventing terrorism, technical assistance, mitigation and response.  The Handbook will also provide specific focus on areas such as financing of terrorism; promoting education, tolerance and dialogue; protecting nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological materials; assisting victims; preventing travel by terrorists; providing training to law enforcement entities; assisting with drafting of anti-terrorism legislation; defending human rights; and protecting key infrastructure.

While the Handbook is intended primarily for Member States and United Nations partner organizations, especially regional and subregional bodies, as a resource tool, it will also be available to the general public, as it will be accessible through the United Nations counter-terrorism website at www.un.org/terrorism/cthandbook.

For more information on United Nations counter-terrorism actions, including the Global Strategy and the work of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force, please visit the United Nations counter-terrorism website at www.un.org/terrorism.  For more information on the launch of the Online Handbook, please contact Janos Tisovszky, Department of Public Information, at tisovszky@un.org or 917 367 2068.

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For information media • not an official record