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8146th Security Council Meeting: Threats to International Peace and Security
The Security Council today renewed the mandate of the Counter‑Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), the expert body that supports the Council’s counter-terrorism architecture until December 2021.
Unanimously adopting resolution 2395 (2017), the Council stressed the importance of strong coordination between the CTED and the recently established Office of Counter‑Terrorism headed by a new Under‑Secretary‑General in engaging with Member States, as well as with all other relevant organizations, to improve the implementation of the Global Counter‑Terrorism Strategy.
Through the text, the Council renewed the mandate of CTED as a special political mission in support of the Counter‑Terrorism Committee, which was created by resolution 1373 (2001), following the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States. It detailed the role of the Directorate in what it called its core role of identifying and assessing issues, trends and developments relating to the implementation of that resolution, supporting a “balanced” implementation of the Global Strategy and suggesting practical ways to meeting challenges. It reiterated the Directorate’s role in providing technical assistance and capacity‑building to countries that required it.
Recognizing the benefits of country visits by the Directorate, comprehensive assessments of country implementation and related follow‑up activities in that regard, the Council requested the CTED to report the Committee by the end of March 2018 on ways to strengthen the assessment process, with follow‑up and timelines taking into account the differing capacities of Member States.
The Council reiterated the call for the CTED to integrate gender into all its activities and encourage it to take into consideration the impact of terrorism on children, especially in regard to issues related to families of returning and relocating foreign terrorist fighters.
Following the vote, several speakers welcomed the adoption and discussed how well their concerns were taken into consideration.
The representative of the United States said that despite the persistence of the terrorist threat, the adoption showed that the world was strengthening its mechanisms to fight the scourge and adapting its strategies to current conditions. “We need a CTED that is agile and able to respond to emerging threats,” she said.
She hoped that the text would firmly establish the body’s role in the new counter-terrorism architecture, help it to better assist Member States and strengthen its functions in early-warning. Effective counter‑terrorism strategies, she stressed, must be effective, multifaceted and balanced, and take into account local conditions and the situation of minorities, with comprehensive security provisions incorporating a gender perspective. She added that human rights must be kept at the core of the effort.
Egypt’s representative, expressing gratitude for the support provided to his country as the Chair of the Committee, described his delegation’s efforts to include what he called critical issues such as extradition in the text just adopted, and the need to continue the role of ensuring compliance of States with relevant resolutions, including through assisting nations in building capacity.
He regretted that his proposals to include language ensuring adequate resources for CTED were rejected. He said that it was a concern because it affected the effective work of the body. He added that the need to address terrorist rhetoric was critical and he urged the Directorate to continue to address the matter. He stressed, as well, the imperative of coordination between all related bodies in implementing recommendations that followed country assessments, while respecting the sovereignty of States in the process.
The representative of the Russian Federation said he supported the text as it reflected the outcomes of briefings and reviews on the topic. In addition, it took into account many of his country’s proposals on collaboration with States on implementing recommendations following assessments. It was critical, he commented, to focus on States that were most in need of assistance in implementing the resolutions. His country stood ready to provide support for such efforts. He urged that priorities of the Directorate reflect its mandate and that collaboration with all other bodies be strengthened in accordance with their competencies.
The meeting began at 10:11 a.m. and ended at 10:30 a.m.
