South-south cooperation

Terrorism in the Global South

Terrorism has severely affected many countries in the Global South. Collective approaches are needed amongst these countries to prevent and counter terrorism, and the conditions conducive to its spread. Experiences, which have been tested, validated, adapted and/or scaled up in comparable contexts, are of great value to other developing countries.  

The benefits of South-South cooperation have been noted at training workshops and engagements with Permanent Missions, and there is demand for UNOCT to play a facilitator role. Participants from the Global South have offered to share their knowledge and experiences in counter-terrorism in a sustained manner, including by offering training courses on specific counter-terrorism challenges and to provide financial support as well as in-kind contributions.  

Building on the interest from Member States, UNCCT has identified a gap which calls for greater exchange between policy makers, experts, and NGOs from developing countries to address the scarcity of information on countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism (CT/PVE) expertise available in the Global South. It has therefore launched a groundbreaking project effort to systematize, document and scale up Southern exchanges on CT/PVE. UNCCT is actively seeking and open to engagement with strategic partners to enable continuation of this portfolio.   

Mandate

In the eighth review of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (A/RES/77/298), the General Assembly, recognizing the important work carried out by UNCCT, stressed that the Center is focused on ensuring that its programming is responsive to the emerging and evolving threats of terrorism and on strengthening the delivery of United Nations counter-terrorism capacity-building assistance to Member States. Against this background, UNCCT encourages South-South Cooperation in the field of CT/PCVE to enhance implementation of the Global Strategy.  

South-south cooperation programming

The global project promoted and strengthened the exchange of expertise in the field of CT/PVE between experts from selected countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean and enhanced capacities to design and implement related policies and mechanisms. The project also helped build new partnerships, strengthen institutional and technical capacities, respond to the specific challenges of developing countries in CT/ PVE and enhance cooperation.  

UNCCT undertook the project in two stages, which consisted of a scoping phase and an implementation phase.  

The scoping phase included consultations with interested countries and research to map and identify relevant good practices in CT/PVE, experts who can act as Focal Points as well as Centers of Excellence to promote the programme, define its activities with national authorities and lay the ground work for the implementation phase.  

This scoping phase revealed several good practices among countries of the Global South that fit within the four pillars of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism strategy and are in line with human rights as well as international agreements, treaties and protocols. It also revealed the existence of significant exchanges through regional groupings. There was a willingness to scale up these practices on bilateral, regional and inter-regional levels.  Countries were also beginning to institutionalize SSC into new and existing governments’ structures, some with a specific focus on CT/PVE, which offers further opportunities. 

The second phase of the project saw the development and operationalization of an on-line knowledge sharing platform and Forum of Experts; the publication of a handbook of CT/PVE Southern initiatives and the mainstreaming of South-South Cooperation in UNOCT and Global Compact Entities’ activities and policies.

Outcomes

UNOCT has promoted South-South Cooperation in countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism as a dynamic modality of international cooperation especially since its scale, scope and the number of actors has expanded. 

• The capacity of experts from assisted Member States to design and implement policies, frameworks and mechanisms to CT/PVE, based on lessons learned, good practices and strategies from other developing countries, was strengthened. 
• CT/PVE related exchanges between experts from different regions were improved. 
• Information and access to CT/PVE expertise available in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean was enhanced.