“Terrorism recognizes no borders. Terrorist cells, organizations and affiliates continue to perpetrate their heinous acts around the world, and no region is immune to the terrorist threat,” said Mr. Weixiong Chen, CTED Deputy Executive Director and Head of the CTED delegation at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) 14th World Summit on Counter-Terrorism.
“The evolving terrorist threat requires an evolution in counter-terrorism capacity-building. States must take measures not only to strengthen border security, but also to address extremist ideologies and narratives”, he stressed.
“They must move beyond the response from Government apparatus to engage actively with all sectors of society, including religious figures, youth, women, and victims. They must focus not only on enhancing physical equipment, but also on strengthening human resources”.
The theme of the 14th annual ICT conference was “Terrorism in a shifting context: current and future challenges.” The participants included representatives of a wide range of academic institutions and think tanks, as well as government policymakers from around the world. The discussions focused on topics such as terrorism in Africa, the impact of the Syria conflict on global terrorism, and the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes.
CTED is tasked with monitoring and facilitating Member States’ implementation of Security Council resolutions 1373 and 1624 on behalf of the Counter-Terrorism Committee. Pursuant to a recent resolution of the Security Council, it is also required to work with academia to identify emerging terrorist trends and making recommendations on ways to deal with them.
“States must combat and prevent terrorism through an integrated, comprehensive and holistic approach that includes, inter alia, identification of regional and national vulnerabilities, facilitation of technical assistance and project delivery, mechanisms to measure the impact of delivery, and measures to protect human rights,” Mr. Chen noted.