Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - UN Women

CTED and UN Women host research symposium on gender and terrorism

AKHVEDELID — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 05:15:00 +0000

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On 18 July 2018, CTED and UN Women hosted a symposium on gender-sensitive research and the collection of data on factors underlying the radicalization of women to terrorism. The discussions also focused on the impact of counter-terrorism strategies on women’s human rights and women’s organizations, with a view to developing targeted and evidence-based policy and programming responses in accordance with Security Council resolutions 2242 (2015) and 2395 (2017).

The participants included academics conducting research commissioned by UN Women, members of CTED’s Global Research Network, and other eminent researchers and academics working in this field.

Participants in the symposium.

The day-long event included a luncheon hosted by the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations, which was open to Member States.

Assistant Secretaries-General Yannick Glemarec, UN Women, and Michèle Coninsx, CTED, at the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates.

Assistant Secretary-General Michèle Coninsx, Executive Director of CTED, and Assistant Secretary-General Yannick Glemarec, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, highlighted the need to further expand and strengthen the evidence base regarding the gender dimensions of counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism in order to better inform analysis, policy, and programmes. They also reaffirmed the strong partnership between CTED and UN Women in this area, as well as their commitment to continued dialogue with the research community.

A summary report of the research symposium is available here.

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CTED and UN Women partner in countering violent extremism in South and South-East Asia

BMUSONI — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 14:07:00 +0000

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South and South-East Asia are among the world’s regions most severely affected by the threats of terrorism and violent extremism, with South Asia often cited as the second most impacted region in the world. The Security Council has stressed that these threats can best be countered by a comprehensive, whole-of-society approach that seeks to develop partnerships between Governments and other social actors. It is also essential to integrate a gender perspective, which means engaging with women and girls, who bring an expanded range of insights, expertise, and experience and may be differentially affected. In accordance with Security Council resolution 2354 (2017), effective action also entails countering and responding to terrorist narratives, both on-line and off-line, through creative messaging initiatives that include a prominent role for civil society and the private sector actors, especially young people.

To address these challenges, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and UN Women held two regional workshops in Bangkok, Thailand, during the week of 25 to 29 September 2017 on the topic of “Engaging communities in approaches to countering violent extremism (CVE) and incitement in Asia.” The workshops, organized with the support of the Government of Japan, brought together Government officials, civil society representatives, and academic experts, and provided an opportunity to share good practices and recommendations from South and South-East Asia, as well as learn from one another’s experiences. The week also included a special day-long session guided by Facebook, Google, and the Bangkok-based non-governmental organisation Love Frankie on effective approaches to countering terrorist incitement and recruitment on-line“In countering violent extremism, all-of-society approaches and public-private-partnerships have never been so important. We need to identify and mobilize more community stakeholders and break down firewalls between the public and private sectors,” said Sué Takasu, Senior Legal Officer with CTED.

CTED has long been active in both South Asia and South-East Asia, working closely with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), respectively. CTED’s work in the field of CVE is guided by Security Council resolutions 1624 (2005), which calls upon Member States to prohibit and counter incitement to commit terrorist acts, and resolution 2178 (2014), which urges States to consider an inclusive approach to countering the threat of violent extremism, particularly with respect to stemming the flow of foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs). Meanwhile, Security Council resolution 2242 (2015) consolidates the mandate of UN Women to work in the areas of counter-terrorism and CVE. It further requests the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and CTED to integrate gender as a cross-cutting issue throughout the activities within their respective mandates, and it encourages the CTC and CTED to hold further consultations with women and women’s organizations to help inform their work.

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UN Women and CTED jointly brief Security Council Committee on gender dimension in counter-terrorism efforts

BMUSONI — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 16:13:00 +0000

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On 30 March 2017, the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) received a joint briefing from its Executive Directorate (CTED) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, or UN Women. The briefing focused on efforts to advance the implementation of Security Council resolution 2242 (2015) in the context of the Committee’s work on counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism, especially as it pertains to the roles of women.

The complex dynamic of the contemporary threat “underscores that we cannot cast women in any one role – they are perpetrators, supporters, victims,” said Lakshmi Puri, Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) of UN Women, in her briefing to the Committee.

To advance a solid basis for programming and advocacy, UN Women’s Global Programme on Preventing Violent Extremism focuses on (1) research; (2) policy development; (3) humanitarian engagement; and (4) promoting women’s participation. UN Women has 27 ongoing or planned projects on the prevention of violent extremism and has been strengthening key partnerships, within the UN and in the field, with civil society and women’s networks.

ASG Puri highlighted that Security Council resolution 2242 (2015) expanded the toolkit for addressing terrorism, as it emphasized the need for gender-sensitive research to understand the drivers of radicalization of women. She also praised the ever-closer cooperation between UN Women and the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), including in efforts to integrate a gender dimension into country-specific assessments, analytical reports and recommendations for technical assistance.

Following the adoption by the Security Council of resolution 2242 (2015), CTED has increased its focus on the gender dimension of its activities in the context of counter-terrorism, from prevention to interdiction and response, through to rehabilitation and reintegration. As part of its focus on identifying emerging trends, CTED offered a presentation to the Committee of the various and evolving roles of women in terrorism and counter-terrorism, including as perpetrators, inciters, supporters, and preventers. The issue of women as victims disproportionately affected by sexual violence used as a deliberate tactic of terrorism was also addressed.

“CTED has taken the gender dimension into consideration in assessing the implementation of resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005), and 2178 (2014), and in identifying good practices and technical assistance needs. As part of our efforts to encourage Member States to develop national comprehensive and integrated counter-terrorism strategies, CTED identifies related good practices in our country visits and consultations with relevant United Nations agencies, international and regional organizations and entities,” the CTED briefing elaborated.

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