United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT)
United Nations Headquarters (Conference Room 8). 405 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017
16 March 2023
3:00 PM - 4:30 AM EST
Terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism continue to pose serious threats to international peace and security, human rights and sustainable development, inflicting suffering on victims, survivors, families, and communities worldwide.The terrorist threat has become more diffuse and diverse in nature, with groups such as Da’esh and Al-Qaida becoming more locally based and their regional affiliates increasingly decentralized. In particular and as highlighted in the 16th Secretary-General’s report on the threat posed by Da’esh, the geographic spread and incidence of terrorist violence by Da’esh has increased across the African continent, where Da’esh, its affiliates and other terrorist groups exploit local conflict dynamics and fragilities.This underlines the need to develop robust evidence-based and data-driven responses to the evolving threat of terrorism and violent extremism when conducive to terrorism, taking into account the complexity of security challenges and a holistic view of the peace continuum, from prevention, conflict resolution and peacekeeping to peacebuilding and sustainable long-term development.Building on the outcomes of the 9th Compact Coordination Committee Meeting in January 2023 addressing the theme “the changing counter-terrorism landscape and evidence-based/data-centric responses to the threat”, and the 16th Secretary-General’s report on the threat posed by Da’esh, and in the lead up to the 8th biennial review of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, this high-level event will provide an opportunity to discuss the current threat landscape, identify emerging and existing trends for the 2022-2023 period, as well as explore how knowledge-informed data and trend analysis on terrorism and counter-terrorism issues could contribute to effectively addressing this complex and multifaceted phenomenon.It will also introduce key findings from the 2023 Global Terrorism Index, an annual report published by the renowned Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP). The Global Terrorism Index is a comprehensive study on the impact of terrorism and terrorism trends and patterns across 163 countries, covering 99.7 per cent of the world’s population.While exploring how data could better inform the development of holistic and comprehensive responses to prevent violent extremism conducive to terrorism and counter terrorism, United Nations experts will also provide additional information on global terrorism trends and findings emanating from recent reports, including UNDP’s new series of reports on prevention of violent extremism - three complementary reports that examine underlying drivers of violent extremism, from the tipping points that lead to recruitment to the spill-over impacts of extremist groups.This event is being held at a critical moment for the United Nations, which is currently developing the Secretary-General’s New Agenda for Peace, as proposed in his Our Common Agenda report. The New Agenda for Peace seeks to reinvigorate our common approaches to the current convergence of threats - including terrorism - by reducing strategic risks, strengthening international foresight and capacities to identify and adapt to new threats, and reshaping our responses to all forms of violence, including by further investing in prevention and peacebuilding. In this regard, the event will provide a key opportunity to explore how insights and trends analysis on the terrorism landscape could inform the development of the New Agenda for Peace, contributing to the ongoing discussion to articulate a long-term vision of our work in peace and security.The United Nations Secretary-General’s Data Strategy also advocates for data-driven transformation, prioritizing the global United Nations agenda. The Data Strategy is closely linked with Our Common Agenda to accelerate the United Nations transformation to “UN 2.0,” focused on stronger capabilities for data, innovation, strategic foresight, behavioral science, and results, in order to better support Member States in the years to come.
Speakers
