Development of a Good Practice Memorandum on Ensuring the Implementation of Countering the Financing of Terrorism Measures while Safeguarding Civic Space
New York, 10 March 2021 – Today, the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) organized the Third Expert Meeting under the initiative entitled “Ensuring the Implementation of Countering the Financing of Terrorism Measures while Safeguarding Civic Space”.
This third workshop concludes a series of four activities that brought together stakeholders from a wide range of national agencies, international organizations and civil society from over 20 different countries.
After the launch event of the initiative on 13 October 2020, discussions from the three follow-up expert meetings aimed to inform the development of a Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) good practices memorandum on the implementation of countering financing of terrorism measures while safeguarding civic space.
At the opening session of this last expert meeting, Mr. Raffi Gregorian, the Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General of UNOCT, welcomed the collaboration with GCTF and reiterated the commitment of the United Nations to work closely and constructively with civil society organizations in order to ensure that the humanitarian space is protected, and non-profit organizations are able to deliver much needed assistance to communities.
“Charitable organizations, women and youth groups, religious organizations and more, need strong legal and policy frameworks to protect them from terrorist abuse. Such organizations build resilience, hope and trust in communities, and support counter-terrorism work in directly addressing the conditions conducive to violent extremism and terrorism,” Dr. Jehangir Khan, UNCCT’s Director stated at the closing session. He also emphasized the need to mitigate the negative impact of measures to counter the financing of terrorism on the civic space.
This initiative was co-led by the Kingdom of Morocco and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in collaboration with GCTF Administration Unit and the Global Centre on Cooperative Security.
Additional data and insights will be collected through an open call disseminated by the initiative’s implementing co-leads, the United Nations, Morocco and the Netherlands. Participants in the expert meetings will be invited to review and comment on the draft good practice memorandum prior to its submission to the GCTF for review and adoption.