Regional capacity-building workshop on Countering the Financing of Terrorism for the implementation of the Arab Counter-Terrorism Strategy
Riyadh, 2 May 2024 ¨C The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) , the Naif Arab University for Security Sciences (NAUSS) and the Arab Interior Ministers Council (AIMC) Secretariat completed a regional capacity-building workshop on Countering the Financing of Terrorism for the implementation of the Arab Counter-Terrorism Strategy (ACTS).
The event gathered approximately 100 officials from Arab Member States for discussions and presentations on countering the financing of terrorism and related issues such as parallel financial investigations, virtual assets, non-profit protection, and prosecution of terrorism financing cases. The expert lectures were delivered by regional organizations, academia, public and private sectors, including from NAUSS professors, Complytek, the Public Prosecution Office of Egypt, the Guardia di Finanza of Italy, and the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENA-FATF). The training was conducted in accordance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, and provided guidance on risk-based approaches, operational challenges, strategies for mitigating risks and for the adoption of preventative measures.
UNCCT/UNOCT works with the AIMC Secretariat to support Arab Member States in operationalizing the Arab Counter-Terrorism Strategy at the national and regional levels, through tailor-made capacity-building and policy support, and in line with national needs and regional priorities. The strategy was adopted in 2022 and provides clear, realistic, context specific and operational measures to strengthen the rule of law in counter-terrorism operations, establish credible criminal justice actions, involve a range of governmental and non-governmental actors, strengthen inter-institutional and regional cooperation, and enhance capacity-building efforts and initiatives.