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  1. UNOCT supports Sub-Saharan Africa countries in countering terrorist use of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear materials

UNOCT supports Sub-Saharan Africa countries in countering terrorist use of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear materials

CBRN workshop image preview

The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) held a regional workshop for Sub-Saharan African countries on developing national exercise programmes to counter terrorism. It was organized from 3 to 6 October in Nairobi, Kenya with the support of the United States (US) Department of State, and the Office of Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism of the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. International organizations such as the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) also contributed to the training. 

The workshop, organized within the framework of a joint UNOCT/US project, strengthened the capacities of twelve (12) Sub-Saharan African countries to prevent terrorist organizations from accessing and using weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and/or chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) materials. The project aims to enhance the countries abilities to develop national CBRN exercises and methodologies tailored to their specific security challenges in order to better prevent and counter a range of possible terrorist attacks.

The workshop brought together close to forty (40) senior officials responsible for counter-terrorism, law enforcement, arms control, intelligence, and relevant authorities dealing with issues related to WMD and CBRN materials from Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania. 

It was jointly opened by high-level officials from UNOCT, the US Department of State and the Republic of Kenya National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC).

Mr. Raffi Gregorian, Director, and Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General, UNOCT, stressed that according to the 2022 Global Terrorism Index Sub-Saharan African is now the "epicenter" of terrorism in the world. “The increased accessibility globally of CBRNE materials has increased the ability of violent non-state actors across Sub-Saharan Africa to access and eventually deploy CBRNE weapons,” he added.
Mr. Scott Ross, Regional Advisor for Export Controls and Border Security, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, US Department of State, underscored the commitment of the US to the region and highlighted that today’s terrorist threats are more ideologically diverse and more geographically diffuse than even before. “Collaboration with African nations, institutions and people is essential to the United States’ global commitment to countering terrorism and promoting stability,” he emphasized. 
Mr. Fred Ndegwa, Chief Liaison Officer from Kenya’s NCTC underlined Kenya’s willingness to share its hard-gained experience with other nations.

The four-day event provided an opportunity for the participants to understand different models for developing and sustaining national exercise programmes related to counter WMD and CBRN terrorism. Through interactive exercises and group work, the participants identified and prioritized the main threats and worked on building their own table-top exercises and evaluation plans aimed at addressing realistic WMD/CBRN terrorism challenges. The workshop participants also learned more about the best international and national practices.

The four main findings from the workshop include:

  1. the need for more capacity-building on CBRN detection, response, investigation, and prosecution;
  2. the necessity to foster interagency coordination;
  3. the importance of regional information and intelligence sharing; and
  4. the need for the development of technical standard operating procedures.

This in-person training is a follow-up to a virtual seminar held in September 2023, which provided an opportunity for the concerned Member States’ representatives to familiarize themselves with the project objectives, tools, materials, and goals in order to ensure progressive assimilation of knowledge.

For more information, visit  or contact oct-ctweapons@un.org