The Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) conducted a mission to Colombo and Malé from 6 to 10 February 2020 to engage in national round-table consultations with the Governments of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, which were organized by the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC/TPB) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
The purpose of the consultations was to brief counter-terrorism officials of the two States on the counter-terrorism technical assistance programming of UNODC/TPB and INTERPOL, which is funded by the European Union. A significant amount of the planned programming of UNODC/TPB and INTERPOL is based on the recommendations made by the Counter-Terrorism Committee pursuant to its assessment visits to Sri Lanka in October 2014 and April 2016, and the Maldives in October 2019, as well as on the outcomes of the high-level consultations held between the CTED Executive Director and Sri Lankan government officials in June 2019 in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks.
The consultations served to inform local stakeholders about the Committee’s assessment process and how CTED, UNODC/TPB, the United Nations Development Programme, INTERPOL and other partners can coordinate to deliver enhanced technical assistance in follow-up to assessment visits.