The visiting delegation with its hosts in Samoa.
The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), acting on behalf of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee, concluded a so-called focused visit to Samoa from 16 to 18 November 2022. The visit concentrated on measures introduced by Fiji to implement certain aspects of Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005), 2178 (2014), and 2396 (2017) and other relevant Council resolutions.
During the visit, the delegation — which was led by the CTED Chief of Section for the Americas and Asia Pacific and included also other CTED experts, as well as representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) — conducted a series of technical meetings in Apia, as well as on-site visits to Faleolo International Airport and the Port of Apia. In addition, on the margins of the focused visit to Samoa, CTED conducted a strategic meeting in Apia with the Pacific Transnational Crime Coordination Centre (PTCCC), which is the central coordination hub for the Pacific Transnational Crime Network (PTCN).
Thematic areas covered during the visit included counter-terrorism legislation, criminal justice, and international cooperation in criminal matters; anti-money-laundering (AML)/countering the financing of terrorism (CFT); law enforcement and international cooperation; border management and maritime security; and information and communications technologies (ICT). In accordance with the practice followed for the Committee’s previous visits, the discussions also included human rights aspects of Samoa’s counter-terrorism measures, as well as its incorporation of the gender dimension and the roles of women in countering terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism, in line with Security Council resolutions 2242 (2015) and 2395 (2017).