Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you to Ambassadors Heimerback, Kamboj, and de la Fuente for your briefings and leadership in drawing attention to these pressing and vitally important issues that demand action. The 1267, 1373, and 1540 Committees play important and complementary roles in assessing and countering terrorist threats and support for terrorism.
Given the diverse, global threat terrorists pose today, it is more important than ever that these three Committees coordinate their efforts in mutually reinforcing ways while avoiding duplication.
We should all be very concerned that a Permanent Member of the Council would seek to obstruct the prospect of cooperation by the 1540 Committee and its Group of Experts with the 1267 Committee and Monitoring Team and the Counterterrorism Committee and its Executive Directorate despite their clear mandates for this kind of collaboration. Over the past year, the global terrorist threat has evolved, notably to include an uptick of attacks by terrorists worldwide. We urge the Counterterrorism Committee Executive Directorate and the 1267 Monitoring Team to continue to closely monitor the threat. Likewise, we urge the 1540 Committee and its Group of Experts to continue to support Member States in their efforts to control WMDs and their means of delivery in order to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks.
Council Members, we can contribute to the peace and security in Africa, and internationally, by supporting UN listings of ISIS and al-Qa’ida affiliates of their supporters that continue to pose serious threats to peace and stability in the region, and indeed globally. Unfortunately, the 1267 Committee has only agreed to designate one entity since the beginning of this year. The important work of this committee must remain free from politicization that only benefits the terrorists.
Turning to the Counterterrorism Committee and CTED, we highlight the critical work of CTED to assess Member States’ implementation of their counterterrorism obligations. UNOCT and the Global Counterterrorism Compact Entities use these assessments to prioritize capacity building to make the greatest impact and avoid duplication.
This Council has explicitly encouraged cooperation among the 1267, 1373, and 1540 Committees to advance broad counter-terrorism initiatives. In particular, Resolutions 1810, 1977, and 2325 reiterate the need to enhance ongoing cooperation between the 1540 Committee and other subsidiary bodies, including through “enhanced information sharing, coordination on visits to countries within their respective mandates, technical assistance and other issues of relevance to all three committees.”
Increased cooperation, including through more regular meetings, more frequent joint visits, and sharing of information regarding current and emerging non-state proliferation threat trends will help all three committees more effectively assess and address and these threats. However, knowledge of these trends should not be exclusive to current Committee members. The 1540 Committee, in particular, should make such information available to all member states through briefings to interested member states and through the 1540 Committee’s website and other forms of outreach. And with that, I thank you Mr. President.
Original source can be found here
