Ban stresses States’ responsibility to implement UN counter-terrorism measures

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said States have the primary responsibility to ensure the implementation of the United Nations counter-terrorism strategy and to devise cohesive national and regional measures against the scourge, while strengthening international coordination and political will.

“The UN system, for its part, is fully engaged, including through the efforts of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force to provide good practices and recommendations,” Mr. Ban in a message to the two-day International Conference on the Global Fight Against Terrorism that ended in the Iranian capital, Tehran, yesterday.

In the message, delivered on his behalf by Muhammad Rafiuddin Shah, the officer-in-charge of the Task Force, the Secretary-General said the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy is not only a political statement on the unacceptability of terrorism, but a strategic policy framework for addressing all aspects of the menace.

“It is based on four pillars: measures to address conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism; measures to prevent and combat terrorism; capacity-building measures; and rule of law and human rights measures. And it emphasizes the need for a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach,” said Mr. Ban.

He pointed out that the global anti-terrorism effort should also invest resources in socio-economic development, conflict prevention, human rights and education, while trying to better understand the reasons that make people choose violence to prevent others from taking similar actions.