Director General/Executive Director
Distinguished delegates,
I am grateful to Romania for hosting this important meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean to discuss challenges posed by terrorism, in particular, foreign terrorist fighters.
I am pleased that so many parliamentarians from the Middle East, Northern Africa and Southern Europe have joined us today.
The spread of violent extremism around the world demands our urgent attention. Terrorist threats continue to evolve and multiply.
As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently stated, groups including Isil/Da'esh and Boko Haram pose a direct threat to international security, mercilessly target women and girls and undermine universal values of peace, justice and human dignity.
The involvement of foreign terrorist fighters in conflicts and acts of terrorism, while not a new occurrence, has become an increasing threat.
More than half the countries in the world are currently generating foreign terrorist fighters. There are more than 25,000 foreign terrorist fighters involved with groups like Da'esh, travelling from more than 100 countries.
Our societies are already grappling with the problem of these fighters travelling to conflict zones, receiving training in terrorist strategies and tactics, and returning home, with the potential aim of carrying out further acts of terror.
Furthermore, the UN Security Council has recognized the acute challenges posed by the nexus of terrorists and organized crime networks, and by terrorists financing their activities through such crimes as kidnapping for ransom and trafficking in drugs, arms, cultural property, oil and other natural resources.
To meet these multifaceted challenges, governments need to develop effective legal and operational frameworks, as well as strengthen their criminal justice capacities.
Governments must go after the illicit financial flows, corruption and money laundering which enable terrorist activities.
That requires tightening the regulatory frameworks for banks and other financial institutions, in order to identify and prevent terrorist funding, and to be able to effectively detect, investigate and prosecute related crimes.
Enhanced international and regional cooperation to promote information sharing and coordinated border management is essential to effectively stem the flow of foreign terrorist fighters.
Moreover, responses must seek to counter violent extremism and stop terrorists from abusing the internet to radicalize and recruit young people, as well as address risk areas for radicalization in prisons.
Supporting victims of terrorism is also critical, and can help to strengthen legal proceedings against terrorists.
UNODC is working with governments to take such comprehensive action, including by supporting the effective implementation of the nineteen universal legal instruments against terrorism, as well as the conventions against corruption and transnational organized crime.
We recently launched the Global Project on Strengthening the Legal Regime against Emerging Terrorist Threats.
This initiative is helping to build the capacities of criminal justice practitioners in the Middle East, North Africa and South Eastern Europe to address violent extremism, incitement to join terrorist groups, recruitment and training of foreign terrorist fighters, lone wolf acts of terrorism, and the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes.
UNODC is also contributing to a comprehensive plan of action on preventing violent extremism, which will be presented by the Secretary-General next year, and which will provide specific recommendations to systematically address the drivers of violent extremism.
In all of this work, parliamentarians have an important role to play.
In helping to incorporate the requirements of the international instruments against terrorism into domestic law, you can support the clarity and effectiveness of counter-terrorism policies, and promote accountability and adherence to international principles.
UNODC stands ready to assist countries in countering terrorism within a rule of law framework, and with full respect of due process and human rights.
I welcome your insights and ideas on how we can ensure that our support is targeted and as effective as possible.
Forums such as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean are key partners in tackling the regional and cross-regional dynamics and dimensions of terrorism, and advancing policy and operational coordination.
I will be addressing the Inter Parliamentary Union on counter-terrorism action in just two weeks, and I look forward to continuing our dialogue further.
Working together, we can strengthen collective action against terrorism, and protect people everywhere from this terrible threat.
Thank you.
