Mission Report: High Level Conference on Counter-Terrorism (28-29 June, 2018)

The High Level Conference on Counter-Terrorism that held at the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations in New York from the 28th to 29th of June, 2019 was convened by the Secretary General of the United Nations to enable stakeholders and civil society in particular to share information and resources that will be useful to support members states and the United Nations system in countering and preventing violent extremism and terrorism.

The conference with the theme of "strengthening international cooperation to combat the evolving threat of terrorism" was attended by the United Nations Secretary General, Heads of UN agencies, Civil Society leaders, heads of National Security and Counter-Terrorism agencies of member states, and relevant Ministers of member states.

Topics discussed included opportunities and challenges for strengthening international cooperation through the sharing of information, expertise and resources; combating the evolving threat from foreign terrorist fighters; strengthening global action to prevent violent extremism, including by engaging youth and preventing misuse of new technologies and the internet by terrorists; and strengthening the role and capacity of the United Nations to support Member States to implement the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.  

The work of the platform on the role of youth in preventing violent extremism in the Lake Chad Basin was shared, and the IDPS was popularized and positioned as an early response and dialogue platform.

The CSPPS representative also made a public call at the conference for Civil Society and Youth groups to be actively engaged in the efforts of the UN to prevent and counter violent extremism and terrorism.

Key Outcomes

1. A statement was issued on behalf of the platform at the conference.

2. The Lake Chad Basin Report on the role of young people in preventing violent extremism was shared.

Key Commitments

1. CSPPS committed to continue to work with the UN Office on Counter-Terrorism as soon as the implementation structure becomes visible.

2. The UN committed to take the outcomes forward and to involve all stakeholders at the implementation and monitoring stages in the coming months.

Watch the livestream of the session here and read the open statement on the High-Level Conference on Counter-Terrorism here.