UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- A senior UN counter-terrorism official on Thursday outlined a framework to devise a cohesive, well-coordinated program to support UN member states as well as the priority areas of such work.
"We must recognize that there are four important spheres of UN activity that need to be aligned if we are to effectively develop a coherent and well-coordinated 'All of UN' framework for our future counter-terrorism efforts," Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General in charge of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (OCT), said at a briefing to the 15-member body on the threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.
The four spheres are the Security Council and its subsidiary bodies; the General Assembly; the UN Secretariat headed by the Secretary-General; and the 38 UN entities that directly or indirectly contribute to counter-terrorism efforts, Voronkov said.
Thursday's meeting marked the 16th anniversary of Council resolution 1373, which was adopted on Sept. 28, 2001, soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
Voronkov said he had more than 50 high-level meetings with member states and international and regional organizations last week in the margins of the General Assembly's annual debate and that he listened carefully to the statements delivered in the Assembly, in which counter-terrorism was clearly a priority for many UN member states.
An effective, future-oriented and balanced counter-terrorism program to support member states would be built on six key areas, including strengthening international counter-terrorism cooperation, addressing the terrorist use of the Internet, and increasing the sharing of information and good practices, he said.
The General Assembly on June 15 approved the establishment of a new United Nations office to help member states implement the organization's global counter-terrorism strategy.
