Abu Dhabi: The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, Executive Director of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, expressed his sincere thanks and gratitude to Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest donor to the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT).
Voronkov stressed that without the generous support by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the 31 countries that contribute to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Trust Fund, the Counter-Terrorism Office would not be able to operate.
Voronkov emphasised that despite the decrease in the number of terrorist attacks and fatalities during the rise of Daesh, terrorism still poses a major threat to international peace and security, and some groups expand their scope in new areas.
He said the Security Council has taken over the past three years a number of resolutions under Chapter VII that define a comprehensive set of measures that member states can use to prevent and combat terrorism.
This was stated in his speech on Monday during the United Nations’ virtual week of counter-terrorism 2020.
With approximately 4 per cent of the Office’s annual budget coming from the UN Regular Programme Budget, UNOCT is reliant on the generous contribution of donors to the UN Trust Fund for Counter-Terrorism to finance its critical counter-terrorism activities and initiatives in support of and as requested by member states. Set up in 2009, the UN Trust Fund for Counter-Terrorism supports global, regional and national projects around the world delivered by UNCCT as well the Office its policy, planning, monitoring and evaluation work. Many of these projects are implemented jointly with other UN entities including UNDP, UNODC, UNESCO and OHCHR.
As of 30 June 2019, 30 member states have contributed to the UN Trust Fund for Counter-Terrorism since its inception in 2009. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the State of Qatar, the Netherlands, the European Union, the United States of America, Norway, Japan, Spain, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom are among the top 10 donors to the Trust Fund.
