Deal signed to set up UNOCT Programme Office in Doha
QATAR, represented by the Shura Council, and the United Nations organisation, represented by the United Nations Office of CounterTerrorism (UNOCT), on Wednesday signed an Exchange of Letters and a Contribution Agreement to establish the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Programme Office on Parliamentary Engagement in Preventing and Combating Terrorism in Doha.
HE Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, Speaker of the Shura Council, and Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General of the UN andHead of the UN Counter-Terrorism Office, signed the agreement via videoconference. It was witnessed by HE Sheikha Alya bint Ahmed bin Saif al Thani, Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the UN.
The Shura Council speaker stressed that the establishment of the UN Programme Office in Doha is a testimony to international community’s recognition of the distinguished role played by Qatar in countering terrorism.
He said it is a new front in fighting terrorism that highlights the important role of parliamentarians in impacting governments.
“The opening of this Office in Doha is a clear message to the international community that Qatar is on the right track in its counter-terrorism initiatives. Qatar is making every effort to assist parliamentarians, worldwide in their noble tasks to save humanity from the scourge of terrorism, from violence leading to it and to establish a secure, stable and prosperous international community in which law and cooperation prevail,” he said.
Warmly welcoming the new initiative, he added, “The establishment of the Programme Office is considered an important qualitative shift in the efforts of the international community. It marks the significant role played by parliaments by virtue of their legislative, political and social weight and their direct impact on all issues that concern the world community, particularly on the issue of combating terrorism.”
The UNOCT Programme Office in Qatar on Parliamentary Engagement in Preventing and Countering Terrorism will cover all parliaments of the world. Its mission is focused on strengthening parliamentary contribution and bolstering its national, regional and global capacities to combat terrorism.
UN’s Vornkov expressed his appreciation of Qatar for the role it plays in combating terrorism and underlined that the establishment of the office in Doha is an important addition to international efforts to combat terrorism, especially as it is concerned with parliamentary engagement in this area giving the office special importance and an effective and influential role in the international arena.
ONE of the main tasks of the office is to undertake joint initiatives to support balanced implementation of the four pillars of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and of the relevant Security Council resolutions on countering terrorism and violent extremism leading to terrorism.
It will focus on conducting research, analysis and normative work in support of preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism, including monitoring the enactment of new legislations worldwide and helping to formulate counter-terrorism model legislation, policies and parliaments-led strategies.
Similarly, it will cover provision of technical assistance and legal consultative services to parliaments to facilitate the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, Security Council resolutions and other instruments related to terrorism.
It will closely work with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CETD) to identify technical assistance needs of parliaments.
The office supports the establishment and operation of a global parliamentary network, the establishment and maintenance of a web platform and the production of multimedia materials for the use of parliamentarians.
The establishment of the UN Office Programme in Doha coincides with the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations reflecting the will of the international community to create a united front against terrorism.