About the GCTF

The Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) is an informal, apolitical, multilateral counterterrorism platform. It is small, nimble, inclusive, and consensus-based. Its overarching mission is to reduce the vulnerability of people worldwide to terrorism by mobilizing expertise and resources to prevent, combat, and prosecute terrorist acts and counter incitement and recruitment to terrorism. 

The Forum brings together policymakers and practitioners from around the world to share experiences and expertise, and to develop practical, publicly available tools and strategies on how to prevent and counter the evolving terrorist threat. The GCTF is currently co-chaired by Egypt and the European Union. 

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What is the GCTF?

News

An interactive, two-day workshop including real-life simulations to improve national-level terrorist watchlisting and screening processes

An interactive, two-day workshop including real-life simulations to improve national-level terrorist watchlisting and screening processes

8 - 9 November 2023

Building on the success of previous workshops and engagements, the GCTF Foreign Terrorist Fighter (FTF) Working Group Co-Chairs, Jordan and the United States, organized a two-day, interactive workshop focused on raising awareness and helping put into action the recommendations shared in the GCTF Counterterrorism Watchlisting Toolkit with focus on the countries located in the Western Hemisphere.

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Sharpening insights of the complexities of reintegrating and rehabilitating returnees through interactive simulations

Sharpening insights of the complexities of reintegrating and rehabilitating returnees through interactive simulations

18 - 19 October 2023

The FTF Working Group, Co-Chaired by Jordan and the United States, with the support of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) as implementing partner, arranged an in-person event where interactive simulations allowed practitioners and experts at the working-level to engage on the topic to uncover the challenges and dilemmas practitioners are faced with when reintegrating FTFs and their family members into their local communities.

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Tabletop exercises are bringing to life the 26 recommendations of the Berlin Memorandum with focus on emerging technological developments

Tabletop exercises are bringing to life the 26 recommendations of the Berlin Memorandum with focus on emerging technological developments

24 - 25 October 2023

The United Kingdom and the United States are hosting a series of webinars as part of a new Initiative, the GCTF Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems and New, Emerging, and Disruptive Technologies Initiative. This is the second virtual workshop in a series of workshops to help bring to life the twenty-six recommendations and support a network of experts in their understanding of the best practices and how best to counter malign and illicit uses of UAS with special focus on emerging technological developments.

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Expanding the GCTF Initiative to Operationalize the Berlin Memorandum to include new and emerging technologies related to UAS

Expanding the GCTF Initiative to Operationalize the Berlin Memorandum to include new and emerging technologies related to UAS

24 October 2023

The United Kingdom and the United States are hosting a series of webinars as part of a new Initiative, the GCTF Counter-Unmanned Ariel Systems and New, Emerging, and Disruptive Technologies Initiative. The new Initiative aims to provide a better understanding of the pros and cons of Unmanned Ariel Systems (UAS) use with a specific focus on emerging technological developments and includes the potential security impact of key types of emerging technologies.

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Activities

Second Detention and Reintegration Working Group - Plenary Meeting

Second Detention and Reintegration Working Group - Plenary Meeting

2-3 November 2015

Under the co-chairmanship of Australia and Indonesia, participants discussed the DR Working Group’s strategic priorities, considered ongoing and planned initiatives, and reviewed activities since the inaugural plenary meeting in Bali, Indonesia (August 2014). The meeting served as a forum to share challenges, concerns, experiences, expertise, and best practices in building capacity on managing and reintegrating terrorist inmates.

Discussions were broad ranging, covering issues such as prison security and risk management, countering radicalization in prisons, capacity building to manage terrorist inmates, and reintegrating rehabilitated terrorist detainees.

Examples of key cross-cutting themes from the meeting included:

  • Efforts to counter violent extremism (CVE), including through counter-narratives, could be increased inside correction facilities and extended to pre-detention areas.
  • Addressing core issues, including implementing good practices on securing, managing, rehabilitating and reintegrating terrorist offenders.

In addition, the Working Group conducted a desktop exercise that aimed to examine the characteristics of different types of terrorist inmates, including “Foreign Terrorist Fighters” (FTFs), and identify ways to tailor security and detainee management approaches to suit.

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Workshop on Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters (RFTFs)

Workshop on Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters (RFTFs)

TURIN - Italy - The GCTF’s Detention and Reintegration and Criminal Justice and Rule of Law Working Groups and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) teamed up with experts in Turin to discuss the ways forward on the rehabilitation and reintegration of returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters (RFTFs).

Detention and Reintegration Working Group - Workshop on Education, Life Skill Courses and Vocational Training for Incarcerated Violent Extremist Offenders

Detention and Reintegration Working Group - Workshop on Education, Life Skill Courses and Vocational Training for Incarcerated Violent Extremist Offenders

NAIROBI - Kenya - On 7-8 October 2015, the government of Kenya hosted the GCTF’s Detention and Reintegration (DR) Working Group’s “Workshop on Education, Life Skill Courses and Vocational Training for Incarcerated Violent Extremist Offenders.” The workshop was co-chaired by the governments of Australia and Indonesia, and was co-organized by the Global Center on Cooperative Security (Global Center).

 GCTF Insights

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