27 September 2015

The meeting featured the establishment of a new “Initiative to Address the Life Cycle of Radicalization to Violence” and the launch of the International Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Capacity-Building Clearinghouse Mechanism (ICCM).

Members adopted two new GCTF framework documents: (1) the Good Practices on Women and Countering Violent Extremism; and (2) the Addendum to the Algiers Memorandum on Good Practices on Preventing and Denying the Benefits of Kidnapping for Ransom by Terrorists.

Members also announced a number of bilateral and multilateral initiatives. Switzerland announced an initiative focusing on the improvement of the juvenile justice system in a counterterrorism context, which will be launched under the auspices of the GCTF Criminal Justice and Rule of Law (CJ-ROL) Working Group, in collaboration with the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ), and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI).

Members reiterated their strong support for the work of the GCTF and took note of its achievements to date, including the adoption and implementation of previous framework documents articulating good practices for civilian counterterrorism practitioners and policy makers. Members also voiced strong support for the three GCTF-inspired institutions: (1) Hedayah in Abu Dhabi; (2) the IIJ in Valletta; and (3) GCERF in Geneva.

Statements by GCTF members and the United Nations touched on a number of common themes, including: (1) acknowledgement of a radically-changing counterterrorism landscape; (2) support for the new initiative on addressing the life cycle of radicalization to violence; (3) support for establishment of the ICCM; (4) the actionable implementation of the GCTF good practices and guidelines; and (5) the importance of maintaining synergy and complementarity between the activities of the GCTF and the UN system.

Members also commended Turkey and the United States as the outgoing Co-Chairs and congratulated the Netherlands and Morocco, as the incoming Co-Chairs of the GCTF, beginning first with the Netherlands, followed by Morocco upon conclusion of the spring 2016 GCTF Coordinating Committee meeting.