International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Secretary-General Juan Carlos Salazar recently signed a new cooperative agreement with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office (UNOCT) to further advance joint counter-terrorism cooperation to strengthen the security of international air transport, trade, and border management.
Formalized on 12 February 2022 with UNOCT Under-Secretary-General, Mr Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov, the agreement builds on ICAO’s key role in supporting the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (A/RES/75/291) and numerous Security Council resolutions on counter-terrorism, aviation security, and facilitation (identity and border control management). It is additionally expected to maximize related deliverables to the Member States in a variety of areas of ICAO/UNOCT focus, including initiatives pertaining to unmanned aircraft systems (drones) and cybersecurity.
Highlighting ICAO’s commitment to continue working with UNOCT in the implementation of the UN Global CT Strategy, Mr Salazar noted the particular importance of “future capacity-building efforts under the Threat Assessment Models Programme to support States in the enhancement of their national information-sharing mechanisms, threat assessments, and risk-based decision-making.”
“This Agreement on Cooperation exemplifies the ‘All-of-UN’ approach to supporting the Member States in implementation of critical counter-terrorism projects. It further strengthens the exchange of information between the two partners and harnesses each other’s expertise to optimize the impact of capacity-building efforts in countering the terrorist travel and protecting civil aviation and critical infrastructure,” Mr Voronkov said.
The UNOCT agreement was the result of a series of bilateral engagements Secretary-General Salazar undertook at UN Headquarters this week to strengthen cooperation and enhance alignment with UN-wide counter-terrorism initiatives.
Mr Salazar highlighted the tremendous significance and positive influence of these activities, while Mr Chen noted the critical importance of ICAO’s support and specialized expertise “to determine the efficacy of States’ regulations and policies, and provide recommendations to enhance capacity building, in particular related to aviation security and API and PNR provisions.”