CTED publishes paper about COVID-19 and counter-terrorism

The United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) published a new paper about “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on terrorism, counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism.” Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a Global Pandemic in March, CTED has been proactively engaging with Member States and all of our partners to understand how the pandemic has, and will, impact counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism (CVE).

In this new analysis, CTED provides a concise overview of the short-term impact of COVID-19 on terrorists and terrorist groups; how Member States’ COVID-19 responses have affected or intersected with counter-terrorism and CVE; and the potential long-term impacts of COVID-19 on terrorism, counter-terrorism, and CVE. The paper aims to provide a global picture of these potential and actual impacts, while recognizing that – as with the impact of COVID-19 itself – those impacts are unlikely to be experienced consistently by all Member States or across all regions.

The paper has been prepared by CTED in accordance with Security Council resolution 2395 (2017). This reaffirms the essential role of CTED within the United Nations to identify and assess issues, trends and developments relating to the implementation of Council resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005) and 2178 (2014), 2396 (2017) and other relevant resolutions.

CTED will continue to monitor trends, issues and developments relating to the impact of COVID-19 on terrorism, counter-terrorism and CVE through its assessments of Member States’ efforts to implement the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, and its dialogue with relevant United Nations entities; international, regional and subregional organizations; the private sector; civil society; and the research community.