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IMF Joins the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has officially joined the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact, becoming the 46th entity to join the largest coordination framework within the UN system. The announcement was made at a High-Level event on “Enhancing global cooperation on countering the financing of terrorism.”
The IMF’s observer capacity at the staff level is expected to contribute significant expertise to the Compact’s efforts to address illicit financial flows derived from terrorism and other forms of criminality, according to the Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism and Chair of the Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact, Mr. Vladimir Voronkov.
During the event, reading from the IMF’s latest publication “Countering the Terrorism Financing: Good Practices to Enhance Effectiveness”, Mr. Bo Li, Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, highlighted that countering terrorism and terrorism financing requires effective cooperation across a broad range of institutions and robust national frameworks that deny terrorists access to financial systems.
Representatives from the United Nations Office for Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) attended the event virtually and welcomed the IMF’s new role.
The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact serves as the primary institutional vehicle for coherent and coordinated support to Member States in their implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Due to its expertise, the IMF joined the Counter-Terrorism Compact inter-agency Working Group on Criminal Justice, Legal Responses, and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CJLR-CFT).
Expert-Level Panel Discussion on International Cooperation to Counter Financing of Terrorism
Following the announcement of the IMF’s new role, an Expert-Level Panel Discussion was held to explore ways to further enhance international cooperation on countering the financing of terrorism. UNOCT, IMF, CTED, UNODC, the 1267 Monitoring Team, the World Bank, and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units provided valuable insights on current trends, remaining challenges and gaps in responding to this threat, and potential areas for further enhancing joint coordination.
UNODC, in its capacity as Chair of the Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact Working Group on Criminal Justice, Legal Responses, and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, has been advocating and supporting a joint response to the growing threat of terrorist financing and looks forward to joining its partners in putting the new tool into practice.
Conclusion
The IMF’s new role as an observer to the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact is expected to significantly contribute to the Compact’s ongoing efforts to counter terrorist financing. The Compact serves as a unique platform for international institutions to collaborate and to ensure coherent and coordinated support to Member States in implementing the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
