UN: Morocco Co-Chairs High-Level Meeting on Activity of UNOCT Program Offices

On Jun 24, 2023

Friday’s high-level seminar on the work of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Program Offices, including the one in Rabat, was co-chaired by Morocco, Spain, Qatar, and Hungary in New York.

The directors of these offices were able to present the actions taken since the opening of these organizations dedicated to better coordination in the fight against terrorism at the meeting, which was held as part of the Third Counter-Terrorism Week organized by the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office (UNOCT) from June 19 to 23. Additionally, it made it possible to draw attention to programs designed to improve the way these Program offices work with the host nations.

Ismail Chekkori, the Director of Global Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccans Abroad, addressed the audience and emphasized how Morocco and the UNOCT had a fruitful working relationship that had allowed the launch of a number of initiatives, such as the “Marrakesh Platform for African Heads of Security and Counter-Terrorism Agencies.

He stated that this platform serves as an annual forum to evaluate accomplishments, priorities, needs, and actions, while fostering inter-agency coordination and the exchange of best practices and experiences, and he considered it a salient example of the partnership between Morocco and the UNOCT that is built on trust and credibility.

Chekkori also emphasized the role played by national security organizations, which continue to be open to working with dependable partners in order to make real efforts that have real effects.

Noting that the Office had achieved concrete results after two years of existence, the speaker referred to the example of the launch of the “Marrakesh Platform” launched last year in collaboration with Morocco, emphasizing that this structure is a permanent forum that brings together more than 38 heads of security agencies from African Member States and partner countries to discuss challenges and lessons learned in the fight against terrorism, while agreeing on capacity building initiatives .

The UN Counter-Terrorism and Training Program Office in Africa, located in Rabat, strives to create and implement authorized programs with a focus on counterterrorism-related skill development and capacity building. In order to deliver high-quality training for the benefit of African States, it depends on the pooling of the experience of Morocco and the UNOCT, in accordance with a collaborative and cooperative approach reflecting a sense of collective responsibility.

The Assistant Director of the Department of International Organizations in the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Qatar, Hanouf Al-Thani, the Ambassador Permanent Representative of Hungary to the UN, Zsuzsanna Horvath, the Director of Counter-Terrorism at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Deputy Under-Secretary of the UNOCT, Raffi Gregorian, all attended this side event.