NEW UN INSTITUTE SEEKS TO BOOST SECURITY GOVERNANCE

A new office of the United Nations Interregional Crime Research Institute (UNICRI), seeking to counter the appeal of terrorism, opened its doors in northern Italy today.

The Dialogue and Innovation Office in the city of Lucca, in region of Tuscany, aims to join forces with civil society and the private sector.

"We have to build a global movement, a global campaign against terrorism and this can only work in fundamental partnership with civil society," said Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General and Chair of the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF).

The new office is part of UNICRI's Security Governance and Counter Terrorism Laboratory, which "works for the enhancement of security governance and for the improvement of the policies aimed at preventing terrorism, privileging a multilateral and interdisciplinary approach, and involving international, regional, national and local actors," said Sandro Calvani, UNICRI Director.
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UN COUNTER-TERRORISM TASK FORCE SHIFTS INTO NEW OPERATIONAL PHASE

UN COUNTER-TERRORISM TASK FORCE SHIFTS INTO NEW OPERATIONAL PHASE
New York, Mar 4 2009 7:00PM

The United Nations task force charged with coordinating the world body's counter-terrorism efforts has entered a new operational phase, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointing a director for the body.

Jean-Paul Laborde, who for many years led the Terrorism Prevention Branch of the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), will take up his position as the head of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) next month.

Mr. Laborde, who is also one of the Task Force's founding members, is currently serving as the President of the Chamber of the 2nd French Court of Appeals.

The CTITF updated the General Assembly yesterday in an informal plenary meeting, marking a shift into a more operational chapter for the body, during which it will focus on concrete activities undertaken by its working groups which centre on issues including the financing of terrorism and terrorists' use of the Internet.

The Secretary-General has also transferred the leadership of the Task Force to the Department of Political Affairs (DPA), and seeks to bolster the CTITF office by stepping up funding for its activities.

At yesterday's meeting, Member States expressed support for securing its budget through the regular budget, as opposed to voluntary contributions.

Representatives from nearly two dozen UN entities, as well as organizations such as INTERPOL, are members of the Task Force, which was established by the Secretary-General in July 2005 to ensure coordination and coherence in the world body's efforts to counter terrorism.
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