The United Kingdom thanks the Committee Chairs for their comprehensive briefings and reaffirms our strong support for the work of all three Committees.
They share overlapping priorities to protect our citizens and prevent the spread of terrorism, and we welcome efforts to ensure that their work is collaborative and united.
President, I will make three brief points.
Firstly, on the Counter Terrorism Committee, the evolving threat landscape demands a whole-of-society and a coordinated UN approach.
We encourage the UN Counter Terrorism Compact Entities to use CTED’s comprehensive country assessments as a guide for providing technical assistance to Member States.
The United Kingdom urges all States to proactively engage with CTED’s assessment visits, particularly those most affected by terrorism.
We look forward to renewing CTED’s mandate next month to ensure that Member States continue to receive valuable support for counter terrorism efforts.
Second, the 1267 Committee is one of the strongest tools the international community has to directly target Al-Qaida and Da’esh affiliates and to limit their financial support and cross border movement.
We welcome recent updates to the sanctions list and underscore the need for new designations that are well evidenced against the listing criteria, and for a non-politicised approach to agreeing listing proposals.
Politicisation of the committee’s listing process only serves the interests of the very terrorists whose activities we should be disrupting.
Thirdly, President, the work of the 1540 Committee is essential to ensure effective prevention of the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons to non-State actors.
In this regard, we congratulate the Committee on the recent successful completion of the Voluntary Technical Reference Guides on Export Controls for Member States’ consideration.
However, unwarranted objections from some Committee members which hinder the Group of Experts from executing its function are not only concerning, but actively counterproductive to 1540 implementation.
In closing, President, I wish to reaffirm the United Kingdom’s commitment to working with all Council members to strengthen global security and uphold the integrity of these three vital Committees.
