The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Sirojiddin Muhriddin met with the UN Under-Secretary-General of the Counter-Terrorism Office Vladimir Voronkov in New York on July 5.

Tajik MFA information department says that in the course of the talks, the parties discussed the current issues of global concern, including counter-terrorism and extremism, as well as the situation in the region, particularly the latest developments in Afghanistan.

Moreover, the sides expressed readiness to strengthen “Dushanbe Process on counter-terrorism and its financing.”

The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) was established on June 15, 2017 through the adoption of UN General Assembly Resolution 71/291.  The creation of the Office is considered as the first major institutional reform undertaken by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres following his report (A/71/858) on the Capability of the United Nations to Assist Member States in implementing the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

As suggested by Secretary-General in his report (A/71/858) on the Capability of the United Nations to Assist Member States in implementing the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact (former CTITF) and the UN Counter-Terrorism Center (UNCCT) were moved out of the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs into the new Office of Counter-Terrorism.

The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (A/RES/60/288) and its biennial General Assembly Review resolutions provide the substance of UNOCT’s mandate.

The Office of Counter-Terrorism has five main functions: 1) provide leadership on the General Assembly counter-terrorism mandates entrusted to the Secretary-General from across the United Nations system; 2) enhance coordination and coherence across the Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact entities to ensure the balanced implementation of the four pillars of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy; 3) strengthen the delivery of United Nations counter-terrorism capacity-building assistance to Member States; 4) improve visibility, advocacy and resource mobilization for United Nations counter-terrorism efforts; and 5) ensure that due priority is given to counterterrorism across the United Nations system and that the important work on preventing violent extremism is firmly rooted in the Strategy.

Mr. Vladimir Voronkov was appointed as its first Under-Secretary-General on June 21, 2017. Prior to his appointment, he was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the International Organizations in Vienna.  Prior to serving in Vienna, Mr. Voronkov was Director of the Department of European Cooperation.