NewsTerrorism

Mongolia signs an agreement with UNOCT for capacity-building to detect the travel of terrorists and serious criminals

The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and the Government of Mongolia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today signifying partnership under the United Nations Countering Terrorist Travel (CT Travel) Programme.

The signing of the MoU took place during a ceremony between the Under-Secretary-General of UNOCT, Mr. Vladimir Voronkov, and Director-General of the National Counter-Terrorism Council of Mongolia, Major General Peljee Odonbaatar, who was accompanied by a delegation from Ulaanbaatar.

The agreement will allow the United Nations to help the country enhance its capabilities to detect and intercept terrorists and serious criminals by using both advance passenger information (API) and passenger name record (PNR) data and cross-checking it against INTERPOL and other international and national databases of known and suspected terrorists and criminals.

The Programme will also enhance capability for international information exchange, all in accordance with Security Council resolutions 2178 (2014), 2396 (2017) and 2482 (2019), international standards and recommended practices, and human rights principles. “This partnership harnesses the mandates and expertise in an ‘All-of-UN’ approach to support Mongolia in four essential areas of implementation, which are legislation, operations, transport industry engagement, and technical IT solutions.

I congratulate the great initiative and determination of the Mongolian partners to build their Passenger Information Unit and absorb as much information and knowledge from their UN partners as possible,” Mr. Voronkov said. Mongolia is one of 48 beneficiary Member States that have joined the CT Travel Programme since its launch in May 2019. Director-General Peljee Odonbaatar expressed sincere gratitude for the enhanced close support provided by UNOCT’s Countering Terrorist Travel Programme in the Asia Pacific region enabling accelerated setup and training of implementation teams as well as finalizing an ambitious plan to build Mongolia’s passenger information unit using API/PNR to detect and investigate terrorists and serious criminals in accordance with Security Council resolutions 2178, 2396, and 2482.

The Director-General underscored that the “National Counter-Terrorism Council will continue to rely on close partnership and advice from the Countering Terrorist Travel Programme as work gets underway this month in all four work streams of legal, operational, transport industry engagement, and technical implementation.”

Building stronger partnerships to support Member States’ efforts to prevent and counter terrorism is one of the top priorities of UNOCT. Through an ‘All-of-UN’ partnership with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT), and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the UNOCT-led Programme provides comprehensive, yet tailored assistance to beneficiary Member States.

The CT Travel Programme, a flagship initiative of UNOCT that was launched in May 2019, is funded by generous contributions from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the European Union, the United States of America, the State of Qatar, Australia, Germany, Japan, the Republic of India, and with in-kind support from Hungary.