The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire 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 Government of the Republic of Côte d’lvoire signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signifying partnership under the United Nations Countering Terrorist Travel (CT Travel) Programme.

The agreement will allow the United Nations to help the country enhance its capabilities to detect the travel of terrorists and serious criminals by collecting and analyzing advance passenger information (API) and passenger name record (PNR) data, in compliance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, international standards and human rights principles. The Republic of Côte d’lvoire is one of 42 beneficiary Member States that have joined the CT Travel Programme since its launch in May 2019.

The signing of the MoU took place during a virtual ceremony between the Under-Secretary-General of UNOCT, Mr. Vladimir Voronkov, and the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to the United Nations, H.E. Ambassador Mr. Kacou Houadja Léon Adom.

“Today’s MoU is a symbol of the solid partnership and mutual commitment between the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire and my Office’s Countering Terrorist Travel Programme to assist Côte d’Ivoire in enhancing detection capabilities using passenger data in an ‘All-of-UN’ concerted effort,” Mr. Voronkov said.

“This Memorandum of Understanding” said H.E. Mr. Adom, “supports the actions of my country’s strong commitment to the fight against terrorism. This commitment is illustrated by our adherence to all regional and sub-regional mechanisms against this threat and by our support for the efforts of the G5 Sahel Force”.

Adding further, he said, “the Ivorian authorities fully appreciate the invaluable support provided to them by the United Nations, through the CT Travel Programme”.

Building stronger partnerships to support Member States’ efforts to prevent and counter terrorism is one of the top priorities of UNOCT. In this regard, the effective processing and analysis of passenger data is essential to the identification, detection and interception of those who pose a terrorism-related threat and other serious criminals, including those that are otherwise unknown to authorities, both before,
during and after travel.

The CT Travel Programme, a flagship global initiative of UNOCT, aims to assist beneficiary Member States in building such capabilities to detect and intercept terrorists and serious criminals by using API and PNR data, cross-checking against INTERPOL and other international and national databases of known and suspected terrorists and criminals. The Programme also enhances international information exchange, in accordance with Security Council resolutions 2178 (2014), 2396 (2017) and 2482 (2019) and relevant privacy laws.

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 comprehensively assists beneficiary Member States in legislative, operational, transport industry engagement, and technical areas. This includes support for the deployment and maintenance of the UN’s specialized “goTravel” software system.