Publications and reports

UNCCT Annual Report

For over ten years, UNCCT has been a Global Centre of Excellence, delivering capacity-building support to Member States in their implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS). Since 2022, the Centre has been guided by UNOCT’s first-ever Strategic Plan and Results Framework (SPRF 2022–2025), setting high-level strategic goals and outcomes to orient the activities of both UNCCT and the Office of Counter-Terrorism. UNCCT’s annual results-based reports present the Centre’s significant work and impact as the leading UN entity on CT capacity building, while also highlighting efforts to enhance its strategic support to Member States to ensure the balanced implementation of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

• The annual report is available for the year of: [2022] [2021] [2020] [2019] [2018]
• Annual report summary [2023][2022]

Beneath the Surface: Terrorist and Violent Extremist Use of the Dark Web and Cybercrime-As-A-Service for Cyber-Attacks

This report is looking at the evolving landscape of the Dark Web and Cybercrime-as-a-Service, exploring how terrorists and cybercriminals leverage the dark web to procure tools and services for nefarious purposes. It aims to shed light on the intricate relationship between terrorism, violent extremism conducive to terrorism, and cybercrime, providing insights and analysis to inform strategies and capacity-building initiatives to counter the convergence of terrorism and cyber threats in the dark corners of the Internet. It highlights the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies in attributing cyber-enabled threats and underscores the need for enhanced investigative capabilities and capacity building in this area. The report was jointly developed by UNOCT-UNCCT and UNICRI, with the generous support of Republic of Korea.
This report is available in [EN]

Final Evaluation of the Project on Training and Capacity Building of Law Enforcement Officials on Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and the Prevention of Terrorism

The summative independent evaluation of the Global Project ‘Training and Capacity Building of Law Enforcement Officials on Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and the Prevention of Terrorism’, was commissioned by UNOCT in February 2022 to assess overall performance and achievements of the project, as a requirement by the funding partner. The project, launched in 2016 by the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) Working Group on Protecting and Promoting Human Rights and the Rule of Law, was implemented by the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) from 2016-2022. The evaluation found that the project produced tangible results, with beneficiaries expressing appreciation and satisfaction with the training materials and experts’ competence in human rights and counter-terrorism. It highlighted areas that required additional focus in follow-up interventions and set out lessons to inform future programming. The evaluation recommended, among others, building on the successes of the project by extending trainings, building sustainable partnerships with training institutions in beneficiary countries, promoting gender equity and mainstreaming throughout the design and implementation process, considering programme design from a needs-based perspective, strengthening the role of project governance mechanisms and monitoring systems, and strengthening coherence, synergies and complementarities internally and externally. The evaluation recommendations have been considered and accepted by the Programme Management Team (PMT), as applicable and relevant, in its management response to the evaluation.

The Evaluation Report is available in: EN.
The Evaluation Summary is available in: EN.
The Management Response is available in: EN.

CT Tech Knowledge Products

Under the CT TECH initiative, seven knowledge products were launched to lead to more effective national counter-terrorism policy responses towards the challenges and opportunities posed by new technologies, as well as increase law enforcement and criminal justice operational capacities to counter the exploitation of new technologies for terrorist purposes and leverage the use of new technologies to prevent and counter terrorism - in full respect of international human rights and rule of law. The development of these knowledge products involved collaboration with Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact entities, experts from private sector, civil society, academia, and other international and regional organizations.

• Conducting Terrorist Threat Assessment: The Use of New Technologies for Terrorist Purposes [AR] [EN] [RU]
• Designing National Counter-Terrorism Policy Responses to Counter the Use of New Technologies for Terrorist Purposes [AR] [EN] [RU]
• Guide for Establishing Law Enforcement Cooperation with Technology Companies in Countering Terrorism [AR] [EN] [RU]
• Law Enforcement Capabilities Framework for New Technologies in Countering Terrorism [AR] [EN] [RU]
• Guide for Human-Rights Based Approach to Countering Use of New Technologies for Terrorist Purposes [AR] [EN] [RU]
• Guide for First Responders on the Collection of Digital Devices in the Battlefield [AR] [EN] [RU]
• Establishing Legislative Framework, Transparency Mechanisms and Oversight for Online Data Collection [AR] [EN] [RU]

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Toolkit for PCVE Action Plans

Designed to support organizations involved in the development and/or implementation of action plans to Prevent and Counter Violent Extremism (PCVE action plans), this Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Toolkit, shares practical steps on how to develop and implement a MEL Plan to support a PCVE action plan. The Toolkit caters to organizations at different stages of the PCVE action plan process, aiming at individuals and organizations, such as local and national governments, regional organizations and international and civil society organizations – with little or no experience in monitoring and evaluating.

This toolkit is available in: EN RU
Toolkit flyer available in: EN RU

2022 Dushanbe International High-Level Conference Report

The report provides a summary of the interventions made during the High-Level Conference on “International and Regional Border Security and Management Cooperation to Counter Terrorism and Prevent the Movement of Terrorists” which was jointly co-organized by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the European Union (EU) with support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar. The Conference was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 18-19 October 2022.

This report is available in [EN]

2022 Tashkent Regional Conference Report

On March 3-4, 2022, a high-level international conference on the topic: “Regional cooperation of Central Asian countries within the framework of the Joint Action Plan for the Implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy”, was held in Tashkent. It was jointly co-organized by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the United Nations Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan (ISRS), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Conference outcomes included the adoption of a renewed JPoA and the “Tashkent Declaration” by Central Asian States, reflecting the strong political will and commitment of these countries to continue implementing the regional strategy over the next decade.

This report is available in: EN

Examining the Intersection Between Gaming and Violent Extremism

As a step towards better understanding and addressing the nexus between gaming and violent extremism, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism/United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNOCT/UNCCT) convened a high-level event to launch its research report titled ‘Examining the Intersection between Gaming and Violent Extremism’, which showcases inputs from experts, practitioners and from over 600 survey responses from gamers. The report sets out how gaming and extremism intersect, including addressing the issue of exploitation of gaming spaces by terrorists and violent extremists and potential vulnerabilities to radicalisation among gaming communities. The report also sets out the prosocial benefits of gaming, and the potential for the use of gaming to prevent and/or counter violent extremism (PCVE).

This report is available in: EN Executive Summary in: EN

Good Practices in the Area of Border Security and Management in the Context of Counterterrorism: The Republic of Korea Model

The BSM Good Practices aims to assist UN Member States’ implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and relevant UN Security Council resolutions to address the overall challenges that porous borders pose, long remote green border areas between States. The BSM good practices are intended to inform and guide governments as they develop policies, guidelines, programs, and approaches for effective BSM, with the specific aim to strengthen cross-border cooperation and border surveillance in a counterterrorism context.

This document is available in: EN

UNOCT/UNCCT Crisis Communications Toolkit

This Crisis Communications Toolkit for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) was developed under the UNCCT Global Programme for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, to strengthen the capacity of member states and civil society to develop strong crisis communications related to terrorist incidents. The Toolkit includes theoretical crisis communication approaches, evidence-based principles, frameworks, best practices, templates and tools that can be easily adapted and quickly activated. The content is based on the UNCCT Preventing Violent Extremism through the Strategic Communication Crisis Communication capacity-building training module. Further technical support can be provided to member states and civil society to tailor this Toolkit and integrate it into their existing crisis response systems.