Mr Chair,
Allow me to thank you for the insightful briefing on the latest developments on counter-terrorism and on the efforts of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism.
Italy aligns itself to the statements delivered/that will be delivered by the EU and would like to add some remarks in its national capacity.
The threat posed by terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism – in all their forms and manifestations – remains dynamic, fast-evolving and transnational. Terrorism is also adapting and moving into different regions, as well as expanding in the digital domain, including for recruitment and terrorism financing.
The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy continues to constitute the cornerstone of multilateral counter-terrorism cooperation.
Italy is supporting and funding several ongoing projects and initiatives of UNOCT that we believe are crucial to promote the implementation of the GCTS and its four pillars.
In particular, Italy is one of the most engaged partners of the UNOCT counter-terrorism capacity-building programmes. Its contribution includes financial support, direct programme delivery, and a strong institutional partnership of UNOCT with two of Italy’s major law enforcement agencies – the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza), with whom a Memorandum of Understanding is in place, and the State Police (Polizia di Stato).
In this regard, I would like to mention the operational and financial support Italy is providing for the implementation of the Phase II of the project entitled “Enhance Border Security and Counter-Terrorism Capacity of the Ghana Immigration Service”. In recent years, in West Africa we have witnessed the convergence of challenges that are cross-border in nature, such as terrorism, transnational organized crime, smuggling of migrants and trafficking in human beings. Italy believes that addressing these issues requires an integrated strategy where the dimension of border security plays a central role. Already in 2023, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided, together with IOM, UNOCT, UNODC and INTERPOL, to support the Phase I of the project aimed at delivering coordinated, multi-agency support for land border stability in West Africa. We are now working on the Phase II of the project that will be implemented between December 2026 and November 2027. The project is aimed at enhancing the operational and institutional capacity of the Ghana Immigration Service to prevent, detect and respond to terrorist threats at the northern borders. In addition, in November 2026, the Italian State Police will be hosting a Training of Trainers (ToT) course in Rome for border security officers from Ghana, organized under the Border Security Management Programme.
Italy is also engaged in a number of capacity-building projects focused on countering illicit financial flows and the financing of terrorism. These are trainings organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with UNOCT and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre, and are delivered by Italian Financial Police at the Ostia Academy. In 2025 a training was delivered to officials from Central Asian States; in May 2026 the training was delivered to officials from 13 Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and next November, it will be delivered to officials from 14 Caribbean SIDS.
Additional capacity-building initiatives in the field of countering the financing of terrorism for UN Member States are currently being organized in collaboration with UNOCT.
Thanks to the standing MoU with the Italian Financial Police, its officers are often directly involved into UNOCT’s programme activities, channeling Italy’s expertise in countering financial crimes, detection of suspicious cross-border cash movements, financial intelligence investigation and asset disruption, cash courier detection, customs enforcement and anti-smuggling.
We are also aware of the challenges posed by the use of new technologies.
Just yesterday, 9th of September, the capacity-building initiative entitled “Global Training on AI and Digital Transformations for Security Sector Actors”, co-organized by UNOCT, UNICRI and INTERPOL, was opened and it is being hosted by Italy, in Rome. The course, addressed to counter-terrorism and law enforcement officials from numerous UN Member States, is aimed at enhancing understanding of AI technologies and digital transformation trends relevant to counter-terrorism and law enforcement, fostering cross-regional dialogue and exchange of good practices.
To conclude, Italy firmly believes that the challenges currently posed by terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism require a coordinated response and it is essential that Member States share their knowledge, experiences, best practices to strengthen their cooperation and enhance their collective efforts to counter terrorism. Italy stands ready to give its contribution, within our longstanding cooperation with UNOCT, UN CT entities and with our international partners.
I thank you for your attention.
