UN GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY AWARENESS RAISING IN AFRICA: BUILDING AN AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORK TO SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY

The report outlines a framework for African civil society organizations (CSOs) to engage with the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, moving away from security-only responses toward a holistic approach emphasizing human rights and development. It recommends that CSOs provide research, capacity-building, and monitoring to support implementation, while urging the UN and African governments to provide more transparency and operational space for these organizations. The document suggests integrating counter-terrorism efforts into existing peace-building and governance networks and proposes the eventual creation of a dedicated CSO network to coordinate activities across the Strategy's four pillars.

• The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy is viewed as a critical tool for African CSOs to shift counter-terrorism efforts away from a narrow security focus toward addressing the social, political, and economic conditions that cause terrorism, while ensuring respect for human rights.
• Civil society organizations can contribute to the Strategy's implementation through several specific activities: conducting research for the UN and African Union, raising awareness of human rights-based approaches, providing training for governments and journalists, and monitoring national-level translation of the Strategy into action.
• To increase their effectiveness and credibility with reluctant governments, CSOs are encouraged to frame their engagement within broader, more palatable contexts such as the rule of law, conflict prevention, and good governance, rather than using exclusively 'muscular' counter-terrorism rhetoric.
• The report recommends that the UN's Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force and the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) increase transparency and formalize engagement with African CSOs, potentially through a dedicated advisory board or CSO focal point.
• Rather than creating new entities, the document suggests incorporating counter-terrorism activities into existing African civil society networks focused on security sector reform, peace-building, and combating small arms, to avoid duplicating efforts and competing for limited funds.
• The recommendations emphasize the need for a 'bottom-up' approach to implementation, where CSOs work with Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to develop implementation plans tailored to specific subregional contexts.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2009). UN GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY AWARENESS RAISING IN AFRICA: BUILDING AN AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORK TO SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/TERROWSHOPCHAIRRECOMM9JUL09.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. UN GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY AWARENESS RAISING IN AFRICA: BUILDING AN AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORK TO SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY. 2009. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/TERROWSHOPCHAIRRECOMM9JUL09.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=UN GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY AWARENESS RAISING IN AFRICA: BUILDING AN AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORK TO SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY |date=2009 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/TERROWSHOPCHAIRRECOMM9JUL09.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2009global, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{UN GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY AWARENESS RAISING IN AFRICA: BUILDING AN AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORK TO SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN GLOBAL COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGY}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2009}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/TERROWSHOPCHAIRRECOMM9JUL09.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }