Safeguarding Skies: The critical link between UN Counter-Terrorism and Aviation Security commitments

 

​ICAO HQ, CR3, 1st floor

​Terrorism continues to pose a significant threat to international peace and security, necessitating a coordinated global response. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has been at the forefront of combatting terrorism by adopting various resolutions aimed at countering this menace, including terrorist attacks on critical infrastructure (United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2341 (2017)) and civil aviation (UNSCR 2309 (2016)).

Security threats to civil aviation are growing in complexity, with a widening range of non-State actors deploying new modus operandi such as cyber-attacks and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

These developments and the steady stream of terrorist propaganda indicate that terrorist groups continue to perceive attacks against international civil aviation as an effective way to cause substantial loss of life, economic damage and disruptions. Given the global and interconnected nature of the international civil aviation industry, Member States in all regions are vulnerable to such attacks and must work together to counter it – using UN counter-terrorism commitments as a common foundation.

In UNSCR 2309 (2016), the Council expresses "particular concern" that terrorist groups are actively seeking ways to defeat or circumvent aviation security and affirmed the role of ICAO as the United Nations' organization responsible for developing international aviation security standards, monitoring their implementation and assisting States with compliance. Importantly, the Council seeks the support of all States in working with ICAO to ensure its standards are reviewed and adapted to effectively address the threat posed by terrorists targeting civil aviation. These requirements have once again been underlined in the recent 8^th Review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (A/RES/60/288).

As the Security Council's entity tasked with assessing the implementation of counter-terrorism resolutions, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and ICAO have developed a robust partnership, which includes the participation of ICAO experts in the Committee's country visits, special meetings and open briefings, as well as in various CTED activities.

ICAO has also established longstanding cooperation with the United Nations Office for Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT). In line with the All-UN approach and work under the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact, ICAO, CTED and UNOCT cooperate closely on various global initiatives including addressing threats posed by misuse of UAS, preventing terrorist attacks on vulnerable targets, preventing the misuse of information and communications technologies (ICT) by terrorists, countering terrorist travel using passenger data (within the multi-stakeholder UN Countering Terrorist Travel Programme) and enhancing Member States' interagency coordination and building their capacity to conduct comprehensive threat assessments to support aviation risk assessments (within the Programme on Threat Assessment Models for Aviation Security ("TAM Programme").

ICAO works closely with other organizations under the UN Counter-Terrorism Global Coordination Compact in support of civil aviation security and the implementation of Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, in particular with the UNODC and UNICRI, where ICAO collaborates on a range of issues including critical infrastructure protection in a counter-terrorism context, and building the capacity of Member States to exchange passenger data.