UN General Assembly
2021

We note with regret that some Member States have relegated to the back burner critical issues of development, giving priority instead to security issues. To move in unison, the international community should strive to advance the global development, human rights and security agendas simultaneously. Terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to non-State actors, the existence of nuclear weapons, and armed conflict top the list of global security issues. On that note, we commend the Secretary-General for convening the Second United Nations High-Level Conference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism Agencies of Member States in June this year, with the overarching theme “Countering and Preventing Terrorism in the Age of Transformative Technologies: Addressing the Challenges of the New Decade”. The Conference provided a significant and timely opportunity for participants to consider the practical implementation of the relevant aspects of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.