05 September 2023
Since January 2023, over 40 terrorist attacks have happened against ‘soft’ targets around the world, mostly in Africa and Asia. Soft targets and vulnerable infrastructure are places that support community and economic prosperity, where people come together such as schools, parks, festivals, tourist attractions, religious facilities, hospitals, etc. In principle, anywhere people assemble. Why are these locations of interest to terrorist attacks? They can cause mass-casualties which gains media and government attention.
Six years after the adoption, the good practices contained in the GCTF Antalya Memorandum not only continue to be relevant but have demonstrated their increasing importance in informing and guiding governments and private industry as they work together to develop policies, practices, guidelines, programs, and approaches in protecting citizens from terrorist attacks on soft targets.
The briefing allowed insights on current terrorist threats to vulnerable infrastructure and soft targets to be shared and included the work of the UN to support Member States in this area, and the relevance of the GCTF Antalya Memorandum. The briefing contributed to strengthening practical cooperation to further protect vulnerable targets in line with responses from GCTF Members.
The briefing is part of a series of briefings that since 2022 the ‘Global Programme to Counter Terrorist Threats against Vulnerable Targets’ has been offering to the members of the UN Global Network of Experts on key topics related to the protection of vulnerable targets, including critical infrastructure and public places/ ‘soft’ targets.