19 September 2022
After several years of exclusively virtual interactions, the GCTF came together in person for its Twentieth Coordinating Committee Meeting to review the work undertaken over the past year, to consider ongoing work, and to underline its close partnerships. Co-Chairs Canada and Morocco hosted the meeting in New York. The Coordinating Committee—which provides strategic guidance to the Forum—welcomed the achievements of its Working Groups and Initiatives and recognized the dedicated support provided by the Administrative Unit. It also looked forward to upcoming activities and reinforced its relationships with the GCTF Inspired Institutions and the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact.
Change in Leadership
The GCTF Co-Chairs Canada and Morocco took the opportunity to underline their efforts over the past three years to guide the Forum through a rapid and successful pivot to virtual work along with the development of a Strategic Vision for the Next Decade. This first in-person activity also marked the end of the Canada-Morocco leadership mandate as they hand over to the European Union and Egypt.
Policy Toolkits
The Gender and Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) Policy Toolkit and the Toolkit on Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism (REMVE) were presented to the Coordinating Committee.
The Gender Toolkit provides guidance to support the use of the GCTF Good Practices on Women and Countering Violent Extremism and its Addendum, endorsed in 2015 and 2019 respectively. The development of this GCTF resource was led by the Countering Violent Extremism Working Group Co-Chairs Australia and Indonesia. Building on existing GCTF outputs and exploratory dialogues held in coordination with the CVE Working Group, the United States and Norway led the “REMVE” Toolkit Initiative to provide counter-REMVE strategies, policies, and programs that reflect relevant GCTF good practices.
Designed to support practitioners and policymakers, these GCTF resources are practical tools that can be adapted to address national and local contexts.
The GCTF: A Decade in Play
To celebrate and highlight a decade of GCTF achievements, the Forum developed an interactive and educational online game. It showcases several GCTF good practices and recommendations developed during the Forum’s first ten years and drawn from its Framework Documents. This game challenges players to think about how to use these tools in different situations while working out potential solutions and approaches to emerging threats.
Putting the GCTF Strategic Vision into Action by Reinforcing Partnerships
It is a priority for the Forum to maintain close relationships with the GCTF Inspired Institutions—GCERF, Hedayah, and the IIJ—and the UN Counter-Terrorism Compact.
On the margins of the Coordinating Committee meeting, the GCTF Co-Chairs Canada and Morocco convened the Fourth Partnership Dialogue between the Forum and the Inspired Institutions. This marked the first time the Partnership Dialogue was held in person. This twice-yearly meeting offers an opportunity to reinforce ongoing coordination and cooperation efforts and to identify new avenues to promote shared priorities.
The GCTF and Counter-Terrorism Compact Working Groups gathered for the Eighth GCTF - United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact Partnership Consultation to discuss shared priorities and ways to reinforce efforts to collaborate. These regular partnership consultations support the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and relevant Security Council resolutions and contribute to promoting the practical use of GCTF resources.
GCTF Side Events
The Forum took advantage of the opportunity to bring GCTF Members and partners together in person to host several side events in New York.
During its Eleventh Plenary Meeting, the CVE Working Group presented its 2019-22 achievements, including the Gender and P/CVE Toolkit. Partners and experts discussed evolving challenges of violent extremism conducive to terrorism.
The East Africa Working Group hosted an event on gender and counterterrorism. Discussions focused on promoting gender-sensitive approaches to criminal justice responses to terrorism in East Africa.
The GCTF REMVE Toolkit Initiative and the IIJ organized a joint side event to explore using criminal justice tools to counter REMVE. Participants learned about tools to enhance their understanding of REMVE and to develop responses to this threat.
The CVE Working Group and Canada hosted a side event to raise awareness about the critical role of gender in P/CVE. Bringing together experts, officials and practitioners, participants explored integrating a gender analysis into responses to violent extremism conducive to terrorism.
Understanding the role of local communities in P/CVE is also a priority for the CVE Working Group, which ran a third workshop on funding and enabling community-level P/CVE.
Twelfth GCTF Ministerial Plenary Meeting
Read about the Ministerial Plenary here.