The newly established United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCTC) will hold its second meeting in Jeddah on Sunday, the UN’s office in Riyadh announced yesterday.

The meeting will be cochaired by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal. The first meeting of the board took place on April 2 in New York.

According to a statement released by the United Nations office in Riyadh yesterday, the board will discuss the UNCTC’s program of work and advise on priority areas that the center could focus on.

The key objectives of the UNCTC include supporting implementation of all pillars of the United Nations counterterrorism strategy, fostering international counter-terrorism cooperation, helping address member state capacity building needs, to promote awareness of the strategy and to develop a comprehensive database of counterterrorism best practices around the world.

Abdallah Yahya A. Al-Mouallimi, the UN’s permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations and Robert Orr, executive director of the UNCCCT, are expected to hold a press conference following the meeting.

In 2011, the United Nations and the Kingdom signed a contribution agreement for the creation of the center, to which the latter would contribute $10 million over three years.

Ban Ki-moon said the center would go a long way in countering terrorism around the world.

Prince Saud reiterated his country’s continued support for the United Nations and its counterterrorism efforts, noting the world body provided the best multilateral platform for international endeavors. The Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), which the center is part of, was established in 2005.

The mandate of the CTITF is to enhance coordination and coherence of the UN’s counterterrorism efforts. The taskforce consists of 31 international entities that by virtue of their work have a stake in multilateral counter-terrorism efforts. Each entity makes contributions consistent with its own mandate.

While the primary responsibility for the implementation of the global strategy rests with member states, CTITF ensures that the UN system is attuned to the needs of member states, provides them with the necessary policy support and spreads in-depth knowledge of the strategy, and wherever necessary expedite delivery of technical assistance.

The primary goal is to help member states implement the four pillars of the strategy, including measures to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, measures to prevent and combat terrorism, measures to build states’ capacity to prevent and combat terrorism and to strengthen the role of the United Nations system in that regard, and measures to ensure respect for human rights for all and the rule of law as the fundamental basis for the fight against terrorism.

CTITF organizes its work through working groups and counterterrorism related projects.