Enhancement of International Cooperation to Assist Victims of Terrorism

A/RES/73/305View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 74bHuman rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, published in 2018.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

3 topics

Crime Victims International Cooperation Terrorism

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2020.

2020A/74/790Progress made by the United Nations System in supporting Member States in assisting victims of terrorism report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

15 operative paragraphs

Calls upon all Member States to develop comprehensive assistance plans for victims of terrorism, consistent with domestic law, taking into account a gender perspective, to address the immediate, short-term and long-term needs of victims of terrorism and their families with regard to their relief and rehabilitation, ensuring that they are provided with proper support and assistance, both immediately after an attack and in the long term, including through the sharing of best practices and lessons learned related to the protection of and assistance to victims of terrorism;

Urges Member States to establish systems of assistance, consistent with domestic law, that would address the needs of victims of terrorism and their families and promote and protect their rights, including by partnering with health professionals, emergency planning managers and members of law enforcement, prosecutors’ offices and civil society, where applicable, to institutionalize the provision of assistance to victims;

Calls upon all Member States to consider the impacts of terrorism on women and children and to seek greater consultations, as appropriate, with women and women’s organizations when developing their victim assistance plans;

Emphasizes that the granting of such assistance should be provided, in accordance with domestic law, to victims of terrorist acts regardless of whether the perpetrator of the terrorist act is identified, apprehended, prosecuted or convicted;

Underlines that, if a victim does not normally reside in the territory of the State in which the terrorist act occurred, that State should cooperate and coordinate with the victim’s State of residence in ensuring that the victim receives assistance, in accordance with domestic law;

Stresses the importance of effective, fair, humane, transparent and accountable criminal justice systems, in accordance with applicable domestic and international law, in supporting victims of terrorism, and encourages Member States to consider victims of terrorism in this regard, including when developing and maintaining appropriate strategies for prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration and addressing conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism;

Calls upon the Office of Counter-Terrorism to further enhance coordination and coherence across the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact entities on raising awareness of victims’ issues and the delivery of United Nations capacity-building assistance to requesting Member States;

Also calls upon the Office of Counter-Terrorism, in particular the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre, within their respective mandates, to assist requesting Member States in developing their comprehensive assistance plans for victims of terrorism and in building their capacity to assist victims of terrorism;

Reaffirms the role of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in providing technical assistance for building the capacity of requesting Member States in the development and implementation of programmes of assistance and support for victims of terrorism, in accordance with relevant national legislation, and requests the Office, within its mandate, to continue to enhance its support to Member States, at their request, to improve the criminal justice system response to support victims of acts of terrorism by continuing and enhancing its assistance relating to international legal and judicial cooperation pertaining to countering terrorism and by fostering the development of strong and effective central authorities for international cooperation in criminal matters;

Encourages the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact working group on promoting and protecting human rights and the rule of law while countering terrorism and supporting victims of terrorism to continue to raise awareness of victims’ issues and the promotion and protection of victims’ rights, including in the criminal justice process, and urges the working group to increase the attention paid to strengthening efforts to build the capacity of requesting Member States and to engagement with relevant civil society organizations to assist and support victims of terrorism in protecting their rights and needs, including the need to have public recognition and to keep their memory alive;

Recognizes the valuable roles that civil society and the private sector play in supporting victims of terrorism, including by assisting with the provision of assistance and medical, legal and psychosocial support services, by advocating on behalf of victims and by helping victims to bring public awareness to the human impact of terrorist acts, which can also contribute to the prevention of terrorism and the building of resilience and social cohesion;

Also recognizes the need to continue to provide tangible capacity-building assistance to requesting Member States in building sustainable national systems to assist victims of terrorism, and in this regard stresses the need to contribute more resources for capacity-building projects;

Calls upon Member States to respect the dignity and legal rights of victims of terrorism, as provided for in domestic law, in criminal litigation and in gaining access to justice, including the right to be considered for witness protection measures and appropriate assistance and support during criminal proceedings, awareness of court proceedings and charges, the right to be treated with fairness and with respect for their dignity and privacy and for their safety from intimidation and retaliation, in particular where they appear as witnesses, the right to full and timely restitution and the ability to address the court and consult with prosecutors;

Takes note of the United Nations support portal for victims of terrorism, and urges the United Nations to provide relevant information for victims, their families and communities, including but not limited to psychosocial support and access to national criminal justice systems or rehabilitation opportunities offered by Member States;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session a report on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution, containing an evaluation of the existing United Nations activities regarding victims of terrorism, with a focus on concrete recommendations and, as appropriate, detailed options, including for a voluntarily funded comprehensive programme to support Member States, at their request, in assisting victims of terrorism through national systems.

Paragraph content is machine-extracted from UN documents. For authoritative content, please refer to the official UN document.

No headings found in this document.

Who created this mandate?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

What subjects does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What does this mandate say?

Table of contents