The Diplomat
Malaga will host on May 10 and 11 the High Level International Conference on Human Rights, Civil Society and Counter-Terrorism, co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Office for Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT).
The Conference, to be held at the Malaga Trade Fair and Congress Center, will bring together Member States, UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Pact entities, international and regional organizations, human rights and civil society organizations, experts and other interested parties. The Diplomat was informed by Foreign Affairs sources that, for the moment, the participation of twenty ministers (Foreign, Interior or Justice) and more than ten deputy ministers has already been confirmed, in addition to 45 other delegations from UN member states, 40 civil society organizations and numerous representatives of the United Nations network.
The Conference will be inaugurated on May 10 at 3:00 p.m. by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and by the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Vladimir Voronkov, and will include a speech by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, according to the Ministry. The opening will be followed by a closed-door High-Level Segment with interventions by participating ministerial delegations from Malaga, which will be immediately followed by a high-level ministerial session with statements by member states’ foreign ministers and ministers responsible for counter-terrorism.
The five thematic working sessions of the Conference will be held over two days, May 10 and 11. These sessions will focus on human rights and the rule of law as a cornerstone of effective counter-terrorism efforts, the protection of humanitarian action, victims and survivors of terrorism, civil society efforts to prevent and combat terrorism, and the role of the United Nations counter-terrorism architecture. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and Vladimir Voronkov will preside over the closing ceremony on May 11 at 14:00.
The Conference, according to UNOCT, will allow for “a robust and practical exchange of innovative ideas on how to strengthen social cohesion, build resilience and effectively integrate human rights, gender equality and the rule of law into the international community’s response to terrorism and violent extremism, while safeguarding and promoting human rights, in particular the rights of women, children and victims of terrorism.”
The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism was established on 15 June 2017 by a decision of the United Nations General Assembly. The creation of the Office was the first major institutional reform undertaken by António Guterres, following his report on the capacity of the United Nations to assist Member States in the implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. The Malaga Conference is a continuation of the Virtual Dialogue with human rights and civil society partners on building a better paradigm to prevent and combat terrorism, which UNOCT and the Spanish Government organized on 25-26 May 2021.
