The Diplomat
The Spanish government puts final touches on its participation in the first Global Congress of Victims of Terrorism, to be held in New York on 8 and 9 September under the auspices of the United Nations.
Spain will be represented at the Congress, of which it has been one of the main driving forces, by the Home Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, whose department, together with Foreign Affairs, has been preparing Spain’s participation in an initiative that the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, took up again after having to suspend it due to the 2020 pandemic.
The Congress will be held under the slogan “Advancing the rights and needs of victims of terrorism“, and will be attended by experts and victims from different countries. On the Spanish side, in addition to the speech by Minister Grande-Marlaska, the President of the Victims of Terrorism Foundation, Tomás Caballero, and Vera de Benito, one of the victims of the 11-M attacks in Madrid in 2004, are scheduled to speak.
Last May, a UN conference on Human Rights was held in Malaga in preparation for the Congress, which is the first to be held to address the issue of victims of terrorism at a global level.
The Congress aims to chart the way forward in a victim-centred approach to promote and protect the rights of victims and support their needs. It also seeks to provide a platform for victims of terrorism to share their experiences directly and to facilitate the strengthening and defence of their rights and the effective fulfilment of their needs.
Several victims’ associations, such as Dignity and Justice and the Association of Victims of Terrorism (Asociación Víctimas del Terrorismo), have approached the Home Ministry about their desire to be present at the Congress and the financial difficulties in doing so. On Tuesday, the Ministry communicated that it has proposed to subsidise the travel of associations that want to go to New York, with the cost being covered by grants totalling one million euros for 2022.
