The Diplomat
Spain will propose at the World Congress of Victims of Terrorism to be held on 8 and 9 September in New York that a UN Trust Fund be set up to help those affected by terrorist acts, according to The Diplomat, according to reliable sources.
Spain’s participation in the Congress, which is taking place for the first time under the auspices of the UN, will be headed by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, whose department, together with that of Foreign Affairs, has been preparing in recent months for an event in which Spain has been the main driving force.
The sources consulted by The Diplomat indicated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by José Manuel Albares, has proposed -and this will be raised in Congress- the creation of a UN Trust Fund for the victims of terrorism, made up of contributions from the different states.
Spain would be willing to open such a fund with an amount that would exceed 100,000 euros, according to the same sources.
Similarly, in the debates to be held at the Congress, the Spanish representatives will be in favour of creating a network of Associations of Victims of Terrorism at the international level and will offer the possibility of visits to the Victims of Terrorism Memorial Centre in Vitoria.
The Congress will take place next Thursday and Friday at the United Nations headquarters and will bring to life an initiative that the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, took up again after having to suspend it due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Under the slogan “Advancing the rights and needs of victims of terrorism”, the Congress 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.
