UNIPATH STAFF
Saudi Arabia has made a $100 million donation to support global cooperation against terrorism. In August 2013, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud announced the financial support to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre.
The center, based in the United States, supports implementation of the U.N.’s Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. One of the center’s goals is to build a database of best anti-terrorism practices to share worldwide.
In a speech delivered on his behalf by Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khojah, King Abdullah said he was “calling on all other nations to take part in support of this center to get rid of the forces of hatred, extremism and criminality, as this is the inevitable duty for whoever sees that terrorism is a demolishing tool that aims at threatening the world security and peace.”
Saudi support began in 2005 when the idea for the center was conceived at the Counter-Terrorism International Conference held in Riyadh. In 2011, Saudi Arabia signed an agreement with the U.N. that included a donation of $10 million.
In February 2013, Saudi Arabia hosted a two-day conference in partnership with the center in Riyadh to further promote international cooperation and counterterrorism dialogue.
“In the last decade, counterterrorism institutions were founded all over the world,” Derek Plumbly, U.N. undersecretary-general and special coordinator for Lebanon, told conference participants. “These institutions have accumulated a wealth of knowledge and expertise.”
Sources: U.N. Counter-Terrorism Centre, PR Newswire