I. Introduction
On 21 May 2013, the Security Council considered the challenges posed by terrorism in Africa in the context of maintaining international peace and security. In a presidential statement issued after the debate, the Council invited me to submit a concise report providing a comprehensive survey and assessment of the relevant work of the United Nations to help States and subregional and regional entities in Africa in fighting terrorism, with a view to continuing consideration of possible steps in this regard (S/PRST/2013/5).
In accordance with the presidential statement, the present report provides an overview of United Nations activities throughout Africa in assisting Member States to address terrorism, as guided by the relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. These primarily include, but are not limited to, Security Council resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011), 1373 (2001), 1540 (2004) and 1624 (2005) and General Assembly resolution 60/288 on the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy adopted by the Assembly in 2006 and its subsequent review resolutions. The report also assesses the impact of the assistance and provides recommendations for the future work of the United Nations.
Although comprehensive in its scope of activities, the report is not a complete listing of all counter-terrorism-related activities conducted by the United Nations in Africa. Many of our efforts relating to peace and security, development, good governance, rule of law and human rights do not have counter-terrorism as an objective per se although they contribute to the prevention and adequate response to terrorism.
