HE Speaker of the Shura Council Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud, and HE Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism at the United Nations Vladimir Voronkov officially inaugurated on 16 June, 2021 the Office of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Program on Parliamentary Participation in Preventing and Combating Terrorism, in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding and the signed agreement between the Shura Council and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, to establish this office and be based in the State of Qatar, and its activities cover all parliaments of the world.

HE Speaker of the Shura Council Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud said in his speech at the opening ceremony that the establishment of this office in Doha on this historic day came in appreciation of the United Nations and the international community for the distinguished role of the State of Qatar in combating terrorism under the leadership and wisdom of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and his firm policy in the field of combating terrorism in all its forms, whatever its source and eliminating its causes, adding that the efforts of close cooperation between the Shura Council and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism resulted in the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two sides in February of 2019, and a subsequent agreement last November, through the exchange of letters, to establish this office, which is the first of its kind in the region and the world,

His Excellency added that all parliaments of the world will benefit from this office programs and activities, and it will be an important qualitative leap in the international community’s efforts to prevent and combat terrorism, due to the great role played by parliaments by virtue of their legislative, political and direct influence on all issues of concern to the peoples of the world, especially the issue of combating terrorism.

His Excellency summarized the offices tasks in undertaking joint initiatives to support the balanced implementation of the four pillars of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and relevant Security Council resolutions in the field of combating terrorism and violent extremism leading to terrorism, conducting research and analysis, and carrying out work to support the prevention and combating of terrorism, including enacting new legislation around the world and helping to formulate model parliament-led counter-terrorism legislation, policies and strategies.

The office will also undertake major initiatives within the framework of the United Nations Program and the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the role of parliaments in addressing terrorism and violent extremism leading to terrorism, because of the critical role of parliaments in preventing and combating terrorism and supporting the international conventions adopted in the field of eliminating this scourge, and this office will support the establishment of operation of a global parliamentary network, creation and maintenance of a web platform, and production of materials, publications and multimedia resources to support activities to prevent and combat terrorism.

The opening ceremony was attended by HE President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Duarte Pacheco, who expressed his pride in participating in this important event, which confirms the importance of the State of Qatar in this multilateral international system. He gave a detailed presentation on the role of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in combating terrorism and violent extremism, and the Union's future plans in this field in coordination with the Doha office.

21 June 2021