The Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) is a special political mission of the UN Security Council established by resolution 1535 (2004) to provide expert analysis and technical assessment for the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC). The CTC itself was created by resolution 1373 (2001) in the weeks after the 11 September attacks, but Council members soon judged that monitoring 190-plus states required a dedicated professional staff. CTED was the answer.
CTED's core mandate is to evaluate how each UN member state implements the counter-terrorism obligations set out in resolution 1373 — criminalising terrorist financing, freezing terrorist assets, denying safe haven, sharing intelligence, and tightening border controls — as well as related obligations under resolution 1624 (2005) on incitement and resolution 2178 (2014) on foreign terrorist fighters. It does this through:
- Country assessments, summarised in detailed implementation surveys reviewed by the CTC.
- Country visits, conducted with the consent of the host state, often joined by partners such as UNODC, INTERPOL, and the IMF.
- Thematic analysis on emerging issues including terrorist use of ICT, financing through cryptocurrencies, the nexus with organised crime, and human-rights-compliant prosecution.
- Facilitating technical assistance by matching state needs with donor and provider capacity.
CTED is headed by an Executive Director at the Assistant Secretary-General level and is based at UN Headquarters in New York. Its budget is funded from the UN regular budget rather than voluntary contributions, which distinguishes it from the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), created in 2017 under General Assembly resolution 71/291. CTED reports to the Council through the CTC; the two bodies work closely with the 1267/1989/2253 ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee and its Monitoring Team. Its mandate has been renewed periodically, most recently extended by the Security Council to continue its assessment work.
Example
In 2019, CTED experts conducted an assessment visit to evaluate a member state's compliance with resolution 2396 on returning foreign terrorist fighters, including its use of Advance Passenger Information systems.
Frequently asked questions
CTED is a Security Council expert body focused on assessing state implementation of CT resolutions, while UNOCT, created in 2017, is a Secretariat office that coordinates capacity-building and the wider UN counter-terrorism architecture.
Keep learning