CTED

The Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) is a special political mission established by UN Security Council resolution 1535 (2004) to support the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), which itself was created by resolution 1373 (2001) in the weeks after the 11 September attacks.

CTED is based at UN Headquarters in New York and operates under the policy guidance of the CTC, composed of the 15 members of the Security Council. Its core mandate is to assess how member states implement Council resolutions on terrorism — principally 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005) on incitement, and 2178 (2014) on foreign terrorist fighters — and to facilitate the delivery of technical assistance to states that need it.

Key functions include:

• Conducting country visits, with the consent of the host state, to evaluate counter-terrorism capacity across law enforcement, border control, financial regulation, criminal justice, and human-rights compliance.
• Preparing detailed assessments and recommendations for the CTC.
• Identifying gaps and connecting states with assistance providers, including UNOCT, UNODC, INTERPOL, and the Financial Action Task Force.
• Engaging with civil society, academia, and the private sector through its Global Research Network and partnerships such as Tech Against Terrorism.

CTED is headed by an Executive Director at the level of Assistant Secretary-General, appointed by the UN Secretary-General after consultation with the Council. The mission's mandate is renewed periodically by the Council; recent renewals include resolutions 2395 (2017) and 2617 (2021), the latter extending CTED's mandate through 31 December 2025.

CTED is distinct from the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), established in 2017 under the Secretariat, although the two coordinate closely. CTED focuses on assessment and Council-mandated monitoring; UNOCT focuses on capacity-building delivery and coordination across the UN system.