Remarks of the Australian High Commissioner to Ghana
Opening of the Regional Workshop on the Freezing Requirements Pertaining to Security Council Resolution 1373
Accra, 7 April 2014
Check against delivery.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
I am very pleased to be with you this morning, and Australia is very pleased to be partnering with both GIABA and the UN’s Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate in the Regional Workshop on the Freezing Requirement Pertaining to Security Council Resolution 1373.
The asset freezing measures in Resolution 1373 are an important national security tool for States. They are both a measure against the threat of international terrorism against national interests; as well as an opportunity to contribute to broader regional and international efforts to prevent terrorist acts.
When it comes to the specific threat posed by Al Qaida-driven terrorism, the Council itself takes a more direct role in applying asset freezing and other sanctions measures to Al Qaida facilitators and affiliates. This is to ensure the measures are applied uniformly across the globe.
But the Al Qaida Sanctions Regime depends upon the active participation of all States on the front line of the fight against Al Qaida-inspired terrorism to ensure it targets the right people and the right entities.
The Al Qaida Sanctions Regime works best when the States and regions most directly affected by Al Qaida tell the Council who to target and why.
Australia is currently on the Security Council as a non-permanent member, and has the privilege to Chair the Al Qaida Sanctions Committee. It is our goal to ensure that the regime makes a genuine contribution to both national and regional efforts to combat Al Qaida-inspired terrorism.
As you can see from the agenda, the discussions over the next three days apply not only to the measures in resolution 1373, but to all targeted financial sanctions regimes applied by the Security Council in response to threats to international peace and security.
We hope the implementation experiences shared during the workshop will be equally useful to give full effect to the Council’s use of these measures to promote stability and security in Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire, to mitigate the intensity of conflict in the DRC and Somalia, or in an effort to prevent a further deterioration of the situation in the Central African Republic.
Collective security requires collective responsibility. The UN sanctions regime is part of our collective response to terrorism. Individual states have a stake in this tool of the Security Council and it’s up to us to use it well. This workshop should help make it easier to do so.
I wish you the very best for the workshop.