International peace and security

The United Nations strengthened efforts in 2002 to respond to new and continuing global, regional and national challenges to international peace and security, particularly the threat of international terrorism. Through the activities of its Counter-Terrorism Committee, the Security Council monitored the implementation of the measures it had adopted in 2001 to counter international terrorism and assisted many States in developing their capacity to do so. The Council held a high-level meeting of remembrance on the anniversary of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States to review progress in that regard. Steps were also taken by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the International Atomic Energy Agency to address the criminal and nuclear implications of international terrorism, while the General Assembly strengthened the Secretariat’s Terrorism Prevention Branch. Those efforts were however overshadowed by new terrorist acts in the latter part of the year in several parts of the world. The Security Council, in separate resolutions, condemned terrorist attacks in Indonesia, Kenya and the Russian Federation and urged Member States to assist those countries to find and bring the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors to justice. In December, the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to study ways to promote further, in the context of implementing the Millennium Declaration, a more comprehensive and coherent response to the global threats and challenges of the twenty-first century.

Related Subject(s): United Nations