Secretariat - Action against Terrorism Unit

The primary responsibility for preventing and countering terrorism, as well as for managing the consequences of terrorist acts, rests with states. However, given the nature and scale of today's constantly evolving terrorist threat, states alone cannot successfully counter terrorism without the deployment of all elements of national power, drawing on the business community and civil society as a whole.

The international community recognizes the importance of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in countering terrorism. The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy encourages PPPs and the G8 has launched a "Global Forum for Partnerships between States and Businesses to Counter Terrorism" (Moscow, November 2006), which resulted in the G8 Strategy for Partnerships between States and Businesses to Counter Terrorism.

Likewise, the OSCE strives to involve the private sector as much as possible in its counter-terrorism activities and constantly aims at developing and promoting PPPs, in particular with regard to supply chain security, travel document security, transport security, combating the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, countering terrorism financing as well as protecting and promoting human rights in the fight against terrorism.

In order to further explore the potential of such co-operation, to identify existing gaps and best practices, the OSCE organized a high-level political conference on PPPs with the theme "Partnership of State Authorities, Civil Society and the Business Community in Combating Terrorism", an initiative of the United States of America and the Russian Federation. The conference was held in Vienna on 31 May and 1 June 2007.

Organized thanks to generous extra-budgetary contributions from the OSCE Spanish Chairmanship and the United States, 320 participants from 58 OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation attended the event, as well as experts from 20 international organizations and representatives of 41 civil society organizations and businesses.

Participants acknowledged the need for joint counter-terrorism efforts by state authorities and the private sector, taking into consideration the relevant functions and specific expertise of all partners involved. These partnerships should be based on the principles of voluntary co-operation and mutual trust, providing better security and clear benefits to all parties.

For more information, please contact the ATU directly.