(MENAFN- The Peninsula) QNA
New York: The Permanent Delegation of the State of Qatar to the United Nations organised an interactive session for Member States at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to present the achievements and future activities of the UNOCT International Hub on Behavioral Insights to Counter terrorism launched in Doha 2020 to support Member States, UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact, regional organisations and other recipients of technical assistance.
The session, which was organised in partnership with the International Hub on Behavioral Insights to Counter Terrorism in Doha and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, discussed the possibilities of using behavioural insights to address the complex phenomenon of terrorism, and highlighted the behavioural roots of vulnerabilities that lead to extremism and violent extremism leading to terrorism, and how it can be curbed from this threat through behaviourally-informed interventions.
The International Hub in Doha also presented its vision for better dissemination of behavioural insights to counter terrorism as a tool for planning, monitoring and evaluation.
The briefing dealt with reviewing the achievements made by the International Hub in Doha during two years of its program activities in the areas of research, knowledge-exchange and capacity-building, in addition to strategic communications, partnership development, and awareness-raising advocacy initiatives.
The briefing served as a test launch for the first UNOCT podcast, Going to Extremes. The podcast was produced by the International Hub on Behavioral Insights to Counter Terrorism in Doha. The podcast series presents the latest research in the field. It also brings together experts and decision-makers from around the world to discuss solutions to prevent and counter violent extremism.
Each podcast season focuses on a few themes. Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations
H E Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani said at the session that the launch of the International Hub on Behavioral Insights to Counter Terrorism in 2020 in Doha, as an office of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, is one of the leading joint projects within the framework of the strong partnership between the State of Qatar and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism.
She noted that the hub highlighted Qatar's initiative to benefit from the useful emerging science of behavioural insights, which combines various disciplines and provides an opportunity to enhance efforts in a variety of sectors, including combating terrorism and preventing and combating violent extremism.
She stressed that the State of Qatar has developed its capabilities at the academic level in the field of behavioural insights to identify risks and plan for intervention and for more effective prevention measures.
She added that the Doha Hub was in line with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's call for promoting behavioural insights sciences, praising the progress made by the hub in Doha in this regard under the leadership of United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, thanks to financing from the government of the State of Qatar.
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office Vladimir Voronkov thanked the State of Qatar for its support of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism and the international hub. He said he was proud to be part of the first UN body to use behavioural insights in its daily work. He stressed that it was important for the hub's work to continue with partners in Qatar and around the world to deal with all forms of terrorism.