Chair's Opening Statement for the briefing on the Committee's revised documents and procedures for assessing Member States' implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) and 1624 (2005).

Security Council resolution 1373 which was adopted in 2001, required all Member States to report regularly to the Committee on their implementation of that resolution. Over the next few years it became clear that this obligation was placing a heavy burden on Member States. The number of States replying began to fall and the detail of the reports became less indicative of the States performances. In 2006 thereafter, the Committee decided to reduce the reporting burden on Member States by moving the primary responsibility for drawing up States' reports to the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) following visits to the Country concerned. This also facilitated greater harmonization and consistency enabling CTED to draft products such as the Global Implementation Survey. In 2010 the Security Council adopted resolution 1963 (2010) which referred to the Committee's intention to review the preliminary implementation assessment (PIA), in order to enhance its usefulness. The Committee has accordingly replaced the PIA with two enhanced assessment documents (the Overview of Implementation Assessment (OIA) and the Detailed Implementation Survey (DIS)). The Committee has also adopted revised procedures for its stocktaking of Member States' implementation of Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001) and 1624 (2005). The revision of the assessment documents and stocktaking procedures represents a critical project which was initiated under the previous Chairmanship of the Committee. Considerable time and energy has been expended by the Committee, the Executive Director and his staff at CTED for this purpose, given that these assessment documents have served as the primary mode of dialogue between the Committee and Member States since 2005. The DIS consists of a set of questions concerning counter-terrorism measures that States should put in place for the effective implementation of resolutions 1373 (2001) and 1624 (2005). Its purpose is to assist Member States in indicating what they have done in the field of counterterrorism and to assist the Committee and CTED experts in assessing global implementation efforts in a thorough, consistent, transparent and even-handed way. It will also serve to facilitate dialogue with each State on any further action required. Some questions are aimed specifically at assessing Member States' implementation of the measures contemplated by the two resolutions; others seek to obtain clarification of States' overall counter-terrorism capacities and strategies. Shortfalls identified in the DIS are not intended to imply failure by a State to comply with its obligations. Rather, they indicate priority areas in which States are encouraged to take further steps in order to implement the two resolutions more effectively.

The use of performance assessments is a principle carried over from the preliminary implementation assessment, which itself has been in use for the past seven years. Data collected from the DIS will allow for a more accurate and detailed analysis of general trends regarding the implementation of resolutions 1373 (2001) and 1624 (2005). Much of these analyses will be featured in future versions of the Global Implementation Survey produced by the Committee. I can assure you that the data collected will not be used in any way to name and shame Member States (i.e. in other words this is not a report card). I have just given an outline, the details of which will be presented more ably by Mr. Mike Smith, Executive Director of CTED, whom I invite to take the floor to provide some further details on key changes and next steps on the OIA and DIS as an evolution from previous assessment tools and to also set out the next steps.