UN Counter-Terrorism Week Side Event: Unleashing the Potential of Cities in Localising the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy

Publication Date:

26/06/2026

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Summary

On 26 June 2026, the Strong Cities Network convened mayors, local leaders, Member States and United Nations partners for a side event during the 2026 UN Counter-Terrorism Week to explore the role of cities in implementing the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (UNGCTS) at the local level. Co-organised by Strong Cities Network and the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations, in partnership with the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the event came as the UNGCTS marks its 20th anniversary and convened an audience of approximately 50 participants.

The side event, Global Frameworks – Local Action: Unleashing the Potential of Cities in Facilitating the Localisation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, highlighted the vital role local governments and their leaders can play in turning global counter-terrorism commitments entered into by national governments (i.e., UN Member States) into sustainable local action. It explored how, with the right mandate, resources and expertise, cities can strengthen prevention, resilience and whole-of-society approaches that support the long-term implementation of the UNGCTS. Since its adoption by consensus in 2006, the Strategy has underlined the need for human rights-based, cross-sectoral and whole-of-society approaches to preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism. As the Strategy enters its third decade, the side event focused on the practical role cities can play in advancing these approaches in ways that are responsive to local needs, risks and community dynamics. The discussion also considered what more Member States and the United Nations can do to recognise, resource and strengthen cities as partners in the implementation of the Strategy.

Representatives from municipalities in Burnaby (British Columbia, Canada), Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), Halifax Regional Municipality (Nova Scotia, Canada), New York (New York, United States), Oslo (Norway), and Tamale (Ghana) shared how they are each translating global frameworks into local action, as well as opportunities for further support. In particular, representatives identified the need to address social conditions, including health and safety, that contribute to resilience or vulnerability to harm, and to support young people who are particularly at risk of radicalisation due to exclusion. Other discussion areas included community engagement, youth empowerment, the prevention of hate speech, protection of soft targets and major events, support for victims, rehabilitation and reintegration, intercommunal dialogue and recovery following terrorist or related incidents.

Speakers:

Abubakari Adam Takoro, Mayor, Tamale (Ghana)
Dawn Virginillo, Manager, Crime Reduction and Intervention, Burnaby (British Columbia, Canada)
Majda Moutcho, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Morocco to the United Nations
Mauro Miedico, Director, UN Counter-Terrorism Centre, United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT)
Merete Fjeld Brattested, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations
Patty Cuttell, Deputy Mayor, Halifax Regional Municipality (Nova Scotia, Canada)
Petter Haugland, Political Adviser on Strategy and Media to the Governing Mayor, Oslo (Norway)
Rebecca Weiner, Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism, New York City Police Department, New York (New York, United States)
Sandra Moreno, Strategic Project Adviser, Development Branch, Community Services, Edmonton (Alberta, Canada)
Tamara Anderson, Chief, Knowledge Management and Strategic Support Section, Policy, Knowledge Management and Coordination Branch, United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT)

Key Findings

Local leaders must collaborate across all levels of government and across sectors for a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach. Threats emerge within our communities, and we have a shared responsibility to challenge them.

Cities are in a unique position to strengthen trust, prevent radicalisation, promote inclusion and respond to social dynamics that can create fertile ground for hatred, violent extremism or other threats to social cohesion. Local governments and their partners – civil society organisations, schools, faith institutions, law enforcement – are key allies to building lasting and sustainable solutions.

Cities are already implementing and translating global frameworks, including the UNGCTS, into tangible local action. They are investing in community-driven prevention and crisis responses that advance public safety, address youth exclusion and other vulnerabilities, make meaningful use of available technologies and networks for data sharing and trend monitoring that preserve democratic resilience and strength.

Cities cannot accomplish this work alone. Organisations like the Strong Cities Network and the United Nations – with political and other support from Member States – must continue to invest in international capacity building, learning opportunities and networking that amplify local solutions to hate, extremism and polarisation that also align with human rights frameworks and international law.

Key Themes

1. Learning from the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy

Mauro Miedico, Director of the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre at the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the adoption by consensus of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and its ninth review this year, which offers an important opportunity to reflect on the past two decades. He emphasised one constant lesson from implementation: “global frameworks are most effective when they translate into meaningful action at the local level.” He noted pillars ne and four of the Strategy and their continued relevance, citing the need to address the conditions conducive to terrorism (pillar one) – which are often experienced at the grass-roots level – and to ground effective responses in human rights and respect for the rule of law, inclusion and meaningful participation by all sectors of society (pillar four). Tamara Anderson, Chief of the Knowledge Management and Strategic Support Section in the Policy, Knowledge Management and Coordination Branch of the UNOCT, also provided an update on the practical implementation of the strategy, noting that it “is often seen as something that happens at the global level, that lives at the global level […] but in reality, the strategy only works if it’s working locally.”

Anderson identified that the Strategy was already in action locally through initiatives on community resilience and social cohesion, with municipalities bringing together schools, faith leaders and police for dialogue and action or developing early warning systems tracking hate speech at the local level. Eric Rosand, Global Chair of the Strong Cities Network, also shared the ways that cities are actively implementing the Strategy through their various law enforcement, public safety, community services or communications departments, calling for increased attention to their essential role in the implementation efforts.

2. Unleashing the Potential of Cities in the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (UNGCTS)

Miedico of UNOCT looked ahead to the next three years of implementation of the UNGCTS, remarking that the “experiences and perspectives of local leaders” will be essential to informing global discussions and shaping collective response. Anderson also named local communities as essential partners in prevention, as they can help recognise early warning signs, understand local tensions, challenge harmful narratives, and help build trust. Collaborative spaces like the UN Counter-Terrorism Week Side Event, they said, are crucial junctures to close existing gaps between national frameworks and local action moving forward and must be prioritised for future investment and growth.

Majda Moutcho, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Morocco to the United Nations, also called for strengthened international cooperation by empowering those closest to communities, citing the Strong Cities Network as an example of the wide-ranging impacts of doing so. Moutcho noted Morocco’s commitment to ensuring that local voices are represented in international discussions and its role in the Network as Co-Chair of the International Steering Committee and host to the Seventh Strong Cities Global Summit, which will take place in Rabat (Morocco) in 2027. The Global Summit, she said, will be an important milestone in further advancing cooperation between cities, national authorities, international organisations and local communities, with an entire day of programming dedicated to the contribution of cities to the implementation of the UNGCTS. Moutcho shared that the Summit “will not only be a moment of dialogue, but also a platform for action, initiatives, innovation [and] practical cooperation.” Through Strong Cities convenings like the Global Summit, member cities Agadir, Fes, Marrakech, Rabat and Tangier (Morocco) have benefited from essential spaces to learn from their unique contexts while sharing practices, challenges and lessons learned for prevention and implementation of global frameworks

One of the most important lessons from these 20 years of prevention is that it cannot be built from the top alone: it needs to be built from the ground up. This is because threats often emerge in specific environments, but solutions also do – they emerge where people live; where communities, young people and families interact; where local leaders work every day to preserve social cohesion. It is precisely for this reason that cities have become increasingly recognised as crucial partners in the implementation of the [UN Global Counter-Terrorism] strategy.

Majda Moutcho, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Morocco to the United Nations

3. Calling for a Whole-of-Society Approach to Prevention

Ambassador Merete Fjeld Brattested, Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations, reminded participants of the importance of a whole-of-society approach to preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism, noting that national governments cannot succeed alone. Citing experiences with previous terrorist attacks in Norway, Ambassador Brattested called for three guiding principles of a comprehensive approach: 1) a whole-of-government strategy that can evolve to face threats and convenes local communities, civil society, and the private sector, 2) proactive action to address all forms of violent extremism and 3) openness and transparency in government that is vital to maintaining public trust.

Anderson of UNOCT also called for the whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach called for in the UNGCTS, which she mentioned “reflected a deliberate choice by Member States […] that counter-terrorism cannot be the responsibility of security actors alone. A response that is only securitised will miss the drivers of violence and risk breaking the very trust it depends upon.” Anderson provided that whole-of-government means bringing together security institutions, education, social services, and local authorities, while a whole-of-society approach convenes and coordinates between those closest to communities, including women-led civil society organisations, community and faith leaders, youth leaders, and importantly, the private sector.

4. Cities Addressing Social Issues that Impact Public Safety

Aligning with the first pillar of the UNGCTS, several speakers identified the need to address the conditions that may protect people from or contribute to violence. Deputy Mayor Patty Cuttell connected historical and ongoing work around anti-racism, police transformation and violence to address complex social issues underlying public safety in Halifax Regional Municipality (Nova Scotia, Canada). Rather than looking at the prevention and response to violence as the sole responsibility of police, the municipality developed what is now an entire ecosystem of community safety. Halifax’s Community Mobilization Teams (CMTs) reflect this holistic, community-centred approach that invests in local leadership and crisis preparedness, as well as long-term prevention and trauma-informed response. CMTs uniquely reflect each community they live in and help neighbourhoods prepare for critical incidents and recover afterwards through collaborative community response plans, healing circles and nights of caring. As a volunteer-driven program supported by the municipality, CMTs demonstrate the power of long-term investments in community-driven, grassroots approaches to safety that can cultivate relationships of trust between communities and local government. Cuttell also provided other examples of social crisis supports through non-enforcement pathways, citing Halifax’s 24/7 community-based Crisis Assistance and Response (CARE) Program.

Halifax’s ecosystem of community safety includes its internal municipal structure and planning. In 2024, Halifax created a dedicated community safety business unit that brings together teams on housing and homelessness, emergency management, community programs and partnerships, compliance and community standards, and food security that can match the right response to the right need. Additionally, the municipality offers a community safety training program, which provides municipal staff and community partners training on mental health first aid, nonviolent crisis intervention, and applied suicide intervention skills. Cuttell also shared that Halifax has implemented equity-based planning to direct investments towards communities with the greatest need and has also adopted participatory approaches to preventing and addressing gender-based violence in public spaces through their Safe City & Safe Public Spaces program, which reflects priorities in the UN Women’s Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces for Women and Girls. Like the CMTs and other initiatives, this empowers residents themselves to identify safety concerns and design solutions in partnership with the municipality.

I’ve been absolutely amazed to see how far we’ve come in eight years in terms of evolving our approach to public safety – that strategy challenged us to ask a different question: what if our measure of success wasn’t simply how well we responded to crises, but how often we prevent them from happening in the first place. That shift fundamentally changed how we think of public safety in Halifax today.

Patty Cuttell, Deputy Mayor, Halifax Regional Municipality (Nova Scotia, Canada)

Mayor Abubakari Adam Takoro shared Tamale’s (Ghana) consistent commitment to peace, democracy, social cohesion and inclusive development with the backdrop of expanding activity by violent extremist groups to exploit poverty, social inequities and local grievances in West Africa. Takoro cited violent extremism as “not solely the responsibility of national security agencies, [but] equally a local governance challenge that requires community-based solutions, inclusive leadership, and sustained engagement with citizens.” Takoro shared that the local government in Tamale partners with local educational institutions, religious leaders, civil society organisations, women’s groups and youth associations to strengthen community participation and promote peace education to foster dialogue, challenge misinformation, and resolve conflicts and grievances. Investments in education, healthcare, sanitation, and sustainable development, he said, also build resilience to extremism, with women playing a vital role in local governance, community leadership, economic empowerment, and peacebuilding initiatives.

Dawn Virginillo, Manager of Crime Reduction and Intervention, shared results from a recent analysis of vulnerabilities for violent extremism in Burnaby (British Columbia, Canada) that identified the diversity in its population as contributing to simultaneously high risk and high resilience. In efforts to maintain the strengths of its local communities as a protective factor, Burnaby is focusing on core service delivery to ensure food security, housing stability and adequate housing opportunities, education and access to healthcare (which includes mental healthcare), while liaising with local partners. Through various touchpoints like these, the municipality is well-positioned to listen closely to community voices and design targeted strategic interventions while coordinating with partners like law enforcement or fire departments who also help detect early signs of emerging hate. Burnaby also invests in building long-lasting relationships of trust in the community with settlement agencies, cultural organisations, youth focus groups, and more.

5. Cities Empowering Youth in Prevention

Youth emerged as a particular focus for municipalities, particularly those experiencing social exclusion and at heightened risk of radicalisation and recruitment to extremist efforts.

Petter Haugland, Political Adviser on Strategy and Media to the Governing Mayor of Oslo (Norway), cited geopolitical instability, digital disruption, polarisation, misinformation and declining participation as particular security threats. He also pointed to how trust, robust institutions, traditions of cooperation, and engaged citizens contribute to democratic resilience. Haugland noted that in Oslo, young people may be feeling particularly disconnected from or left behind by the education and welfare system. A municipal priority, then, is addressing youth exclusion that can increase vulnerabilities to radicalisation, focusing on early intervention and coordination between schools, childcare services, employment services and local districts. Haugland also recognised the importance of visible city leadership and support in the aftermath of terrorist incidents and hate-motivated attacks, underlined by systemic action planning against the racism, prejudice, and discrimination that drives these incidents as part of Oslo’s anti-discrimination and inclusion framework.

Virginillo of Burnaby also identified youth as a core prevention actor, with efforts in the city focused on embedding youth in civic processes so that they feel heard, connected and empowered to contribute to their communities. Burnaby also provides youth programming focused on mentorship and prevention, particularly for those identified at risk. These actions are collectively embedded in and inform Burnaby’s community safety and well-being framework, which includes pillars focused on youth and families and equity and reconciliation.

Like Virginillo, Takoro of Tamale stressed diversity as a strength and challenges affecting young people, particularly unemployment, social exclusion, substance use, and marginalisation – as a vulnerability as well as an opportunity, with migration as an additional challenge to social cohesion. Youth engagement and empowerment are reflected as a priority in Ghana’s National Framework for Preventing and Countering Violence Extremism and Terrorism, and Tamale has prioritised youth-focused interventions through skills development programmes, entrepreneurship initiatives, vocational training opportunities, sports development, digital projects and civic engagement activities provided through the Youth Inclusion and Social Cohesion focus of the SOCO Project.

Sandra Moreno, Strategic Project Adviser of the Development Branch, Community Services, drew attention to the Civic Youth Fellowship in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada). The City developed the fellowship to meaningfully engage youth who may not have traditionally seen themselves reflected in local government or public service and to “move beyond consultation to genuine partnership,” breaking the mould of more traditional internship models and moving towards true civic leadership. She said the programme also provides a platform for municipal government to listen and learn directly about perspectives that are often absent in local decision-making, and for youth to benefit from mentorship, meaningful work and access to professional networks. Following weeks of initial knowledge exchange, sessions with subject-matter experts, training, curated municipal tours and matching with executive leadership at municipal offices, youth begin developing projects and designing programmes that address real challenges in local government. In some examples, fellows helped enhance the accessibility and equity of the local transit network for newcomers, researched Dutch elm disease (focusing on detection, community awareness and long-term prevention), and studied youth radicalisation and how technologies like artificial intelligence can bolster early intervention and prevention.

The fellowship connects directly to multiple municipal strategies, from our Community Safety and Well-being Framework to the Blueprint for Violence Prevention, Project UPSTREAM, our Migrant Action Plan and Economic Action Plan. At first glance, those strategies may seem very different, but they all share a common goal: building safer, more inclusive, and more resilient communities. We believe meaningfully that youth are part of that solution.

Sandra Moreno, Strategic Project Adviser of the Development Branch, Community Services, Edmonton (Alberta, Canada)

Moreno shared five lessons from the Civic Youth Fellowship for other municipalities looking to implement similar initiatives:

Meaningful partnerships will require sustained investment and long-term commitment rather than one-time funding.

Preparation matters: invest in mentorship, onboarding and leadership development.

Broaden the definition of potential by expanding beyond traditional post-secondary pathways; welcome talent from young leaders who may not usually be heard at City Hall.

Despite progress, many young people from diverse communities will continue to encounter prejudice simply for stepping into public service.

Trust young people – time and time again, they have exceeded expectations, not only because they are leaders of tomorrow but because they are leaders of today.

Exploring the Role of Technology, Information Sharing and Data-Driven Initiatives for Counter-Terrorism

Rebecca Weiner, Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism, shared how a global understanding shapes counter-terrorism at the local level for the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Weiner highlighted deterrence as a priority, particularly for soft targets or major events taking place in New York, and the importance of partnerships across a wide range of networks around the world. This includes NYPD Shield, a partnership of approximately 20,000 international law enforcement and security agencies and professionals aimed at connecting the public and private sectors through trend monitoring, information sharing, and distribution of intelligence products. A similar network, Operation Sentry, assembles around 600 partners to share what is happening across the country and on any related threats. Memorandums of understanding with international partners in Australia, Colombia, Europe and the Middle East also facilitate the sharing of practices and learnings from incidents overseas, allowing New York City to fully prepare for various threats. Weiner stressed the importance of trust and relationships in information gathering and sharing, particularly while contending with evolving threats such as nihilistic violent extremism, mobilisation of younger individuals towards violence and technological advances driving profound changes in the landscape of terrorism.

Edmonton also shared their work on data-driven initiatives, including an AI tool called Unison, which assists local agencies in identifying neighbourhood-level trends and hotspots while protecting privacy. Edmonton also partnered with the Canadian Centre for Safer Communities (CCFSC) to adapt the Urban Safety Monitor to the Canadian context for the Blueprint on Violence Prevention, identifying specific data indicators under broader themes of crime, community and local governance. Through this collaboration, the City identified youth violence and gender-based violence as among the core drivers for focus in their strategic municipal violence prevention work.

Next Steps

Strong Cities will build on discussions at the side-event at its Seventh Global Summit in Rabat in early 2027, which will include sessions dedicated to the role of cities in localising the UNGCTS. These sessions will help underscore how sustained investment in city-focused training, capacity building and partnerships will be critical to allowing more cities to contribute to Strategy implementation.

Beyond the Summit, Strong Cities will continue to support municipalities on trends and themes that emerged through this side-event, including youth exclusion and online harms, whole-of-society and community-centred approaches to prevention and data-driven initiatives. These topics feature across many ongoing Strong Cities Network dialogues and initiatives, including Prevention Academies in British Columbia, Canada, New South Wales, and the United Kingdom; the Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative; and the Global Crises, Local Impacts initiative.

To stay up to date on upcoming webinars, events and project launches, sign up for Strong Cities Network’s mailing list.

Additional Resources

Ninth Review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, July 2026
Unleashing the Potential of Local Governments in Coastal West Africa in a Whole-of-Society Approach to Rehabilitation and Reintegration, Strong Cities Network, April 2026
The online landscape of subcultures of nihilistic violence, Institute for Strategic Dialogue, February 2026
Sixth Global Summit: Using Education and Municipal Partnerships and Services to Safeguard Youth Online, Strong Cities Network, January 2026
City-Led Youth Engagement in Addressing Hate, Extremism and Polarisation: Ten Recommendations for Cities, Strong Cities Network, January 2025
A Guide For Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, April 2025
United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, United Nations, September 2006

Contact Information

For more information on this event or Strong Cities North America programming, please contact the North America Regional Hub at [email protected].

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