GABORONE (BOTSWANA), 24 February 2022 – The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) successfully completed its pilot Programme on Threat Assessment Models for Aviation Security (“TAM Programme”) in Botswana. Botswana is now the first Member State to test and operationalize a new interagency coordination framework that allows it to identify, assess, and manage terrorist threats against critical civil aviation infrastructure.
Addressing senior leaders from national governmental agencies in Botswana, UNOCT Director and Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism Dr. Raffi Gregorian said that “Botswana’s cooperation with the TAM Programme Team has served as an opportunity to experiment with and successfully apply innovative approaches for national cooperation on terrorist threats to civil aviation. Through collaborative work involving nine of its governmental agencies, Botswana has successfully repositioned its counter-terrorism and aviation security services in pursuit of a risk-based protection model of its civil aviation assets, serving as an example to other Member States seeking to do the same”.
H.E. Mmamosadinyana P. J Molefe, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation of Botswana shared: “The completion of this week’s activities marks a significant milestone for both Botswana and the UNOCT given that Botswana is the first Member State to have effectively completed the implementation of the TAM Programme”.
Advocate Ernest Mosate, Director General of the Botswana Counter-Terrorism Analysis and Fusion Agency added: “To the Botswana Integrated Project Team, let me congratulate you for breaking new ground and representing the country well. You have shown us that challenges to interagency cooperation can be overcome and contrary to popular belief, our different organizational cultures are actually our biggest strength. Let me assure you that you have your full leadership support. You should ensure that you implement this “Master Piece” while the methodology and the concepts are still fresh in your minds”.
The TAM Programme supports global counterterrorism efforts by providing Member States with technical assistance and capacity-building tools to enhance national information-sharing mechanisms on terrorist threats to civil aviation. The Programme works to strengthen national interagency cooperation on threat information, and supports risk-based decision-making to secure global civil aviation systems as called for by Security Council resolution 2309 (2016) and in line with the Seventh review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy of June 2021. Concretely, the TAM Programme bridges the nexus between counterterrorism and aviation security by fostering cooperation at the national level through the establishment of new lines of communication between previously siloed organizations; and by creating cross-agency synergies which provide increased resources and expertise to ensure safe and secure air travel.
The TAM Programme is now being implemented in Nigeria and The Philippines and will support five beneficiary Member States in Africa and Southeast Asia between 2021-2023. The TAM Programme is led by UNOCT, in partnership with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and integrates expertise from the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). It is funded by generous contributions from the State of Qatar, the United States of America, and the Government of Hungary.
The Chief Executive Officer of CAAB Dr Bao Mosinyi accepted the TAM Programme Results and Recommendations for the Review Board on behalf of the Director-General of Counter-Terrorism and Analysis Fusion Agency (CTAFA).
Source: UNITED NATIONS OFFICE OF COUNTER-TERRORISM