Enhancement of International Cooperation to Assist Victims of Terrorism

Calls upon all Member States to develop comprehensive assistance plans for victims of terrorism, consistent with domestic law, taking into account a gender perspective, to address the immediate, short-term and long-term needs of victims of terrorism and their families with regard to their relief and rehabilitation, ensuring that they are provided with proper support and assistance, both immediately after an attack and in the long term, including through the sharing of best practices and lessons learned related to the protection of and assistance to victims of terrorism;

Urges Member States to establish systems of assistance, consistent with domestic law, that would address the needs of victims of terrorism and their families and promote and protect their rights, including by partnering with health professionals, emergency planning managers and members of law enforcement, prosecutors’ offices and civil society, where applicable, to institutionalize the provision of assistance to victims;

Calls upon all Member States to consider the impacts of terrorism on women and children and to seek greater consultations, as appropriate, with women and women’s organizations when developing their victim assistance plans;

Calls upon the Office of Counter-Terrorism to further enhance coordination and coherence across the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact entities on raising awareness of victims’ issues and the delivery of United Nations capacity-building assistance to requesting Member States;

Also calls upon the Office of Counter-Terrorism, in particular the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre, within their respective mandates, to assist requesting Member States in developing their comprehensive assistance plans for victims of terrorism and in building their capacity to assist victims of terrorism;

Encourages the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact working group on promoting and protecting human rights and the rule of law while countering terrorism and supporting victims of terrorism to continue to raise awareness of victims’ issues and the promotion and protection of victims’ rights, including in the criminal justice process, and urges the working group to increase the attention paid to strengthening efforts to build the capacity of requesting Member States and to engagement with relevant civil society organizations to assist and support victims of terrorism in protecting their rights and needs, including the need to have public recognition and to keep their memory alive;

Calls upon Member States to respect the dignity and legal rights of victims of terrorism, as provided for in domestic law, in criminal litigation and in gaining access to justice, including the right to be considered for witness protection measures and appropriate assistance and support during criminal proceedings, awareness of court proceedings and charges, the right to be treated with fairness and with respect for their dignity and privacy and for their safety from intimidation and retaliation, in particular where they appear as witnesses, the right to full and timely restitution and the ability to address the court and consult with prosecutors;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session a report on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution, containing an evaluation of the existing United Nations activities regarding victims of terrorism, with a focus on concrete recommendations and, as appropriate, detailed options, including for a voluntarily funded comprehensive programme to support Member States, at their request, in assisting victims of terrorism through national systems.