Ghana and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) have signed an agreement to enhance cooperation in preventing and countering terrorism and its links to transnational organized crime.
The Letter of Agreement (LoA) will speed up the delivery of technical assistance to Ghana under the United Nations Countering Terrorist Travel (CT Travel) Programme, boosting national capacities and supporting efforts to address threats associated with terrorist travel through the use of Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) systems.
The agreement was signed by Mauro Miedico, Director of UNOCT, and Albert Kan-Dapaah, Ghana’s Minister for National Security, during an in-person ceremony at the Forum Celebrating the 5th Anniversary of the UN’s Countering Terrorist Travel Programme in Budapest, Hungary.
Mr. Miedico praised the Government of Ghana for its ongoing cooperation and strong partnership with UNOCT, highlighting the importance of this collaboration in improving national and regional security.
Mr. Kan-Dapaah also expressed gratitude for the support provided by UNOCT and reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to effectively implementing the agreed measures.
The effective processing and analysis of passenger data are crucial for identifying, detecting, and intercepting individuals who pose terrorism-related threats and other serious criminals, including those unknown to authorities, before, during, and after travel.
The LoA will allow the United Nations to continue supporting Ghana in enhancing its capabilities to detect and intercept terrorists and other criminals in line with Security Council resolutions 2178 (2014), 2396 (2017), and 2482 (2019), which call on Member States to require airlines operating in their territories to provide API and PNR data to relevant national authorities to monitor departures, attempted entries, or transits through their territories.
