© UNOCT

Preventing terrorism through the protection of vulnerable targets from attacks is a priority for Indonesia. The United Nations Office for Counterterrorism collaborates closely with Indonesia’s National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) in sharing best global practices as well as in promoting Indonesia’s approach and achievements for use by other countries worldwide.

Vulnerable targets include critical infrastructure as well as “soft” targets such as tourist venues, urban centres, public events, religious sites and places of worship. Indonesia joined the Global Programme on Countering Terrorist Threats against Vulnerable Targets in April 2022.

“It is the reality of the world we live in that governments need to focus on prevention and mitigation of terrorist attacks against vulnerable targets. The global programme we participate in provides an extremely useful platform for counter-terrorism authorities from many countries to learn from each other,” said Andhika Chrisnayudhanto, Deputy Director of International Cooperation at BNPT.

Although terrorist attacks in Indonesia have reduced in both number and scale in recent years, the threat from extremist groups remains high.

The cooperation between BNPT and UNOCT focuses on the review of the legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks along with operational and technical preparedness. The parties are drafting a national action plan and tailored capacity-building activities to be implemented in the coming years.

“Indonesia has a lot of knowledge and information in this area, so this is a true collaboration and two-way exchange,” said Hernan Longo, Regional Programme Coordination Officer (South-East Asia) at UNOCT.