11 September 2026, San Marino – On the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 on the Twin Towers in New York, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) remembers the over 3,000 victims and stands in solidarity with their families and loved ones, the survivors, the first responders, and all those whose lives were forever affected.
As recalled by the United Nations Secretary-General, the attacks represented “an assault on humanity itself” and left an enduring mark on the international community. Twenty-five years on, their legacy remains a powerful reminder of the need for sustained international cooperation to prevent and counter terrorism.
This year also marks twenty years since the adoption of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, reaffirming that the fight against terrorism remains a collective and unfinished responsibility.
For PAM, countering terrorism and violent extremism remains a priority area of engagement since the very early years of the Assembly. PAM was the first international organization to adopt, in 2008, by consensus, a working definition of terrorism, laying the foundations for its longstanding contribution to international counter-terrorism efforts.
Today, the Assembly continues to support the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and relevant UN resolutions through sustained cooperation with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED).
This commitment is further reflected in PAM’s role, for a second consecutive term, as President of the UN Coordination Mechanism and Policy Dialogue for Parliamentary Assemblies on Counter-Terrorism. Bringing together 17 parliamentary assemblies, the Mechanism provides a platform to strengthen cooperation between international parliaments and the United Nations, advancing legislative and policy action, supporting capacity-building, and promoting more coordinated parliamentary responses to terrorism and violent extremism.
PAM’s engagement also increasingly addresses the evolving technological dimension of the terrorist threat, including the misuse of Artificial Intelligence and digital platforms for radicalization, recruitment and the dissemination of terrorist narratives.
These challenges will be at the centre of the forthcoming PAM-CGS event on the occasion of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, entitled “Governance, Technology and Trust in the Age of AI: The Role of Parliaments and Parliamentary Diplomacy in Countering Online Terrorist Narratives.” The meeting will further contribute to international discussions on the role of parliaments in ensuring effective, coordinated and rights-based responses to emerging threats.
As the international community commemorates the victims of 11 September, PAM renews its commitment and determination to preventing and countering terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, in full respect of the UN Charter, international law and human rights, and to strengthening the role of national and international parliaments for a safer and more resilient future, free from terrorism.