On December 2, the Government of Mongolia and the United
Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) signed a Memorandum of Agreement governing
the deployment and licensing of the UN ‘goTravel’ software to Mongolia’s
Passenger Information Unit (PIU).

The implementation of GoTravel is part of the comprehensive
assistance delivered under the Countering Terrorist Travel (‘CT Travel’)
Programme. A flagship UNOCT Programme, CT Travel assists Member States in
fulfilling their obligations under United Nations Security Council resolutions
2178, 2396 and 2482 to establish and enhance their national capabilities to
detect and interdict the travel of terrorist and other criminals using travel
data, in compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law.


Under-Secretary-General of UNOCT Vladimir Voronkov and
Minister of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia Kh, Nyambaatar, welcomed the signing of the
MoA as a critical milestone in the ongoing partnership between Mongolia and UNOCT.



“The United Nations congratulates Mongolia on its
accelerated implementation of the CT Travel Programme, thanks to the leadership
of Minister Nyambaatar Khishgee and all-of-Government efforts under the
coordination of the National Counter-Terrorism Council of Mongolia. We look
forward to working closely with the Government of Mongolia to support other
Member States in the region and in other parts of the world by sharing
Mongolia’s newly gained knowledge and good practices,” stated
Under-Secretary-General Voronkov. He welcomed Mongolia’s invitation to
Ulaanbaatar on the occasion of the launch of the Passenger Information Unit.


Thanking UNOCT for its support, Minister of Justice and
Home Affairs of Mongolia Kh. Nyambaatar highlighted that the necessary legal
documents required for the full implementation of the programme are ready to be
considered by the Government of Mongolia. He also indicated that Mongolia’s
Passenger Data Center will be ready to go live in the near future, noting that
the center’s staff has been appointed and its structure agreed.

goTravel is a United Nations-owned software solution
derived from the Travel Information Portal (TRIP), developed and donated to the
United Nations by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. goTravel supports the
end-to-end process for law enforcement to collect passenger data from air carriers
and conduct targeted analysis as well as share the findings of their data
assessment with competent national authorities. Member States can adopt the
goTravel solution to enable the automated analysis and watchlist matching of
large data volumes for all inbound and outbound passenger traffic, allowing
authorities to focus limited resources on known and suspected terrorists and
other criminals while facilitating legitimate travel.


Currently supporting 58 beneficiary Member States across
the globe, UNOCT’s CT Travel programme assists beneficiary Member States in
enhancing their national capabilities to detect and intercept terrorists and
other criminals by using Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name
Record (PNR) data as well as cross-checking against international and national
databases of known and suspected terrorists and criminals, in accordance with
Security Council resolutions, the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) standards and recommended practices, relevant privacy laws, and human
rights principles. The Programme also promotes regional cooperation through
enhanced information exchange and the sharing of lessons learned and good
practices.