LUXEMBOURG, 23 OCTOBER 2024 – The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) Countering Terrorist Travel (‘CT Travel’) Programme and the Passenger Information Unit (PIU) of the Luxembourg Police hosted the second in-person meeting of the goTravel International User Community (IUC) in Luxembourg on 22-23 October 2024. Over 25 representatives from various IUC Member countries, attended the event in-person.
The objective of the goTravel International User Community is to provide a platform for Member States using or planning to use the United Nations goTravel software solution to support innovation and the continuous development of goTravel. By using the same platform, Passenger Information Units (PIUs) enhance standardization, making PIUs more effective in their work to combat terrorism as well as transnational organized crime. This collaboration also supports the innovation and continuous development of key modules for the goTravel software.
The second in-person meeting of the goTravel IUC examined the features included in the most recent technical release of goTravel, enabled discussions around common challenges among Member States, and the development of potential operational solutions within goTravel. The members of the community also discussed the business requirements for a number of priority goTravel features for 2025 and 2026.
The UN Countering Terrorist Travel (‘CT Travel’) Programme was launched in 2019 to support Member States respond to the growing threat posed by the movement of foreign terrorist fighters. A flagship global initiative of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), the Programme follows a ''One-UN'' partnership to provide comprehensive, yet tailored assistance to 57 beneficiary Member States, with the support of six implementing partners United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations Office of Information and Communication Technology (OICT), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The Programme is a global initiative that aims to build Member States’ capacities to prevent, detect, and investigate terrorist offences and other serious crimes, including their related travel, by collecting and analyzing passenger data, both API and PNR, in line with United Nations Security Council resolutions, international standards and best practices and human rights principles. Indeed, promoting and protecting human rights is a crucial component of effective counter-terrorism efforts. In line with the United Nations Human Rights Due Diligence Policy, CT Travel promotes compliance with human rights and ensures appropriate data privacy safeguards are embedded in the goTravel code and are reinforced throughout the Programme cycle, from the initial engagement with a beneficiary Member State throughout the phased implementation process.
The Passenger Information Unit (PIU) Luxembourg was established in August 2018 following the enactment of the national PNR law, based on the European Directive 2016/681. It was a strategic decision to place the PIU within the Directorate of International Relations, which also oversees the central contact point and the National Bureaux for Interpol and Europol.
Currently, the PIU comprises seven members, including the Head of Unit and the Deputy Head, alongside a carrier account manager and four operators. The unit operates primarily during weekdays from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, aligning with the operational hours of Luxembourg Airport. The PIU provides competent authorities - both local, EU, and third-country entities - with access to Passenger Name Record (PNR) data for historical searches, watchlisting, and rule-based targeting.
Luxembourg’s PIU is proud to report that 100% of commercial carriers are connected to its gateway application. This system monitors data flow by cross-referencing incoming data with scheduled flight plans provided by Eurocontrol, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation.
The application, developed largely in response to PIU Luxembourg’s specific needs, is a real-time flight management tool. It automatically notifies carriers in case of missing data submissions and is fully compliant with recent court rulings regarding PNR regulations.
Luxembourg signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the use of the UNOCT goTravel solution and adopted the software to enhance their API and PNR analysis capacity.
Ms. Laurence Gerard, at gerardl@un.org, United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT)
CT Travel Programme, at cttravel@un.org, United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT)