Fact Sheet: United States Participation in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism

In 2006, the United States and Russia launched the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) to meet the critical need for closer international cooperation to prevent, detect, and respond to acts of nuclear terrorism. Since then, the GICNT has grown to 86 partner nations and five official observers, and has transformed into the durable international institution President Obama called for in Prague in 2009.

The United States co-chairs the GICNT with Russia and has played a key leadership role in contributing resources and expertise towards the planning and execution of nearly 80 multilateral activities, bringing together experts to exchange models, experiences, and best practices in addressing nuclear security challenges.

During the Nuclear Security Summit, GICNT leadership countries released a joint statement highlighting GICNT accomplishments since 2014. Summit participants also released a forward-looking GICNT action plan that recognizes the initiative's unique ability to advance key aspects of the Summit process, in particular by continuing to take practical multilateral activities that promote capacity-building and develop partnerships necessary for addressing critical nuclear security challenges.

The United States will continue its strong support of global efforts to advance the GICNT's mission and looks forward to participating in a GICNT High Level 10th Anniversary Meeting hosted by the Netherlands June 15-16, 2016. The meeting will emphasize GICNT contributions in strengthening the global nuclear security architecture, and will facilitate a senior-level dialogue on key nuclear security challenges anticipated over the next decade and actions GICNT can take to address them.