MENAFATF held on Tuesday 17th February 2026, in partnership with the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) through its United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT), a practical webinar entitled “Countering the Misuse of Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers for Terrorism Financing” aimed at highlighting the practical application of the UNOCT Handbook on Countering the Misuse of VAs and VASPs for Terrorism Financing, focusing on translating international standards into operational steps relevant to the MENA region. It also explored the practical implications of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee’s Non-binding Guiding Principles (the Algeria Guiding Principles) and introduced an online survey mechanism enabling MENAFATF members to voluntarily contribute experiences and practices to the forthcoming Handbook addendum. It also featured contributions from international and regional partners, including ESAAMLG, Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), INTERPOL, UNMT 1267/1989/2253 ISIL (Da’esh) & Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Monitoring Team, AFRIPOL, Nigeria, India, and IMCTC, and private sector representatives such as Chainalysis and Binderr.

The webinar forms part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the operational capacity of MENAFATF member countries in addressing the evolving terrorism-financing risks associated with virtual assets (VAs) and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), particularly in light of the fast-moving, cross-border and technology-driven nature of digital financial environments. The webinar reaffirmed the importance of harmonized operational approaches, strengthened public-private partnerships, and enhanced regional cooperation in addressing terrorism-financing risks involving virtual assets.