UNICRI’s Security Governance/Counter-Terrorism Laboratory, on 22 September 2009, established its Centre on Public-Private Security Policies in Lisbon, Portugal. The Centre’s focus is to enhance the protection of vulnerable targets worldwide, through the establishment of regional initiatives and the identification, development and testing of innovative security cooperation models.

The Centre very actively promotes a public-private partnership (PPP) approach for the protection of different categories of vulnerable targets, including “soft” targets, - such as hotels, tourism and recreational facilities, historical sites, railway and bus stations, business and financial centres - and critical infrastructures, particularly those servicing the non-nuclear energy sector.

The Centre’s strategy has been designed around the framework of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy which, in Section III, paragraph 13, encourages private sector cooperation in capacity-building programmes to identify and share best practices to prevent terrorist attacks on vulnerable targets. In this context, UNICRI leads, in cooperation with INTERPOL and the UN Department for Safety and Security (DSS), the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF)’s Working Group on Strengthening the Protection of Vulnerable Targets.

The Centre is also working to launch regional cooperation platforms on major events security where such mechanisms are yet to be established. Building on UNICRI's significant experience on the subject and through existing regional initiatives such as EU-SEC and IPO Americas, the Centre promotes the UNICRI vision that major events are windows of opportunity for socio-economic development, enhancing security governance, building cooperation and supporting networks.

The Centre, currently hosted by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Portugal, in connection with the growing commitment of the country to PPP, is supported within the terms  of the Guidelines on Cooperation between the United Nations and the Business Sector and The Global Compact’s Ten Principles, by an open-ended group of public sector organisations and private sector companies.

This group currently comprises the following benefactors: