Leaders from across the continent joined ambassadors to look at how to better combat terrorism and prevent violent extremism through stronger cooperation between the UN and regional organisations.
The debate was chaired by President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique. The country holds alternately Security Council this month, has been fighting a deadly insurgency in the north for more than five years.
The ‘fertile land’ to expand
The Secretary-General expressed deep concern about the gains made by terrorist groups in the Sahel and other parts of Africa.
“Despair, poverty, hunger, lack of basic services, unemployment and unconstitutional changes in government continue to create fertile ground for the expansion of terrorist groups. infect new parts of the continent” he say.
Furthermore, fighters, money and weapons are increasingly flowing between regions and across the continent, while terrorist groups are forging new alliances with organized crime networks and groups. pirate. Their “violent ideology” is also spreading online.
Unite against terrorism
“Just as terrorism keeps people apart, against it can bring nations together,” said Mr. Guterres, pointing to a number of initiatives across Africa, including in the Sahel, Lake Chad basin and Mozambique.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres speaks at a Security Council meeting on threats to international peace and security posed by acts of terrorism.
He added: “The United Nations stands with Africa to end this scourge. “Above all, it includes our continued close cooperation with the African Union (AU) and regional and sub-regional African organisations.”
Mr. Guterres said the UN is provide tailored support to African countries in areas including prevention, legal aid, investigation, prosecution, reintegration and rehabilitation.
Upholding human rights
Along with Nigeria, the UN is also co-hosting the upcoming Africa Counter-Terrorism Summit and is strengthening cooperation on key peace initiatives. The organization also supports new “robust” peace enforcement missions led by the AU and counterterrorism operations, with Security Council mandates. He called on countries to support this important work.
The Secretary-General also wishes in June, when the UN Global counter-terrorism strategy, passed in 2006, underwent its eighth review. This would mark an “important opportunity” for states to find new ways to more effectively address the conditions that create fertile ground for terrorism to spread.
The meeting will also serve as a reminder that Human rights must be at the heart of counter-terrorism effortshe added.
“Evidence suggests that counterterrorism efforts that focus solely on security rather than on human rights can inadvertently increase marginalization and exclusion, and lead to situation got worse.
Terror ‘spreading’ continues
The new AU President, Comoros President Azali Assoumani, noted that although terrorism has existed for a long time, “since the 2011 Libya crisis, it has really exploded, especially in Europe. Fly.”
As a result, thousands of foreign fighters and fighters flooded into the Sahel, helping to bring terrorist groups into the continent, along with an “uncontrollable flow of weapons”.
“In this way, gradually, terrorism becomes more and more widespread in Africa – from north to south, from east to west. And the spread of terrorism continues, spreading in most parts of Africa,” he said, through an interpreter.
He vowed to “spare nothing” to ensure the AU’s flagship initiative to “silence the gun” by 2030 becomes a reality.
The President of the Republic of Mozambique Filipe Jacinto Nyusi chairs a meeting of the Security Council on threats to international peace and security posed by acts of terrorism.
Different context, global threat
Like climate change, terrorism is one of the most serious threats facing the international community, said President Nyusi of Mozambique in his first speech to the United Nations Security Council. Country.
“The expansion of terrorism is quite threatening and it is driven by factors that vary by context. On the one hand, radicalization based on identity variables is driven by intolerance and on the other hand, the manipulation of socioeconomic factors has accelerated recruitment to terrorist groups, especially especially young people,” he said through an interpreter.
Citing the 2022 Global Terrorism Index, he reports that some 48% of deaths are related to terrorism occurred in Africa, while the Sahel was the “new epicenter” of terrorist attacks.
African expertise and solutions
President Nyusi said African nations, the AU and regional organizations on the continent – such as the South African Development Community (SADC), the West African bloc ECOWAS and its East African counterpart, IGAD – have accumulated years of experience in conflict resolution.
The SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) has been fighting terrorists in the northern province of Cabo Delgado for almost two years – an example of “African solutions to Africa’s problems” and a way to Access can be replicated elsewhere.
“For Mozambique, this experience adds value, as we are currently fighting terrorism combining SADC regional multilateral efforts with bilateral efforts between Mozambique and Rwanda, and we together successfully fight terrorism,” he said.
Support youth employment program
President Nyusi also made proposals for the upcoming UN Global Counterterrorism Strategy review, calling on states to establish a fund to strengthen the resilience of local communities, including through youth job creation projects, particularly in Africa and the Middle East.
His other recommendations include prioritizing support for regional solutions to counterterrorism and promoting a holistic approach that combines security, judicial, and socioeconomic interventions.
He also stressed the need to assist developing countries that are unable to respond effectively to the effects of “climate change and other man-made crises” because they are heavily indebted. .
International Financial Transformation
He warned that the situation made these countries increasingly vulnerable extremism, terrorism and violent conflict.
“To get these countries out of the current crisis, we call on the international community restructuring debt and facilitating access to reasonable capital for these high-risk countries,” he said.
“To this end, the international financial system needs to be transformed by reforming multilateral financial institutions.”
