Remarks by Under-Secretary-General Miguel Moratinos
High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
High-level African Counter Terrorism Meeting
22-23 April 2024 – Abuja, Nigeria
Your Excellency, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, President of ECOWAS Commission,
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
It is a great honor to be here in Abuja and I thank the Government of Nigeria for the warm welcome and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) for inviting me to address this session.
Terrorism and the underlying spread of violent extremism are major threats to the UN pillars namely international peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights.
In the previous sessions, we have heard distinguished speakers reiterate that the international community is facing a new phase in the fight against terrorism with several transnational networks operating simultaneously. Following the territorial collapse of ISIL in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, foreign terrorist fighters are returning or relocating to new countries. Africa has been particularly hard hit by terrorism in the Sahel, in West and East Africa, as well as in the countries of North Africa. There has been a significant increase in the scope and scale of terrorist attacks in recent years which is largely attributed to exploiting new technologies and tactics by these extremist and terrorist groups to promote their twisted ideologies and insidious narratives offline and online. Religious sites and faith leaders were also targets of those terrorist attacks in several countries in Africa.
Excellencies,
Africa continues to be the victim of many injustices.
The pandemic and then the spillover of the Ukraine war aggravated not only the economic situation but rather the social, cultural and religious dimensions as well. Radical and terrorist groups have maliciously used these fissures to recruit and mobilize young Africans.
The complexity and magnitude of these threats cannot be defeated by any single government or organization. Effective action requires a concerted multilateral and multifaceted response that is global, regional and national, with a focus on impact at the local level. The development of multi-stakeholder and multisectoral strategies is key.
Our actions should be strengthened and well-implemented if we want to have positive results. The Secretary-General, António Guterres, has repeated in multiple instances the need to address the root causes and enhance prevention policies. In Africa, these interventions are even more needed than in other areas of the world.
Yes, we should include, in an Action Plan, programmes and policies to eradicate hunger and poverty, to understand the diversity of the cultural and religious dimensions, and to establish preventive actions to eradicate the tendencies of extremists to adhere to violent discourse and behaviors. Youth, women, stakeholders at community level, and religious leaders should be our main focus in our different projects.
Let me share with you an example: What would you think is more efficient — an intervention such as the Moroccan policy to cooperate with local and national imams that have been trained in the Mohammed VI Institute for the Training of Imams, Morchidines, and Morchidates in Rabat, or sending foreign troupes that landed in the middle of isolated villages from helicopters trying to find “terrorists”?
Yes, my dear friends, we should, of course, implement military and security measures to control and find the “barbarians”, but we should increase our efforts and assistance in support of areas of cooperation that until now has not been sufficiently explored.
In this context, UNAOC joined other UN entities under UNOCT in the UN Joint Appeal for Africa. We are opening a new chapter in the way the United Nations system is working together — not just in terms of raising critical funding – but how we collaborate in addressing complex and emerging threats jointly. The Joint Appeal supports a new generation of UN-led strategic multi-partner initiatives across borders, partners and thematic siloes for a more visible, transparent and effective multilateral contribution to the implementation of the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy in Africa.
The evolving threat posed by terrorist and violent extremist groups demands flexible, collaborative and innovative strategies by stakeholders at global, regional, national level.
Gaining the trust with Africa means that our work in Africa should be based on African-led solutions.
It is essential to engage with a diverse array of partners in a coherent and coordinated approach.
Establishing robust and efficient collaborations with civil society organizations, the private sector, and regional organizations, offers an opportunity to enhance comprehension and foster in-depth learning as well as driving innovation.
UNAOC has long recognized the importance of working in complementarity with grassroots organizations. Civil Society Organizations, including faith-based organizations, have a unique role in understanding community needs and challenges, being often closer to the beneficiaries of our work.
The UN General Assembly Resolution of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy 8th Review, A/RES/77/298, encourages various organizations, including United Nations bodies such as the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, to pursue initiatives that promote diversity, pluralism and tolerance.
I am thinking of the work of people like the Muslim Imam Muhammad Ashafa and the Christian Pastor James Wuye, who used to lead opposing militias in the Kaduna State in Nigeria. Since 2017 until today, they are united in friendship and partnership to defuse religious conflict. They established the Interfaith Mediation Centre. Through the support of the UNAOC-BMW Group project called Intercultural Innovation Hub, they developed interfaith strategies that advocates peaceful coexistence and aims to prevent the recurrence of violent religious conflict in the region. It also mentors many faith-based local organizations to advocate for peaceful coexistence between people of all faiths.
We also recognize women as essential partners in peacemaking and peacebuilding efforts. UNAOC together with UN Women, UNFPA and UNICEF completed the pilot initiative “Strengthening Young Women Peacebuilders’ Capacity in Complex Crisis”. The project supports young women leading civil society organization with capacity building, strengthening their fundraising skills and creating a space for peer-exchange, networking and sharing of best practices and lessons learned. Lynda Nkechi Emmanuel from Nigeria was one of the 20 young women who benefited from this project.
Together with the NGO Mujeres Por Africa, we launched Women’s Alliance for Peace initiative. We brought together women mediators for a mediation and conflict mitigation training workshop from the Central African Republic , Mali, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It is examples like these that fill with me hope for the future in Africa and beyond.
Excellencies,
Over almost 2 decades, we have placed youth at the center of our work emanating from our belief of their crucial role to prevent and counter violent extremism conducive to terrorism.
In fact, one of our flagship projects the Young Peace Builders was launched here in Abuja where the face to face workshop took place in November 2016.
If you allow me, I will briefly highlight successful projects that we implemented in that serve as good practices in addressing Pillar I of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy:
The Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF) project is one of the leading support mechanisms in the United Nation system for young people promoting social cohesion and addressing polarization and violent extremism through implementing initiatives within their communities.
“Nurturing for Peace” implemented by the Uganda Muslim Youth Development Forum, based in Uganda. The project promotes interfaith relations and fosters social cohesion among youth of different religious sects in Eastern Uganda. The organization created “Youth Interfaith Peace Gardens” in two districts, offering diverse young people gardening fellowships to develop professional skills, and a platform for interfaith dialogue to reduce recruitment by extremist groups and support for violent extremism in these areas.
Amani Center, based in Kenya. Through its project, the Amani Center trained a group of radio journalists to produce and broadcast programs focusing on peace, the prevention of violent extremism, and social cohesion to be aired in areas susceptible to conflict and radicalization, were also being developed on these topics.
“Youth Peace Dialogues” implemented by the Association Development by Young People (ADYP), based in Burkina Faso. A project engaging young people across selected municipalities in peacebuilding activities to promote social cohesion and empower them to become agents of peace. Three peacebuilding clubs were established and operationalized by young people in which they run PVE activities such as workshops, dialogues and advocacy campaigns for other young people of diverse backgrounds, regions, religions, ethnicities and levels of education to promote religious tolerance and discourage radicalization.
Needless to say that, effective collaboration with UN entities and regional organizations is of paramount importance in addressing global challenges effectively. Regional organizations possess nuanced insights of their respective regions. By partnering with regional organizations, the UN can leverage their localized knowledge, networks and influence to implement more targeted and contextually relevant initiatives. Additionally, joint efforts with regional organizations enhance the legitimacy and ownership of interventions.
Last November, UNAOC with UNOCT, within the framework of the United Nations Global Programme on Security of Major Sporting Events and Promotion of Sport and its Values as a Tool to Prevent Violent Extremism, in collaboration with the African Union Sport Council and the 13th African Games LOC, organized a UN-African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Youth Forum on the Role of Young in the 13th African Games with the objective of raising awareness of the role and significance of sport in PVE and compiling recommendations on integrating young people in organizing major sporting event and related sport-for-PVE initiatives.
Together with UNOCT, UNICRI and CTED, UNAOC developed a good practices module on protecting religious sites and places of worship from terrorist attacks. This specialized guide serves a helpful instrument to elicit dialogue, exchanges and outreach, foster a better understanding of threats to religious sites and promote dialogue and collaboration amongst relevant stakeholders. The guide was developed in the framework of the United Nations Global Programme on Countering Terrorist Threats against Vulnerable Targets.
In conclusion, UNAOC remains committed to strengthen its collaboration with UN entities in the Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact Committee as one of the Vice Chairs of the Working Group on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, with UNESCO and UNDP under UNOCT.
Also, taking the opportunity of all being here in Abuja, I would like to propose that we identify a pilot project either focused on a country or being implemented at regional level in which we invest all our efforts to address security, economic and social development, cultural and religious tensions, etc. in a multi-stakeholder approach coordinated by UNOCT. I am convinced that the results on the ground will be evident.
I thank you.