Your Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya,
Your Excellency, Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very pleased to participate in this important High-Level African Regional Conference on Counter Terrorism and Prevention of Violent Extremism Conducive to Terrorism.
I want to underscore the timeliness of this initiative and wish to thank H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta, for the warm welcome, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the UN system which is co-organizing this global Conference.
It is no coincidence that this conference is being held in Nairobi, an important global diplomatic and economic hub. Kenya, this hospitable land, has suffered more than many, of the unspeakable impact of Terrorism. But Kenya refused to remain a victim. This country has come to play a leading role in the fight against Terrorism in the Continent.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is obvious that terrorism and violent extremism has become the biggest evil of our Times. It is a global and shared curse. Africa has not been spared, and in fact violent extremism and terrorism has taken firm root in different parts of the Continent like the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes, The Lake Chad Basin and the Sahel.
But despite this fact and our meager resources, Africa and the governments concerned did not resign to inaction.
The responses of Africa to violent extremism and terrorism are multiple, multi-faceted and multi-dimensional.
The African Union established the African Centre for Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSRT), located in Algiers, to establish a platform for serious work in the area of understanding the root causes of this phenomenon.
Other responses include the Nouakchott Process, the Djibouti Process, which are both platforms for cooperation and intelligence-sharing between intelligence and security services. Similar cooperation for police services on the Continent also exist. The African Union also supports Regional operational responses such as the Multi-National Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad Basin, AMISOM in
Somalia, and the G5 Sahel Force.
But this is no ordinary enemy. Countries are now forced to address competing priorities between development and security.
I’m just coming from Niger, where the African Union held an Extraordinary Summit to officially launch the world’s largest economic integration and trading bloc, the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement. Niger embodies the paradox of many Sahel countries, forced to devote more than a third of their national budgets to fight terrorism at the expense of development.
These countries, already faced with the devastating effects of climate change, migration, and cross-border criminal economies from the trafficking of drugs, human beings and even arms.
That is why we insist that the United Nations Security Council with the mandate to ensure global peace and security, should assume its responsibilities by allocating resources to fight terrorism in Africa.
However, the security response alone is not the answer. The response should be sustainable development in line with Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063.
That is why the African Union and United Nations are now implementing a framework agreement for both peace and security and development as part of a holistic response to these shared global challenges.
I want to express my deep appreciation to the unfailing personal commitment of the UN Secretary General, my dear friend Antonio Guterres, in addressing these issues.
This meeting also offers us a unique opportunity to galvanise this needed international cooperation. I welcome the goals and objectives of this Conference, to promote better understanding and cooperation amongst all United Nations member states. In doing so, we also demonstrate our commitment to multilateralism at a time when it is particularly under threat.
I wish to commend the UN Secretary General for the Global Counter-Terrorism strategy which calls for united action. The African Union stands ready to partner with the United Nations and international partners in this vital initiative. In this regard, I wish to thank our international partners for their continued support.
But frankly, Ladies and Gentlemen, we now have to IMPLEMENT our strategies. We need to act and we need to act now.
I therefore wish you fruitful deliberations and look forward to your practical recommendations.
I thank you
