General Assembly Security Council

 

Mr. President,
 

Terrorism is one of the most serious threats to global peace and security today. It affects us all. I join all those who extended their condolences to you for the sad death of the Egyptian Policemen killed by terrorists just of few days ago. Since the beginning of the year more than 4500 lives have been lost in more than 40 countries. Almost a thousand since the Council met last month to discuss terrorism. We, therefore, support your initiative to discuss ways to address this common challenge at today's Open Debate on Countering the Narratives and Ideologies of Terrorism.


2.    Terrorism thrives  on and is sustained by its  trans-boundary networks  for ideology, recruitment, propaganda, funding, arms, training and sanctuary. No one nation alone can tackle this menace decisively. Tackling terrorism demands extensive coordination and effort. The fight against terrorism is not succeeding so far because there is insufficient international cooperation.


3.    The Hydra-like monster of terrorism continues to spread across continents in developing and developed countries alike, aided by the targeted propaganda of hatred over the ever growing social media networks that were designed to bring people together.


4.    The rise of ISIL that is drawing foreign terrorist fighters of vastly varying ethnicities, social backgrounds, education qualifications, economic status from distant continents is a sign of the immense complexities of the push and pull factors involved.


5.    It is increasingly clear that there is no single path or a set of paths that define the process of radicalisation. This renders the task of mounting a counter narrative difficult.


6.    One of the common threads is the overwhelming proportion of these foreign fighters are males between mid-teens and mid-twenties in age. This, perhaps, is one of the indicators of the possible ways to address the issue.


7.    The ideological framework guiding the terrorist groups, is their real strength. It is built upon very specific and extreme arguments.


8.    The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. It is a struggle between the values of humanism and the forces of inhumanity. It is also a battle that must be won through the strength of our values and the real message of religions.


9.    A concerted effort is needed to deny space for the spread of extremist ideologies and narratives and to launch specific counter-narratives. The counter-narratives have to address the theories of victimhood, conspiracy and the denial of inconvenient facts contained in the terrorist ideologies.


10.    It requires building a wider social consensus against the inhuman activities and crimes that are committed by the terrorist groups. Active engagement of local community and religious leaders may be necessary in disseminating more moderate and mainstream teachings challenging the radical and motivated interpretations.


11.    Since the phenomenon of radicalised foreign or homegrown terrorists defies any easy generalisations, it is important to identify the nature of perceived individual or group grievances that push them towards membership of such extremist groups.


12.    Radicalisation can be prevented only if the youth develop stakes in their mainstream socio-political and economic milieu. Taking long term care of the de-radicalised is also an important aspect in convincing the possible recruits of alternatives available to them.


13.    Moderate views can be spread effectively by the education system, civil society, opinion makers and domestic political leadership.  The powerful role of media - print and electronic - in this debate can also not be underestimated.


14.    The misuse of social media to disastrous effect by terrorist groups needs to be monitored carefully and countered, with due safeguards for respecting freedom of expression.  
At the same time, positive and balanced narratives about the fallacies of extremist ideologies and successes of peaceful co-existence need to be projected more widely.


15.    Countering the narratives of  terrorism  is a long  term  preventive endeavor. Equally important is effective counter-terrorism through monitoring and intervention that requires close international collaboration. Narrow perceived interests have often prevented the framing of legal frameworks for international cooperation and even the effective implementation of sanctions that could restrict possible threats.


16.    We hope that countries realise that the threat is serious, knows no borders and requires a more coordinated response. This should start, with renewed vigour and determination, here at the United Nations.


Thank You.