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MR. BRIGHTSIDE This June 1, 2022 file photo shows United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres holding a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden. AFP PHOTO
UNITED NATIONS: The number of people killed in terrorist attacks may have fallen worldwide, but it is increasing in Africa, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).
“Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 48 percent of deaths attributed to terrorist groups globally last year,” he told a meeting of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact.
Terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and their affiliates continue to grow in the Sahel and make inroads into Central and Southern Africa, Guterres said, adding that they exploit power vacuums, longstanding inter-ethnic strife, internal weaknesses and state fragilities.
In conflict-affected countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya and Somalia, terrorism intensified cycles of violence, further fueling instability, undermining peace efforts and setting back development goals, the UN chief said.
Such groups also exploit and manipulate grievances in society and mistrust governments in largely peaceful countries, such as Mozambique and Tanzania.
But after visiting Nigeria’s Borno state, once a stronghold of the feared Boko Haram group, Guterres is optimistic that it is on the road to reconciliation and reintegration.
“I met people eager to restart their lives, including children once associated with Boko Haram, and women who are committed to ending the cycles of violence and discrimination under which they have suffered for so long,” he said.
“The United Nations family is standing with them and we will continue our support as they rebuild their lives, and work to renew the social contract between people, communities and government,” he added.
Guterres said the Nigerian government’s strategy is to reestablish trust with the people and create conditions to dismantle Boko Haram’s recruitment mechanism. He said many former Boko Haram fighters were even reintegrating into society.
But the UN secretary-general stressed that terrorism couldn’t be effectively addressed without tackling the conditions that led to its spread. Weak institutions, inequalities, poverty, hunger, and injustice all provide fertile ground for terrorist recruitment and violent extremism.
An integrated and holistic approach is essential to the UN’s terrorism strategy, Guterres said. He called for investment in health, education, protection, gender equality, and justice systems accessible to all and creating truly democratic systems and processes so that everyone can have a voice in the future of their communities and countries.
“Upholding human rights is critical to tackling some of the world’s most complex problems and must be at the center of our counter-terror efforts,” he said. “This is our duty, our legal obligation and our strategic imperative.”
The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact brings together partners in combating terrorism, UN agencies and the New York-based body’s member-states.
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