A Shura Council delegation participated in a high-level parliamentary conference on preventing and countering terrorism and violent extremism, along with the role of African youth in this field. The two-day African parliamentary conference convened on Thursday in Lome, Togo. The event was organised by Doha-based Office of the UN Counter-Terrorism Programme (UNOCT) on Parliamentary Participation in Preventing and Combating Terrorism, with support from the Shura Council, and in co-operation with the National Assembly of Togo, the African Parliamentary Union (APU), the Joint Parliamentary Committee of the Group of Five in the Sahel, as well as the Interparliamentary Committee of the Group of Five for the Sahel.
Attended by the national parliaments in Africa, African Parliamentary assemblies and unions, civil society organisations and the relevant UN agencies, the conference focused on the ways that enable the parliamentarians to foster youth engagement in policy-making processes, raising awareness of the major role that should be undertaken by young people in Africa in preventing extremism. In his intervention during the first day of the conference, Shura Council member HE Saad bin Ahmed al-Misnad underlined that Qatar continues to support all UN activities, whether physically or morally, according to the directives of the wise leadership, specially the initiatives that aim to combat terrorism, extremism and eliminating their causes and drying up their sources.
This is in addition to bolstering the international security and peace as the two essential and vital prerequisites to attain the sustainable development goals, al-Misnad said. He added that the efforts made by Qatar in combating the terrorism scourge and supporting the UN initiatives received wide commendation and standing ovation from the UN in numerous occasions. Al-Misnad underscored the critical role played by youth in combating terrorism and preventing extremism, pointing out that young people constitute up to nearly two-thirds of the population of African countries and represent the active segments on whom the countries count in development, progress and advancing the African communities.
Countering terrorism concerns all segments, particularly the young people, he pointed out, stressing their critical role in the progress and development of communities in Africa and the world, in addition to curbing all scourges and illnesses that pose a threat to communities. He called for the provision of all appropriate ways and means to young people to undertake a positive role in combating all risks that threaten the communities, pose a real threat to international peace and security and create major barriers to the countries' development and progress.
The Shura Council member praised the Parliamentary Counter-Terrorism Working Group for Africa, lauding the role of UNOCT in establishing the working group.
Terrorism phenomenon is certainly global and concerns all world territories, al-Misnad added, pointing out that its implications are extremely dangerous, adding that he keeps his countenance in establishing the Parliamentary Counter-Terrorism Working Group for Africa, and hopes that it will proceed with its operation to provide creative initiatives and proposals to the international efforts devoted to eliminating terrorism and extremism.
The first meeting of the Parliamentary Counter-Terrorism Working Group for Africa was convened Friday, which featured an Inter-Parliamentary dialogue to further comprehend the most exigent challenges concerning the prevention of extremism, and enforcing the legislations related to the protection of victims of terrorism, as well as the ways to address the increasing challenges facing the legislators at this level.
