Continuing UK support in the fight against Daesh as it expands to new settings
Alice Jacobs, UK Deputy Political Coordinator at the United Nations, gave a statement at the UN Security Council briefing on counter-terrorism.
President, I would like to thank Under-Secretary-General Voronkov, Acting Executive Director Chen and Martin Ewi for their informative briefings.
We remain indebted to the UN Sanctions Monitoring Team, UNOCT and CTED for their important work in analysing the ever-changing terrorist threat.
We heard today how Daesh continues to pose a significant threat to global stability. Counter-terrorism pressure has constrained the group over the last few years, but gains are vulnerable and uneven, with the group still able to expand in sub-Saharan Africa in particular, as Mr Ewi has outlined today.
Recent events in Afghanistan have demonstrated the very real security challenges we face. Daesh Khorasan continue to target innocent Afghans, particularly minority communities, while Al Qaeda has caused the suffering of thousands. We all have a shared interest in using every lever at our disposal to counter Al Qa’eda, Daesh and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan.
Despite its territorial defeat and recent successful operations against its leadership, Daesh remain a serious threat in Iraq and Syria, its strategic heartland. This demonstrates the continuing importance of the Global Coalition to Counter Daesh, and the need to work together to ensure Daesh’s lasting, global defeat. The UK hosts the Global Coalition’s Counter Daesh Communications Cell that is tackling Daesh’s propaganda and its destructive and hateful messages.
In the month we commemorated the 8th anniversary of Daesh’s crimes against the Yazidi community, the UK also underlines its support for UNITAD and international efforts to bring to justice the perpetrators of Daesh violence.
President, we continue to support the fight against Daesh as it expands to new theatres.
As we heard today, Daesh’s African affiliates continue to grow and account for an ever-increasing proportion of Daesh-claimed violence. Interconnectivity between branches also represents a worrying trend and amplifies the threat they pose, including to neighbouring countries. Daesh is opportunistic and will continue to take advantage of pre-existing grievances, and target those most susceptible to joining their cause: the young, the marginalised, the disenfranchised.
Hard security interventions will therefore only take us so far. We must work to build resilience within communities, in partnership with civil society, against terrorist propaganda and other influencing efforts.
And finally, when countering terrorism, we must all ensure that we protect and promote human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law through a gender sensitive approach if our collective efforts are to be truly effective.
Thank you.