Your Excellency, Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Your Excellency, Mr. Nana Akufo-Addo, President, Republic of Ghana,
Your Excellency, Mr. Faure Gnassingbe, President, Republic of Togo,
Your Excellency, Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson, African Union Commission,
Your Excellency, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, President of Ecowas
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me start by thanking the President and Government of Nigeria for hosting this meeting on such an urgent and topical issue. I also thank the NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu for his leadership and welcome my UN colleagues led by USG Voronkov, UNODC, UNDP and IOM who have supported today’s meeting.

Excellencies,

Terrorism continues to pose a significant threat to global peace, stability and sustainable development.

Globally, multiple intersectional crises and deficiencies in development evidenced by only 15% in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals have led to an increase in terrorist attacks. Deaths from terrorism in the world rose to 8,352 in 2023, a 22 per cent increase from the prior year and the highest level since 2017. The epicenter of terrorism has shifted from the Middle East and North Africa into sub-Saharan Africa, concentrated largely in the Sahel region.

The situation in Africa, particularly in the Sahel, is dire, with some of the most violent terrorists groups operating in the Sahel; the region now accounting for almost half of all deaths from terrorism globally.

A major factor that has fueled the rise in insurgency in the Sahel is organized crime, particularly the proliferation and smuggling of firearms across our porous borders. The availability of weapons empowers terrorist groups, often better equipped with the latest technology.

The UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel approved by the Security Council 11 years ago, was predicated on prevention in an effort to address the alarm sounded at that time. Today, however, we see an absence of State in areas where terrorism flourishes. The well-articulated efforts of the Strategy have not come at the scale or at pace with the onslaught.

Excellencies,

It can be said that terrorists are not born but created in environments of social exclusion, inequality and the relegation of human rights. 

Terrorism creates instability and causes untold human suffering, with women and girls usually bearing the brunt of it, while whole communities are destroyed, and social fabric torn.

These are communities with limited opportunities in education and economic empowerment, denying huge populations, especially the youth, a life of dignity. Today, achieving sustainable development is exacerbated by climate change and natural disasters.
Only a few days ago, we were reminded of the Chibok abduction of 270 schoolgirls in 2014 and the thousands more women and girls that followed. Our collective response to such horrific acts must be to stay and act on ‘never again’.

This means learning the lessons of the root causes and rebuilding our torn societies by keeping the promise of Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 to restore trust.

Trust anchored in strong, transparent and effective leadership and institutions that have a presence in people’s lives — and that deliver for people.

Excellencies,

Allow me to share some reflections for your consideration on how we can strengthen our response to terrorism:

First, we must address the root causes that lead to terrorism in the first place – absence of development with people at the centre of policy making.

Terrorists find a welcome home with deeply disillusioned, excluded and desperate people. Farmer-Herder crisis a tragic symptom. We must formulate responses that address those conditions.
In doing so, we must pay attention to our women and girls who bear the greatest impact of insecurity, the victims of terrorism who deserve our solidarity and who have a right to remedy and reparations and to our youth and future generations. And the policies and laws must evolve with the demand and changes in our socio-economic constructs.

With our young people becoming the largest cohort of global demography, we must invest in their capabilities and aspirations. 

When we create an environment where our youth can thrive, we can deter the disillusionment that leads some to believe joining terrorist groups like ISWAP or Boko Haram offers better opportunities than contributing to the development of their communities and continent.

Second, we need to work to rebuild the social contract across the region.

The social contract—the bond between people and the authorities that govern them—has been frayed by decades of underinvestment, crises, and corruption.

Rebuilding our social contract is essential for recovery. It means building strong democratic institutions and promoting people-centered governance, all grounded in human rights, and guaranteed access to basic services and inclusive development for all people, no matter who they are.

This situation also means ensuring strong regional integration with strengthened and resourced institutions. Our leaders must ensure that the institutions of the African Union and ECOWAS who are responsible to drive integration have the capacity and resources to do so, if we are to achieve their mandates. The countries of the region are strongest when they stand in solidarity.

We need to increase information sharing and collaboration among governments and security actors across our borders. They deliver better for all their citizens when they pool resources. This is vital and critical to rebuilding our defenses against terrorism.

In the effort to rebuild our social fabric, an issue which is often overlooked is the pain and suffering victims undergo during and after the carnage.
Providing mental health and psychosocial support to the victims and survivors is essential to heal and overcome the trauma, pain and suffering.
I recall the harrowing tale of the woman tragically fleeing from a Boko Haram attack with her baby, in her desperation, she made a choice no woman should ever have to make, she throws her baby into the river, hoping against hope that someone, somewhere will offer refuge and safety for her innocent child. These scars are not ones that heal easily.

 Therefore, in our efforts to provide mental health support, we must involve our community, religious and traditional leaders, who play a vital role in creating safe spaces and fostering recovery.
Nigeria has some of the most innovative apparatus, one of which was used in Iraq.

Excellencies,

Let me conclude with a final thought. At the margins of this year’s General Assembly, we will hold the Summit of the Future. This will be a crucial opportunity to reinvigorate multilateralism in key areas, including sustainable development, a digital compact, future generations, and a New Agenda for Peace.

The New Agenda for Peace aims to propose ways to address new and emerging risks and revitalize our collective peace and security system. Terrorism remains one of the major risks to our security and international peace. Thus, improving our global response to terrorism must play a central role in the New Agenda for Peace, uniting different stakeholders from the security, humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding sectors behind a vision for a future without terrorism.
We must also pay heed to the alarming increase of organized crime in the Gulf of Guinea. This scourge meeting and fueling the terrorism in the Sahel will spell doom for hundreds of millions of Africans.
  
At every step, Africa has a crucial role in this process.

Today’s meeting takes place with the objective of ensuring African-led and African-owned solutions to terrorism.
I’d like to congratulate the Foreign Minister of Nigeria, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, for framing Nigeria’s National Policy with country ownership at the center.

This reminds us that we can only create solutions “by us and for us” if we bring our priorities and perspectives into global debates. The recent example of resolution 2719 sets the stage for a new response to peacekeeping that is for people.

For this reason, I invite all of you to engage in the lead-up to the Summit of the Future.
I also urge you to work together towards concrete action-oriented outcomes of this meeting that will make a tangible difference in our fight against terrorism.
Together, we can build a safer and more secure future for all Africans and the world.

Thank you very much.