Its al systems go as Nairobi gears up to host the 23rd Coordinating Committee of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) amid rising terrorism threats across the region and the globe.
The event hosted by Nairobi will run from Monday to Thursday.
The agenda will encompass several critical sessions, starting with the Oversight and Accountability for Counterterrorism Operations Initiative Trans-Regional Group Meeting.
Civil society consultations and a side event on addressing the threat of terrorism in East Africa will follow.
The Director of Kenya’s National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) Rosalind Nyawira described the upcoming forum co-chaired by Egypt and the European Union (EU) as a “timely and important event” for the country and the region as well in the wake of the evolving terrorism landscape.
“This unique forum accords practitioners from across the world an opportunity to develop and share effective interventions to respond to the complex, dynamic, and widespread threat of terrorism and violent extremism,” she said.
Kenya joined the GCTF in 2023 as part of the efforts to rally regional and international efforts in degrading the growing threat of terrorism and violent extremism in the region.
Kenya is among the countries in the East African region that has borne the brunt of terrorist attacks, particularly from the Somalia-based Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist outfit Al-Shabaab that has continued to wreak havoc in the region.
During the deliberations, the NCTC Director outlined the objectives, emphasizing the need for shared priorities, joint action plans, and the adoption of new initiatives to address emerging threats in the region.
Further, Nyawira revealed that Kenya and Germany have also proposed to lead an initiative that focuses on the nexus between climate change and violent extremism.
Kenya and Germany, she said, are “persuaded that the climate crisis has exacerbated the factors conducive to terrorism including underdevelopment, forced displacement, food insecurity and resource competition.” She said.
Egypt Ambassador to Kenya Wael Nasreldin Attiya said several heads of working group co-chairs and the initiative leaders will attend the forum.
He added that the participants will discuss the developments and activities which they have done in previous months adding that UN agencies taking part in counter-terrorism will be part of the forum.
“It will be a chance for the co-chairmanship to present and discuss the most salient issues related to the forum such as the reinforcement of Member States participation or new initiatives that could [be] adopted or maybe choosing other or new working group co-chairs.” He noted.
Ambassador Attiya praised the collaboration between Egypt and the EU, particularly in combating terrorism, which led to their joint chairmanship of the GCTF in May 2023.
Stressing the importance of international cooperation and information exchange in addressing terrorist threats, he underscored the significance of multilateral mechanisms and platforms.
Deputy Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union Ondrej Simek thanked the Kenyan government for agreeing to host the forum.
Simek said that the GTCF has a range of strategic objectives that they are aiming to achieve by 2025.
He noted that the key objective is to focus on the African continent, particularly the East African region in the ongoing efforts terrorism.
“We understand that the global counter-terrorism forum has very positive role of bringing together diplomats that are engaging with practitioners on the ground, with civil Society, and with Communities that are affected by the threat of terrorism,” he said.
He added that aside from the event, the participants will have a series of other side events that will have a particular focus on the EU and also on Egypt.
One of the events will be a trans-regional group meeting that will discuss the questions of accountability and oversight.
He noted that respect for the rule of law and human rights is key to being able to counter terrorist threats.
The other aspect of the discussions will involve a consultation with the civil society whom he said are an integral pillar in the ongoing efforts on counter terrorism and violent extremism.