The Seventh international meeting of high-level representatives on security issues was held in Grozny, Russian Federation, from 23 to 25 May 2016.
Seventh international meeting of high-level representatives on security issues.
Messages from both the Russian President and the United Nations Secretary-General were delivered at the opening session, which was chaired by Mr. N.P. Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Mr. Weixiong Chen, Deputy Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), delivered the United Nations Secretary-General’s message on his behalf.
“The issue of countering violent extremism is considered by the Security Council as an essential element in addressing the threat to international peace and security posed by foreign terrorist fighters,” Mr. Chen said.
He informed participants of the recently produced Global Implementation Surveys (GIS) undertaken by CTED, as well as the three Security Council documents pertaining to the foreign terrorist fighter (FTF) phenomenon, describing Member States’ implementation of resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2001), and 2178 (2014).
Mr. Chen called for intensified efforts in addressing issues linked to countering violent extremism (CVE) and developing the right approach to strategic communications and effective messaging to counter terrorists’ narratives. “They should include the voices of victims, religious leaders, women, youth, academia, and the media, as well as iconic sports and movie stars,” he suggested.
Mr. Chen also stressed the UN’s convening power and the organization’s potential in facilitating and sharing experiences and good practices on countering violent extremism, including between the South and the North, and in terms of South-South cooperation.
The 2016 meeting was part of the annual focus on issues related to “fighting extremism and terrorism in the interest of maintaining regional and international security;” “migration processes as a challenge to regional and international security;” and “formation of the international information security system.” High-ranking officials from around 80 Member States attended the meeting.