U.N. approves Egyptian resolution on terrorism’s impact

CAIRO – 22 November 2017: Egypt's permanent delegation to the U.N. reached a resolution on the impact of terrorism on human rights with broad support of the international members of the Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Issues Committee at the U.N. General Assembly, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zaid said.

This comes two weeks after President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi announced that fighting terrorism is a key human right.

Sisi made the announcement during the inaugural speech of the World Youth Forum (WYF) in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Abu Zeid stated that this decision reflected the president's vision of the relationship between terrorism and human rights, pointing out that this is the first time Egypt has submitted a draft resolution to the U.N. General Assembly.

He stated that the resolution is consistent with Egypt’s position on combating terrorism, especially the vision recently put forward by Sisi, which directly links the issue of combating terrorism with human rights.

The decision focused on the four pillars of the U.N. strategy to combat terrorism, calling for handling the roots of terrorism and extremism, building states' capabilities, stepping up the U.N.’s role in countering terrorism and respecting the principles of the international law on human rights, Abu Zeid emphasized.

Abu Zeid noted that the decision was adopted by a large majority, which reflects Egypt's success in communicating its vision on how to counter terrorism and increase international understanding of the challenges associated with the threat.