Head of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism visits Egypt

CAIRO - 3 March 2018: Vladimir Voronkov, Head of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism started a two-day visit to Cairo on Saturday, at the invitation of the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, MENA reported on Saturday.

During the visit, Voronkov will meet with General Magdy Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Interior; Ihab Fawzi, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Affairs and International Security and General Mohamed el-Kishky, Assistant Defence Minister for International Cooperation, MENA said.

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General will also meet with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb;Hossam Zaki, the Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, as well as representatives of the diplomatic community and the United Nations Country Team, MENA added.

Voronkov will discuss with his counterparts the evolving threat of terrorism and ways to enhance international cooperation in accordance with international law and the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism strategy as well as relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions.

Egypt's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York Mohamed Edris held a meeting on February 25, with Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office Vladimir Voronkov, the Egypt State Information Service (SIS) reported.

During the meeting, Edris reviewed the targets and developments of the comprehensive military operation in Sinai, saying it comes in conjunction with the implementation of an overall developmental plan in Sinai by the government, SIS added.

The representative stressed the importance of boosting cooperation and coordination between Egypt and the UN, including taking advantage of the available abilities of the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development and the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peace building.

He also accentuated the importance of the role of the UN Counter-Terrorism Office particularly in helping the states implement the UN global strategy for fighting terrorism, expressing Egypt's full support of the office, SIS mentioned.

Adopted by the General Assembly in 2006, the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy provides a comprehensive blueprint to guide Member States’ efforts to counter terrorism and prevent violent extremism conducive to terrorism. The Global Strategy is reviewed every two years to ensure it is aligned with Member States’ needs in response to this rapidly evolving threat. The next review will take place in June 2018.

The Office of Counter-Terrorism was established in June 2017 to provide leadership on the implementation of General Assembly counter-terrorism mandates, to enhance coordination and coherence, and to strengthen the delivery of the United Nations counter-terrorism capacity building assistance to Member States.