The UAE has urged the international community to address the core causes of intolerance and extremism, including opposing disinformation on the internet and social media. Salem Al Zaabi, Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who oversaw the UAE’s delegation to the biennial United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week, was attended by Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of the UAE Cyber Security Council. Al Zaabi gave the UAE’s statement during the general debate on the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

“Terrorism is a complicated, multi-faceted and global phenomenon that surpasses borders, cultures and religions, and effectively stopping and countering it requires a multilateral and multi-pronged approach,” he stated. “We urgently require to address intolerance and extremism more effectively before these behaviours escalate to acts of terrorism and armed conflict. Prevention strategies must be recalibrated to reflect this pressing reality.”

In his opinion, Al Zaabi stressed the UN Security Council’s unanimous adoption of a resolution, co-penned by the UAE and the United Kingdom, on “Tolerance and International Peace and Security”. The resolution is the first of its kind to admit that hate speech, racism and extremism can drive the outbreak, escalation and repetition of conflict.

The panel and Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, UAE’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, employed with other UN Member States and international counter-terrorism partners on crucial counter-terrorism topics. The UAE hosted a conference on terrorist groups’ acquisition, weaponisation and deployment of Autonomous and Remotely Managed Systems (AROS), which also saw the takeoff of a UAE-sponsored report from the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism and Conflict Armament Research. 

Al Zaabi stated that the report seeks to increase awareness of the dangers of proliferating AROS and their potential mishandling by terrorists, and enhances the preparedness of Member States to control and counter the dangers posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Ambassador Nusseibeh, in her position as Chair of the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee, co-chaired a UN conference entitled “Global Threat Landscape: Assessment of Current and Emerging Trends” with the Permanent Mission of Albania to the UN. 

As Chair, she assembled with the delegations of Iraq and the Russian Federation. The UAE delegation was also satisfied with the delegations of India and the United States. The UAE called a discussion with India on multilateral comebacks to curb the misuse of digital tools by terrorists. Dr. Al Kuwaiti emphasised how the UAE’s work is strengthening information security, and the UAE’s “Cyber Pulse” programme, which increases awareness of cyber threats and increases digital security.