ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) Specialized Technical Committee on Defense, Safety and Security has expressed its deep concern over the intensification of terrorism and violent extremism in different parts of the African continent.
The AU specialized technical committee on defense, safety and security, in a statement issued on Tuesday stressed that the rising terrorism and violent extremism phenomenon across Africa is causing a serious impact on peoples' lives as well as widespread destruction.
The Committee "expressed deep concern over the intensification of terrorism and violent extremism, which are causing enormous loses of human lives and widespread destruction, especially in the most affected regions of the Sahel, the Lake Chad Basin and the Horn of Africa," a statement issued by the 55-member pan African bloc read.
It also expressed its concern that the phenomena related to the intensification of terrorism and violent extremism are "fast outspreading to many other parts of Africa, particularly to western, central and southern Africa."
Noting the need to exert concerted efforts in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism in Africa, members of the specialized technical committee also "agreed to rapidly and fully operationalize the African Standby Force (ASF) as part of the comprehensive approach being implemented in the continent against terrorism and violent extremism."
The Committee also urged "all African Union member states and regional economic communities to proactively engage to ensure that the efforts against terrorism are deployed in tandem with practical steps to promote socio-economic development, especially employment for youths, eradicate poverty, mitigate the effects of climate change and uproot causes of inter-communal violence, doing all these in a setup of renewed African solidarity and inter-state cooperation on all fronts."
The specialized technical committee further encouraged AU member states to support the AU's efforts in mobilizing funding for preventing and combating terrorism and extremism in Africa, including endowing the AU Special Fund created for the same cause.
Emphasizing the overall responsibility of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on peace and security, the specialized technical committee also called on the UNSC to "provide the requisite support and resources for restoration of peace, security and stability and for implementing post-conflict reconstruction and development activities."
