Qatar has affirmed that efforts to combat violent extremism and terrorism should conform to international human rights standards and that a comprehensive approach that is evaluated and monitored and based on security, legal, political, economic and social visions must be taken.
This came in a statement delivered by Second Secretary of Qatar’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Afra al-Saleh, during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, within item (3) of the agenda of the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council.
Al-Saleh said that Qatar believes that violent extremism and terrorism are cross-border phenomena and not limited to nationality, race, religion, ideology or gender, adding that they have devastating impact on human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
Out of Qatar’s belief in the importance of promoting understanding and constructive dialogue between civilisations, religions and cultures, it has established institutions concerned with spreading the culture of peace and combating violent extremism, the most important of which are Qatar Committee for the Alliance of Civilization (QCAC) and Doha International Centre for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID), she added.
She also said that Qatar, represented by the Shura Council, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Nations, represented by the Office of Counter-Terrorism, aiming at providing a framework for co-operation to enhance the role of parliaments in countering terrorism and the conditions related to this phenomenon.
An Office of the UN Counter-Terrorism Programme, which will be concerned with the parliamentary participation in preventing and combating terrorism, will be established in Doha, she said.
Qatar attaches great importance to education and employment in order to counter violent extremism, as it has implemented many related programmes and initiatives, among the most important are the efforts of the Education Above All Foundation which, in co-operation with a number of international partners, has been able to provide education services to more than ten million children who are not enrolled in school, besides the contribution of the Silatech Foundation in an effective way to address the issue of unemployment among young people through training and employment programmes in many countries, the Second Secretary of Qatar’s Permanent Mission to the UN said. - QNA
