On 10 November 2022, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism held the third and final roundtable of its 2022 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOCT-Civil Society Roundtable Series on ¡°Enhancing Civil Society Engagement to Address the Evolving Threat of Terrorism and Violent Extremism in Africa¡±.
In his welcoming remarks, Dr. Raffi Gregorian, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOCT Director and Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General provided an overview of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOCT programmes and initiatives in Africa, and invited feedback and input from civil society. Following this, there was an introduction to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOCT Programme Office in Nairobi, Kenya and the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOCT Programme Office for Counter-Terrorism and Training in Africa in Rabat, Morocco.
The Civil Society Roundtable Series has 3 objectives:
- First, to encourage the CSOs to engage with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOCT on policy and programmatic issues, so that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOCT initiatives in Africa are informed by experiences and insights from diverse local, regional and international contexts.
- The second, to provide civil society representatives with an opportunity to gain deeper understanding of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOCT activities and priorities in Africa, ensuring they benefit from new knowledge and insights relevant to their work.
- The third, to strengthen the culture of dialogue and partnership between civil society and Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOCT to ensure that the initiatives implemented in Africa safeguard human rights and the civic space.
Given the evolving terrorism threat and the high-level of engagement by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOCT in Africa, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵOCT values feedback, perspectives, experiences and challenges from civil society from different contexts across the continent and further afield.
