Rome hosted the Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) Summit Process Senior Officials’ Check-In Meeting on July 28-29. Representatives from more than 65 countries, 10 multilateral bodies and other organisations gathered to review the results of achievements gained since the February White House CVE Summit and to prepare for the Sept. 29 leaders’ meeting in New York, which will be held on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly.
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There, countries and organisations from around the world will gather to evaluate progress in countering today’s terrorist threats and embrace a more preventive and proactive approach to countering violent extremism.
The Kazakh delegation was headed by Ambassador-at-Large Timur Urazayev. He expressed support for the summit and said that Kazakhstan is ready to continue cooperation with international partners in combating extremism and terrorism.
According to a Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan press release, particular attention of the delegates was drawn to the fact that extremism and terrorism fuelled each other. However, the primary responsibility for addressing these global challenges of modernity lies with each state, Urazayev said. The need for concerted and effective measures to combat these threats, including the development of a common list of terrorist and extremist threats and their sponsors, was underlined.
In addition, the conference noted the contribution of the Fifth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, held in June in Astana with the participation of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in strengthening inter-religious and intercultural dialogue. The conference participants welcomed the outcome of the congress and noted the importance of cooperation between religious leaders to counter violent extremism.
The results of past regional conferences were discussed during the meeting. February’s White House CVE Summit brought together local, federal, and international leaders – including President Obama and foreign ministers – to discuss concrete steps the United States and its partners can take to develop community-oriented approaches to counter hateful extremist ideologies that radicalise, recruit or incite to violence.
Since then, U.S. partner countries have also brought together ministers and foreign leaders, civil society and private sector representatives and senior officials from the UN and other organisations at regional summits.
On June 29-30, Astana hosted the Conference of Ministers and High Representatives of nine countries of Central and South Asia to discuss countering violent extremism in the region. Participants of the conference included official delegates of nine partner states and 11 partner organisations, as well as civil society organisations and the private sector.
“Participants expressed gratitude to the governments and organisations that hosted follow-on regional CVE summits and other related events, including Albania, Algeria, Australia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, and Norway, and the Global Centre on Cooperative Security. They highlighted how the events were essential for expanding participation in the global movement against violent extremism, building international support for the CVE Summit Action Agenda and continuing the momentum generated by February’s Summit,” Co-Chairs’ statement of the CVE Summit Process Senior Officials’ Check-In Meeting said.
