The Africa Focus Group under the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, co-chaired by Morocco, the United States, Italy and Niger, adopted on Thursday, at the end of its two-day meeting held in Niamey, Niger, its action plan to support African states to fight the threats of terrorist groups and other non-state actors including separatist movements that threaten security and stability in the continent.
The Africa focus group thus consolidates the guidelines adopted by the coalition’s ministerial meeting held in Marrakech in May 2022 and gives concrete expression to the priority given to the terrorist threat in Africa.
The Africa Focus Group specifically aims to enhance the fight against Daesh by engaging with the Defeat-ISIS Coalition members, coordinating with other regional and multilateral entities, countering terrorism financing, furthering stabilization efforts in liberated areas, deterring foreign terrorist fighter flows, and countering ISIS violent extremist messaging to vulnerable populations.
In this regard, the closing session of this meeting was an opportunity to emphasize the need to strengthen the efforts of the member countries of the coalition and multilateral coordination to repel terrorist attacks and threats.
The various speakers emphasized the urgency to meet the needs of countries and populations affected by terrorism, as well as addressing illegal sources of terrorists’ funding.
They also praised the efforts made by Morocco, which hosted the Coalition’s ministerial meeting in May 2022, in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism and its ongoing commitment to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
Morocco’s participation in the plenary meeting of the Africa Focus Group was an opportunity to reiterate the Kingdom’s support and commitment to the security and stability of Africa in general, and the Sahel in particular, given the common history, strong human ties and shared interests between this region and Morocco.
The Africa Focus Group held its first plenary meeting on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS held in Marrakech last May.