Thank you, President, let me thank Under Secretary Voronkov, Executive Director Gherman, and Secretary-General Stock for their briefings today. I also thank the Monitoring Team for their work on the report.
The United Kingdom remains deeply concerned at the prospect of Daesh resurgence in the Middle East. As the report notes, though the threat in Iraq and Syria has been effectively suppressed, it remains a serious threat.
Iranian-aligned militias continue to attack the Coalition Forces that are directly working to remove Daesh's malignant influence in the region, in partnership with the Government of Iraq.
The United Kingdom calls on Iran to use influence to stop these attacks and de-escalate regional tensions. It is in all our interests to prevent Daesh from projecting its poisonous ideology and inflicting death and destruction across the region.
Turning to Africa, the UK is deeply concerned at Daesh's growing presence across the continent. We stand ready to support our African partners and intensify efforts to improve coordination and strengthen regional cooperation. UN entities play an important role and we welcome their cooperation with the African Union to build capacity and squeeze the spaces in violent extremist networks can flourish. We also encourage cooperation between UN Global Counter Terrorism Coordination Compact members, and we welcome INTERPOL's role in this.
Finally, we must not ignore the disproportionate impact that terrorism has on women and girls. This year, we mark the 10th anniversary of atrocities committed against the Yezidi people.
We commend the important work done by UNITAD with the support of the Iraqi authorities to investigate sexual crimes by terrorists against women and girls.
President, we know that Daesh thrive in divided, fragile and unstable environments. We all have a responsibility to counter their ideology and provide an alternative future.
