I thank Mr. Vladimir Voronkov, Ms. Natalia Gherman and Ms. Ghada Fathi Waly for their briefings. Terrorism is the main threat facing the African continent. China welcomes the successful launch of the Joint Appeal. We hope the Flagship Initiatives will promote the synergy among UN agencies to help Africa deal with the challenge of terrorism. I would like to share several points.

First, strengthening counter-terrorism capacity building. Practices in many African countries have proved that the establishment of professional and efficient security departments is an important guarantee for counter-terrorism and stability maintenance. In August last year, China promoted the Security Council to hold an open debate on strengthening Africa's capacity building, and adopted a Presidential Statement. One of the important goals of the Presidential Statement is to support Africa's security capacity building. We hope the Joint Appeal will promote the tilting of global counter-terrorism resources to Africa, with particular focus on increasing support for capacity building.

Second, addressing the root causes of terrorism. In February this year, the UNDP released a report stating that poverty and unemployment are one of the main reasons for people in the Sahel region to join extremist violent organizations, which is common in African areas where terrorism is active. It is hoped that the projects proposed by the Joint Appeal will help improve the living conditions of people in poor areas and eliminate the root causes of conflicts.

Third, taking an objective look at the challenges facing Africa's counter-terrorism operations. With regard to human rights issues, it should be noted that the AU and African countries have made great efforts to strengthen the capacity building of the troops and enhance the awareness of human rights protection. However, one cannot just assume that there is a problem with the protection of human rights every time the issue of counter-terrorism in Africa is mentioned. This is a kind of prejudice. Human rights cannot be used as an excuse to reduce counter-terrorism support to Africa. It is hoped that relevant projects of the Joint Appeal will pay attention to this issue.

The Global Security Initiative proposed by China takes support for Africa's counter-terrorism as an important content, and promotes the strengthening of the central coordinating role of the UN in the international fight against terrorism. In recent years, China has provided support to UN agencies such as the UNOCT through the China-UN Peace and Development Fund. We will actively participate in the Joint Appeal, deepen cooperation with UN agencies under the framework of the FOCAC and the China-UN Peace and Development Fund, and provide more support for Africa's counter-terrorism efforts. 

Thank you, Chair.