President Paul Kagame called for global efforts in combating terrorism and hinted that terrorism was caused by bad governance.

The President made the remarks yesterday while addressing the United Nations Security Council summit on foreign terrorist fighters chaired by US President Barack Obama.

He told the 15-member body that terrorism has been a reality in Africa and across the world for decades, and it continues to be.

"Terrorism is not caused by religion or ethnicity or even poverty, but by misguided politics and false beliefs. In order to build resilience to extremist narratives, people, especially the young ones, must feel they have a stake in their country,” said President Kagame.

"In some regions, he added, it has even been getting worse. Another reality is that we can and must defeat these terrorists through concrete actions and cooperation”.

(President Kagame addressing UN Security Council. Source: Rwanda2020/YouTube)

The Council adopted a resolution that calls on member states of the United Nations to cooperate in efforts to address the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters.

Reacting to the resolution, Kagame said, "One year ago this week, the attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi claimed dozens of lives. The resolution which we have just adopted is therefore an unfortunate necessity. Additional measures to disrupt travel and terrorist financing are important, and we will continue to do our part.”

He added that, "This resolution reflects a consensus that terrorism is an urgent problem for the entire world. We stand ready to work together to make sure that we address this challenge.”

The President further noted that "above and beyond that, wherever atrocities are being committed, the first priority is to halt them. Only then can efforts to address the root causes be effective.

Kagame joined efforts in fully endorsing the broad-based approach to combating violent extremism pointing out that, "In Rwanda, we still face acts of terrorism driven by the ideology of genocide. We have responded with force where necessary, but more importantly we have remained committed to building inclusive and accountable institutions and systems.”