New York, March 13 (QNA) - The State of Qatar has underlined the importance of an effective criminal justice system to counter terrorism, provided that the system takes into account gender equality and human rights-based approach.

This came in the address of the Permanent Delegation of the State of Qatar to the United Nations during the high-level meeting on "Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Formerly Involved Women in Terrorist Groups", held in cooperation with the delegations of Pakistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Canada, the United Nations Office for Counter-Terrorism , and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York on the sidelines of the sixty-third session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women which began on Monday.

The session, chaired by HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Ambassador Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, focused on reviewing the multiple impacts and factors that drive women, men and children to engage and be affected by violent terrorism.

Participants tried to formulate policies and strategies to deal with the phenomenon of women and girls formerly involved in terrorist groups.

HE Minister of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs Yousef Bin Mohammed Al Othman Fakhro welcomed and described the session as being of great importance. In his statement, HE the Minister said that today's dialogue was a continuation of the discussions that began in 2015 at the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Justice Criminal proceedings held in the State of Qatar.

He referred to the Doha Declaration, which called for a global commitment to combat terrorism and violent extremism, as well as broader programs and measures for social and economic development, respect for cultural diversity, peace and social integration.

HE the Minister also noted the $ 50 million financing agreement between Qatar and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to establish the World Program for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration and said it was "unprecedented."

He also referred to the Education for Justice initiative, through which teachers are supported to enable young people and women to graduate from schools and universities with the appropriate skills to make them responsible citizens who have a significant impact on society.

HE the Minister also stressed the importance of the rehabilitation and integration of young men and women. "The integration of young people who have been associated with terrorist groups in the past is a widespread issue across geographical regions and must be formulated within the framework of respect for human rights, international law and human dignity and a balance between military responses and law enforcement.", he added.

In this context, he referred to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Silatech Foundation with the United Nations Office for Combating Terrorism, explaining that its aim is to combat extremism through youth empowerment initiatives and employability.

HE the Minister said that this cooperation reflects the efforts of the State of Qatar to eradicate terrorism and protect young men and women from deviating towards extremist ideologies by providing jobs, decent living opportunities and financing programs. He also noted the partnership agreement signed by the State of Qatar with the United Nations Office for Counter-Terrorism of $ 75 million, which will be extended for five years.

"The State of Qatar is proud to be one of the founding members of the Global Fund for the participation and adaptation of local communities and to help them stand up against extremism," HE the Minister concluded.

The session was attended by a large number of delegations of States participating in the sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women, as well as civil society organizations, women's organizations and a number of members of the diplomatic community to the United Nations.

HE Minister of Women's Affairs and Social Development of Nigeria Aisha Abubakar stressed the importance of strengthening and enriching the criminal justice system, not only gender equality, but it must take into account sensitivity to equality. In her statement, Her Excellency called for policies that take into account the aspects of women's involvement in terrorism and said it was indeed sad to see women linked to terrorism, and reviewed Nigeria's experience with Boko Haram group.

HE Abubakar explained that women's links to terrorism occurred in Nigeria through kidnapping, and that women and girls had become easy targets for terrorist groups.

Her Excellency focused on the need to establish a strong criminal justice system and take into account gender equality.

HE Minister of Women's Affairs and Social Development of Nigeria added that this system should be a way to restore and rehabilitate women and girls who have experienced terrible incidents and that women should be seen as victims and not seen as criminals.

For her part, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq Hala Shakir Saleem, reviewed the experience of Iraq with ISIS group, focusing on the harshness of the group and especially as it is targeting women and minorities such as Yezidis, Christians and others. She also referred to the Iraqi government's efforts to combat terrorism and called for the development of legal and constitutional legislation to be comprehensive in order to promote gender equality and promote the status of women and to develop programs to rehabilitate women victims of terrorism and extremism.

The Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office Vladimir Voronkov, highlighted the humanitarian situation of many women and girls held in prisons and camps in Iraq and Syria following the collapse of ISIS group.

He called on the international community to address the humanitarian crisis of women in the camps and detention centers of Iraq and Syria, who suffer from torture and poverty. He also called for an investigation of each individual to identify the victims and perpetrators.

Voronkov stressed the importance of supporting and qualifying individuals who wished to return to their countries of origin, and stressed the need to begin a process of fair trials for perpetrators of terrorist crimes that took into account human rights and international humanitarian law. Voronkov called on the international community to support the rehabilitation of women, men and children in order to end the cycle of violence.

For her part, the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations in the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate Michele C., considered the phenomenon of the return of girls and women victims of terrorism or those associated with terrorist groups as a "complex issue" and a new matter facing the international community.

In her intervention, she stressed the need to address this phenomenon through trial, rehabilitation and integration, taking into account the gender equality dimension. She also called for the reform of the security apparatus at the national level, and stressed the importance of investing women as a factor in the prevention of terrorism and extremism, and the need to engage women in the fight against terrorism.

HE Permanent Representative of the Republic of Pakistan to the United Nations Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, stressed the importance of conducting investigations and studies on the motives for women's involvement in terrorism, stressing that Pakistan is facing challenges concerning women's rehabilitation returning from conflict areas.

Her Excellency also pointed to the importance of the role played by the media and clerics to promote diversity and equality in society, calling for the participation of women in the national security forces.

In conclusion, Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Simone Monasebian reviewed the gap between State policy and women victims of terrorism and called on Member States to respect the principle of gender equality in order to prevent recruitment of girls to any form of violent extremism, she also pointed out the importance of prosecuting, rehabilitating and integrating women previously involved in terrorist groups, and stressed the achievement of sustainable development goals as a framework that would reduce the risk of girls or women joining terrorist groups. (QNA)