Ambassador Ahmed Abdel-Latif, Director-General of CCCPA and Grand Imam of Azhar Ahmed El-Tayyeb during their meeting on 27 May 2024. Photo courtesy of Al-Azhar Facebook page.
Director-General of CCCPA Ambassador Ahmed Abdel-Latif and General Supervisor of Al-Azhar International Centre for Monitoring, Electronic Fatwa, and Translation Professor Nazr Mohamed Ayyad have signed the MoU at the Sheikhdom of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Cairo.
Deputy of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif Mohamed Abdel-Rahman El-Duweiny, director of the observatory Reham Salama, and several professors, experts, and academics of Al-Azhar attended the signing ceremony.
The MoU is part of Egypt's regional and international efforts to combat terrorism.
It strengthens fruitful cooperation between the CCCPA and the observatory in preventing radicalization and extremism, capacity-building for dialogue, negotiation, mediation, and reconciliation, Ambassador Abdel-Latif said.
Additionally, the two entities will work together on conflict resolution and promoting the role of women and youth in achieving peace and security.
“The MoU provides a framework to promote synergies between Al-Azhar observatory, with its role in raising awareness, and CCCPA, with its long-standing experience in building African and Arab capacities,” read a statement by the CCCPA.
The centre also emphasized the importance of effective coordination between national institutions to deconstruct and refute extremist narratives fueling terrorism and foster positive narratives based on peaceful coexistence and moderate religious teachings.
This partnership will mobilize national efforts, drawing from Egypt's successful experience in adopting a holistic and preventive approach, to address the root causes of extremism leading to terrorism, Abdel-Latif emphasized.
These efforts align with the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development conclusions, for which CCCPA serves as the secretariat, emphasizing the importance of a preventive approach in comprehensive counterterrorism efforts, the centre added.
The MoU reflects the strong determination of both sides to enhance their cooperation, leveraging Al-Azhar's role in refuting extremist ideologies and CCCPA's experience in capacity-building in Africa and the Arab region, Ayyad affirmed.
The CCCPA, established in 1994, enhances Egypt's pioneering role in peacekeeping.
Its main programmes include peacekeeping and peacebuilding; preventing radicalization and extremism leading to terrorism (PRELT); climate, security, and development (CSD); women, peace, and security; disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR); and addressing transnational threats.
Over the past decade, the Al-Azhar observatory has been actively working in 13 languages to dismantle extremist discourse and monitor the activities of terrorist organizations.
Since its establishment in 2015, it has focused on educating young people about the dangers of extremist ideologies through various publications and workshops at schools and universities.
Furthermore, it has fostered communication with relevant bodies in numerous countries worldwide in this field.
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