Abu Dhabi: Ministers of information from the Arab quartet — UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt — met in Abu Dhabi on Sunday to unify counter-terrorism efforts in the region and the world.
The meeting was attended by Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, UAE’s Minister of State and Chairman of National Media Council; Dr Awad Salih Al Awad, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Information; Ali Bin Mohammad Al Ramahi, Bahrain’s Minister of Information, and Makram Mohammad Ahmad, President of the Egyptian Higher Council for Media Regulation.
The ministers highlighted the importance of the role played by thinkers and thought leaders in influencing communities and forming public opinion. They also called upon the media and think-tanks to work together to achieve the set targets and protecting the Arab communities, particularly the young people, against extremist ideologies.
“We count a lot on the rising generation to continue the march of building and renaissance in the entire region in general and in our four countries in particular,” the ministers said in a statement.
Also in attendance was a number of media professionals and thought leaders to ensure knowledge transfer and exchange of expertise between the four countries in combatting terrorist financing and fighting those supporting and harbouring extremists.
The ministers also stressed that extremism and terrorism have their own thinking and financial pillars and without dismantling these two lifelines, the current mechanisms for fighting them will never put an end to this menace that eats inside a lot of communities in the region.
Attendees reviewed the means for coordination between the media in the four countries and identifying one media vision for dealing with the developments in the region, particularly the most pressing issue, which is fighting terrorism.
The ministers highlighted the importance of countering the attempts of some regional countries’ politicised media outlets, that interfere in the internal affairs of other countries in the region with the ultimate objective of implementing suspicious agenda and undermining security.
“We should also focus on social media platforms, the most influential means of public opinion in the Arab communities,” the ministers said during the meeting.
“We should also come up with strategies to increase the share of positive content and culture of optimism and hope through these media platforms in the face of extremism and violence content,” they said.
