Readout of the Briefing of the UN Community on Coalition Efforts Against ISIL

May 6, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power hosted a briefing by Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL Brett McGurk. The briefing was attended by Permanent Representatives and Deputy Permanent Representatives of the UN community. McGurk explained the Coalition’s strategy along multiple lines of effort with emphasis on our campaign to increasingly pressure ISIL across its core in Iraq and Syria, as well as degrading and defeating its global networks. He noted that the campaign to defeat ISIL was not just a military one, but required a holistic approach to combat its finances, the foreign fighter networks, ISIL’s messaging, as well as the need to address the political underpinnings of ISIL’s rise.

He stressed, in particular, the importance of stabilizing liberated areas and facilitating the return of people to their homes, ensuring a lasting defeat of ISIL. McGurk commended the efforts of the Government of Iraq and the UNDP for developing the Fund for Immediate Stabilization (FFIS) to address the needs of areas already liberated from ISIL. He also focused on the need for the international community to provide additional resources to support Coalition efforts, especially in the area of stabilization and in support of the Iraqi government as it continues to manage a severe financial crisis due to the drop in global oil prices and the cost of fighting the war against ISIL.

McGurk emphasized the horrific human toll ISIL has taken on Syrians, Iraqis, and others throughout the past two years. He emphasized the critical need for a political transition in Syria and warned that continued attacks against civilians will undermine the cessation of hostilities and only serve as a boon to terrorists, who have exploited divisions in the international community, as well as the devastating conflict in Syria, to advance their warped cause.(Source US state Dep)