United Nations, January 20 (RHC)-- Liberian Nobel peace laureate Leymah Gbowee has urged the UN Security Council to undertake reforms to better reflect the current world. The peace activist made the comments at the Council’s open meeting on Monday on the importance of “inclusive development” in advancing peace, urging reduction of inequality and promotion of inclusiveness around the world.

People across the globe are living with “a deep sense of fear,” she warned, adding: “All of the things that made life meaningful to us (are) gradually being taken away by insecurity.” Gbowee further pointed to the threats posed to girls’ education in some countries around the world.

In a presidential statement, the Security Council for its part stressed the significance of “identifying and addressing social, economic, political, cultural and religious exclusion, intolerance, as well as violent extremism, which can be conducive to terrorism, as drivers of conflict.”

The statement said member states of the UN should devise a common approach to encourage development for all people. They were encouraged to enlist local communities and non-governmental organizations in developing strategies “to counter the violent extremist narrative that can incite terrorist acts.