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An expert panel of leaders from the government, financial sector, and civil society came together at IPI’s Middle East Office (IPI-MENA) for a discussion of “Social Peace in Countries in Transition.” The participants agreed that solving the global pension issues will be a prerequisite to acheving peace for these countries, and beyond.
Lundeg Purevsuren, former Foreign Minister and Senior Adviser to the President of Mongolia and Samer Khanachet, Chairman of TAKAUD Savings & Pensions, announced their partnership with IPI on a new project to be based in Manama. The program will be a regional and global effort to tackle the challenges facing pension schemes in the economies of countries in transition.
The project was lauded by Naser Al Belooshi, advisor to the Minister for Political and Economic Affairs, who emphasized the need to take action in a concrete and result-oriented approach.
A number of factors are exacerbating the pensions crisis: people are living and working longer, and family sizes are smaller than in the past. “This sets a platform for generational tensions over limited public resources, in turn putting social peace in jeopardy in the long-term,”,Edward Whitehouse, manager of the World Bank Pension Reform Primer, said. “Pensions are part of a relationship between generations.”
It is IPI’s mission to manage risk and build resilience, so it is only appropriate that our think tank should host a discussion on how to achieve social peace, participants said. Mr. Lundeg, called for the international community to secure social peace by thinking “today about tomorrow.”
In response to a question from the Indonesian Ambassador, Chilman Arisman, on Mongolia’s transition process and its impact on inter-state relations in Asia. Mr. Lundeg highlighted the need for countries like his to adhere to democracy, neighborliness, and social peace.
Daw Nwe Nwe Win, representing Myanmar’s Ministry of Finance, urged TAKAUD, IPI and other international bodies to assist her country in its transitional challenges.
Nejib Friji, Director of IPI-MENA, highlighted the necessity “to cement a trilateral partnership between the government, the private sector, and trade unions” to achieve social peace while tackling the pension challenges. In that vein, Dr. Khanachet called for “wise and proper rules, regulations and laws” to adapt to the dynamic economic context. These regulations should be regularly revisited, he said.
Mr. Friji referenced the final report of the Independent Commision on Multilateralism, which offers actionable items which can be adopted to remold the the multilateral system to better address the challenges of the global era. “Pension solutions should be among the multilateral system’s new endeavors,” he said.
This discussion was held on the sidelines of TAKAUD’s “Middle East & North Africa Pensions Conference” on October 18th, under the patronage of the Central Bank of Bahrain.
The event was held as part of IPI’s Global Leaders’ Series.
Nejib Friji, moderated the conversation.
Related Coverage:
“Strong pension schemes key for a stable nation” (DT News, October 20, 2016)
“IPI MENA Hosts Panel on ‘Social Peace in Countries in Transition‘” (IPI MENA Press release, October 19, 2016)
In Arabic:
Al Bilad Newspaper, October 20, 2016
Al Wasat Newspaper, October 20, 2016
La Justice sud-coréenne a mis en vente STX Offshore & Shipbuilding ce mercredi.
20. The European Council strongly condemns the attacks by the Syrian regime and its allies, notably Russia, on civilians in Aleppo. It calls on them to bring the atrocities to an end and to take urgent steps to ensure unhindered humanitarian access to Aleppo and other parts of the country. The European Council calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for resumption of a credible political process under UN auspices. Those responsible for breaches of international humanitarian law and human rights law must be held accountable. The EU is considering all available options, should the current atrocities continue. Everything should be done to extend the ceasefire, bring in humanitarian aid to the civilian population and create the conditions for opening negotiations on a political transition in Syria.
21. The European Council invites the High Representative to continue, together with the Commission, pursuing the EU humanitarian initiative and medical evacuations in cooperation with the UN; and to reach out to key actors in the region on a political transition and on preparations for post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction.
22. The European Council held a strategic policy debate on relations with Russia.
1. The European Council took stock of the latest developments concerning the EU's comprehensive migration policy, highlighting the importance of implementation. The debate focused in particular on the external dimension.
Protecting the external borders2. The entry into force of the European Border and Coast Guard Regulation on 6 October and national efforts are important steps in strengthening control of our external borders and getting 'back to Schengen' by adjusting the temporary internal border controls to reflect the current needs. Member States are now deploying staff and equipment to the European Border and Coast Guard, so as to reach full capacity for rapid reaction and returns by the end of the year.
3. The European Council calls for a swift adoption of the revised Schengen Borders Code enforcing systematic controls on all travellers crossing EU external borders and calls on the Council to establish its position on an entry/exit system before the end of 2016. It looks forward to the forthcoming Commission proposal for setting up a European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), to allow for advance security checks on visa-exempt travellers and deny them entry where necessary.
Tackling migratory flows(a) Preventing illegal migration along the Central Mediterranean route4. More efforts are needed to stem the flows of irregular migrants, in particular from Africa, and to improve return rates. Recognising the significant contribution, including of financial nature, made by the frontline Member States in recent years, the European Council:
• recalls the importance of continuing to work towards the implementation of a Partnership Framework of cooperation with individual countries of origin or transit, with an initial focus on Africa. Its objective is to pursue specific and measurable results in terms of preventing illegal migration and returning irregular migrants, as well as to create and apply the necessary leverage, by using all relevant EU policies, instruments and tools, including development and trade;
• recalls the need to tackle the root causes of migration in the region, including by supporting displaced persons in the region, thus helping to prevent illegal migration, and underlines the contribution of the Valletta Action Plan and the proposed External Investment Plan in this context. It welcomes the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants and calls on all global actors to shoulder their responsibilities in this respect;
• takes note of the Commission's "First progress report on the Partnership Framework with third countries under the European Agenda on Migration";
• calls on the High Representative, including in her role as Vice-President of the Commission, to present at the December European Council meeting progress with the five selected African countries and the first results achieved in terms of arrivals and returns. It will set orientations for further work on compacts and consider extending the approach to other countries;
• invites all actors to continue close cooperation on the compacts with a view to intensifying operational delivery, and Member States to reinforce national administrative processes for returns.
(b) Maintaining and tightening control of the Eastern Mediterranean route5. A lasting stabilisation of the situation on the Eastern Mediterranean route requires the further implementation of the EU-Turkey statement and continued support for countries along the Western Balkans route. The European Council calls for:
• further efforts to accelerate returns from the Greek islands to Turkey, in line with the EU-Turkey statement, in particular by enhancing the efficiency and speed of asylum procedures;
• the rapid appointment of permanent coordinators in the Greek hotspots;
• Member States to respond in full to the calls for resources identified by the relevant EU agencies as being necessary to assist Greece;
• further progress on the full range of commitments vis-à-vis all Member States contained in the EU-Turkey statement, including as regards visa liberalisation. Co-legislators are invited to reach agreement within the next few weeks on the revision of the suspension mechanism applied to visas.
6. The European Council welcomes the progress made on developing compacts with Lebanon and Jordan to enhance support for refugees and host communities in both countries, and the signing of the "EU-Afghanistan Joint Way Forward on Migration Issues" on 2 October to tackle challenges linked to irregular migration and improve practical cooperation on returns, readmission and reintegration.
(c) Remaining vigilant about other routes7. The EU will continue cooperation with other countries and closely monitor flows along other migration routes, including the Western Mediterranean, so as to be able to rapidly react to developments.
Addressing other elements of the comprehensive strategy8. The European Council calls upon:
• EASO to ensure that the asylum intervention pool becomes operational as soon as possible to support at any time and in sufficient numbers frontline Member States. To that effect, Member States will communicate as soon as possible the necessary experts to EASO and EASO will complement Member States' efforts by providing the necessary training and by contracting as required additional experts or services, with the support of the Commission;
• Member States to further intensify their efforts to accelerate relocation, in particular for unaccompanied minors, and existing resettlement schemes1;
• the Council to agree before the end of the year on its position on the External Investment Plan, which is aimed at boosting investments and job creation in partner countries, with a view to swift agreement with the European Parliament in the first half of 2017.
9. The European Council also calls for work to be continued on the reform of the Common European Asylum System, including on how to apply the principles of responsibility and solidarity in the future. The European Council will revert to the issue in December.
1 This is without prejudice to the position of Hungary and Slovakia, as contained in the Court proceedings launched relating to Council Decision n°2015/1601, and to the position of Poland, which has intervened in support of the applicants.
Le pétrole, qui constitue 95% des revenus du pays, pénalise lourdement l'économie libyenne. L'effondrement des prix depuis le début du conflit a entraîné une hausse des prix alimentaires et fait exploser le marché parallèle.
Cet article Libye : la Banque mondiale alerte sur l’effondrement de l’économie du pays, principalement dépendante du pétrole est apparu en premier sur JeuneAfrique.com.
Representatives from member states, the UN Secretariat, and other experts from civil society organizations and think tanks discussed how to apply the recommendations of the 2015 High Level Independent Panel on peace operations (HIPPO) Review in Libya at an IPI Seminar, held on October 19, 2016. This discussion was held under the Chatham House rule of non-attribution.
This event was part of a series of workshops co-organized by the International Peace Institute, Security Council Report and the Stimson Center, to examine how the recommendations related to mandating, planning, and analysis in the 2015 HIPPO report and the follow-up report of the Secretary-General can be applied to country-specific contexts.
This closed-door workshop, which follows one held on Mali in April (meeting note available here), provided an opportunity to assess the evolving situation in Libya, discuss whether the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) is adequately equipped to deliver its mandate given current challenges, and discuss how the Security Council can continue to support the political process in Libya and the good offices role played by the mission ahead of the renewal of UNSMIL’s mandate in December of this year.
In calling for the sequencing and prioritization of mandates to ensure their achievability, both the HIPPO and the Secretary-General’s reports highlighted the importance of setting clear political objectives for missions. Participants discussed the current challenges to the political process in Libya as well as how UNSMIL, and other tools at the Council’s disposal, can be better tailored to support the efforts to reach a political settlement. Participants aimed to arrive at recommendations of how a new mandate for UNSMIL could reflect the prioritization of new objectives.
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, delivered opening remarks. Ian Martin, Executive Director of Security Council Report, and Youssef Mahmoud, IPI Senior Adviser, moderated the workshop.
A meeting note will follow.