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C'est une nouvelle « bataille de Srebrenica » qui se joue au Monténégro. Le gouvernement est bien décidé à voter en faveur de la résolution présentée à l'ONU sur le génocide de Srebrenica, malgré l'opposition de l'Église orthodoxe et des partis pro-serbes.

- Le fil de l'Info / Bosnie-Herzégovine, Monténégro, Srebrenica, Courrier des Balkans, Relations régionales, Politique intérieure, Une - Diaporama

New technology in harvesting and preserving rain water has helped farmers in Kenya grow more and healthier crops year-round even in a changing climate. Credit: FAO/Christena Dowsett

By Dan Drollette Jr
NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts, May 14 2024 (IPS)

Food systems—how we grow, transport, prepare, and dispose of the food we eat—are responsible for roughly one-third of all global greenhouse gas emissions. And those gases are changing the climate, which in turn is disrupting the food supply. It would seem to be a classic vicious circle.

To compound the problem, the intertwined fates of food and climate change have taken remarkably long to be recognized: It was only last December that the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) unveiled its non-binding “food systems roadmap” for bringing the world’s food production in line with global climate goals.

Why it took so long for food to be “on the table” at international conferences about climate change is something that Emile Frison delves into for the special issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. In his article “We cannot afford another lost year for food and climate action,” Frison says that part of the problem so far has been imagery: “When we think of climate change … [w]hat we almost certainly don’t think of is the burger sitting juicy on the dinner plate, the cow in the barn, or the ready-made lasagna steaming fresh from the microwave.”

Along similar lines, an interview with food systems expert Catherine Bertini focuses on the difficulties of reconciling the United Nations’ twin (and perhaps not entirely compatible) goals of eliminating global hunger and stabilizing global climate.

But while the problems involved in creating more sustainable food systems may have taken a long time to be recognized and be large in size, they are not insurmountable. In fact, there are many approaches to solving them.

One is to use the latest in high-tech genetic editing tools to make crops with increased yields, greater resiliency to extreme weather, and more resistance to the new diseases introduced as formerly temperate zones become warmer and the reach of what were formerly exclusively tropical pests and diseases expands.

“Appropriately enough in the Century of Biology, that means turning to genetic tools such as CRISPR,” write the authors of “We need to act now to ensure global food security and reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.”

A whole other tack involves looking to the past and bringing back some traditional, indigenous food sources—many of which are extraordinarily well-suited to the Global South but over time fell by the agricultural wayside.

In “What if potatoes grew on trees,” Diane Ragone, founder of Hawaii’s Breadfruit Institute, describes the organization’s successful effort to bring back the low-cost, sustainable, locally grown foodstuff known as breadfruit.

She highlights the importance of several projects, years in the making, to interview people across the Pacific Islands about their traditional cultural practices regarding this food’s planting, cultivating, harvesting, and storing—and to document their knowledge in photographs, recordings, and videotapes.

This type of holistic approach is also a key part of what has come to be known as “regenerative agriculture,” which deals with not just food production but also with how agricultural practices can enrich the soil and the environment.

In “Regenerative agriculture sequesters carbon—but that’s not the only benefit and shouldn’t be the only goal,” Jessica Villat, a researcher affiliated with the Harvard University Extension School, explains how practices aimed at better sequestering carbon—including the planting of cover crops, using non-chemical fertilizers, applying integrated pest management, and not tilling cropland—can succeed.

Not only that; these practices go to the heart of efforts to increase biodiversity, better control wildfire, and improve water quality and availability, as well.

Human society faces tremendous challenges in remaking its food system in an age of climate change, but it has some powerful tools at hand and a number of different approaches to take in possibly transforming a vicious circle into a virtuous cycle.

Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Sciences Po - Salons scientifiques, 1 Place Saint-Thomas d'Aquin, 75007 Paris In partnership with the Jacques Delors Institute/Grande Europe
Introduction and Welcome (9h15-10h)
Stéphanie Balme, Director of CERI-Sciences Po Sylvie Mately, Director of Jacques Delors Institute
Keynote Introductory remarks : Eastern Promisses 20 years on Kersti Kaljulaid, Former President of Estonia (tbc)
1. EU ‘transformative power' and Domestic Political Trends in Central Europe (10h – 11h30) (…)

- Agenda / Région parisienne

Hector Alan Valdes Suarez from the Global Youth Biodiversity Network speaks about the youth perspective being an invaluable asset in the implementation of the Biodiversity Plan. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, May 13 2024 (IPS)

The triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and waste are escalating. At the current pace, the world is on track to lose one quarter of all plant and animal species by 2030, with one species already dying out every 10 minutes. One million species face extinction. Human activity has already altered three-quarters of the land on Earth and two-thirds of the ocean.

Against this backdrop, the 26th session of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) opened today in Nairobi, Kenya.

Hector Alan Valdes Suarez from the Global Youth Biodiversity Network told IPS that SBSTTA “seeks to build momentum to achieve global and national ambitious goals to halt and reverse the ongoing monumental biodiversity crises.”

Multidisciplinary and open to participation by all parties to the convention, SBSTTA comprises government representatives competent in the relevant field of expertise to ensure that policies are informed by the best available science at the time. SBSTTA has met 25 times to date. The ongoing 26th meeting will acknowledge contributions to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework—also known as the Biodiversity Plan—hashed out at meetings in Kunming, China, and Montreal, Canada, in 2022.

As an open-ended intergovernmental scientific advisory body set up to provide the Conference of the Parties (COP) and, as appropriate, its other subsidiary bodies, with timely advice relating to the implementation of the CBD, SBSTTA “provides a platform for actors outside the Convention, such as youths, women, non-government organizations, and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), to observe negotiations on crucial science and also assess how they are or could contribute to, the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Convention is unique as actors outside the CBD can lobby for their views to be included through a Party to the Convention,” he says.

The Convention, which entered into force in December 1993, is the first global agreement to cover all aspects of biological diversity. Senka Barudanovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chair of the SBSTTA Bureau, said the 26th meeting of SBSTTA is “especially important as we are at a critical moment in time to ensure that our actions are guided by a robust foundation of scientific and technical knowledge, tools, and guidelines.”

“The good news is that there is a wealth of knowledge and experience for us to use and build on as we walk this journey together for effective conservation, sustainable use, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of biodiversity.”

The six-day meeting seeks to forge agreement among delegates from 196 parties to the CBD on issues pertaining to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, also known as  The Biodiversity Plan. Hard science and a multi-disciplinary approach are high on the SBSTTA 26 agenda as pertains to the implementation of the plan, specifically how the scientific and technical needs of all parties, including the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), among other developing countries, will be met.

Suarez said as parties to the CBD resume negotiations on crucial science and technology, “it is to develop and agree on a monitoring framework to track progress and implementation of the Biodiversity Plan. There are four goals and 23 targets so the indicators are globally uniform to track whether these targets are being achieved and they should be flexible and adaptable to the national context. In my view, many of these indicators are addressing actors outside the convention, such as youths, women, and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), and their representation at the meeting to hear what the parties are saying is critical.”

“These actors are contributing to the goal of the Biodiversity Plan at local levels, and their contributions ought to be recognized too, so they matter, and the decisions taken by the parties affect these actors the most, especially women and young people. The process is much more than agreeing on the right science and technical skills to reverse biodiversity loss. Increased accountability and transparency are key even as we gather to agree on how to measure success towards reaching set goals and consistency of reporting at the global level, hence the need for parties to continuously consult,” she said.

The gathering recognizes these concerns, as there are at least 80 representatives of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, as well as observer organizations, participating in the meeting. Indigenous people’s voices are key, as they suffer disproportionately from loss of biodiversity and environmental degradation. Their lives, survival, development chances, knowledge, environment, and health conditions depend on the successful implantation of the plan.

Cyri Wafula Nyongesa from the International University Network on Cultural and Biological Diversity agrees, telling IPS that even as scientists hash out hard science, technical, and technological knowledge to support the implementation of the Biodiversity Plan, there is a need to look at existing gaps in its implementation framework. These gaps include the need for capacity building and reporting frameworks that are simple and also draw connections between global and national plans.

As agreed in a landmark decision of CBD COP 15 in December 2022, the UN-driven strategy is the world’s masterplan to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, and sets out a pathway to reach the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050 using four goals and 23 targets. The goals are to protect and restore nature, to prosper with nature, to share benefits fairly, and to invest in and collaborate for nature’s benefit.

“One year and a half after the Biodiversity Plan was historically adopted, parties to the CBD must now fine-tune the important details that will take the world from agreement to action,” said David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the CBD. “The subsidiary body is leveraging science and technology to help the parties to the CBD deliver on their commitment to people and nature.”

Ongoing discussions are firmly framed within the CBD overall agenda to address all threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services, including threats from climate change, through scientific assessments, the development of tools, incentives, and processes, the transfer of technologies and good practices, and the full and active involvement of relevant stakeholders.

Delegates have resolutely set the ball rolling towards reporting on the monitoring framework, the national status of implementation, and the mobilization of financial resources for the Biodiversity Plan. The ultimate goal is to fast-track the implementation of sustainable solutions to biodiversity loss, restore ecosystems, and protect indigenous rights.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Figure de la communauté juive de Serbie et intellectuel ancré à gauche, l'écrivain et traducteur Ivan Ivanji est décédé le 9 mai en Allemagne à l'âge de 95 ans. Portrait.

- Articles / Courrier des Balkans, Destruction Juifs Balkans , Serbie, Personnalités

Le Premier ministre albanais était dimanche à Athènes pour s'adresser à la diaspora albanaise en Grèce. Une visite controversée alors que Fredi Beleri, un maire gréco-albanais condamné en Albanie pour fraude électorale, se présente aux européennes sous la bannière de Nouvelle démocratie, le parti au pouvoir en Grèce. Revue de presse.

- Le fil de l'Info / Courrier des Balkans, PS Albanie, Grèce, Albanie, Relations régionales, Populations, minorités et migrations

Credit: IMF

By Danny Bradlow
PRETORIA, South Africa, May 13 2024 (IPS)

South Africa will play an important international role in 2025 as president of the G20. The G20 is a group of 19 countries as well as the African Union and the European Union. Between them they represent 85% of global economy, 75% of world trade and 67% of global population. The G20 defines itself as the premier multilateral forum for international economic cooperation.

During its G20 presidential year, South Africa will host a summit of heads of state and government. It will also be responsible for organising and chairing about 200 meetings of ministers and officials. These will come from the G20 members, invited countries and international organisations like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The meetings will focus on issues such as the challenges facing the global economy and whether the current arrangements for global economic governance are able to respond effectively.

The G20 presidency, therefore, presents South Africa with an opportunity to promote reforms in global economic governance. But there are constraints. It will inherit an agenda from Brazil, the current G20 chair. And it will have to respond to developments in the current dynamic and complex global environment.

Danny Bradlow

The IMF/World Bank spring meetings held in April in the US suggest some achievable objectives for the G20 next year. There was a great deal of discussion about the inability of current arrangements to adequately address global challenges like climate, public health, inequality, poverty and digitalisation.

There’s not necessarily agreement on how to prioritise these challenges. And, unfortunately, the views of the rich states, which prioritise issues like carbon emissions, dominate the discussions. For example, the World Bank highlighted the fact that, in the 2023 financial year, it increased the funds loaned for climate-related purposes by more than 20%, allocating 41% of all its lending to climate.

But its own survey of its borrower countries shows that climate ranks number 11 on the list of priorities of its borrower states. Health, education, agriculture and food security, and water and sanitation rank much higher. Nevertheless, at least two gaps became evident in the discussions.

The first relates to IMF reform. The second concerns the relationship between international organisations and their member states.

South Africa should aim to fill these gaps. It should encourage the G20 to commission two studies on the scale and scope of the challenges that the international community faces, and propose some responses. Ideally, it should convince the G20 to commission these studies in 2024 so that it can begin discussing policy responses in 2025.

This kind of approach has been effective. Over the last few years, the multilateral development banks have been the subject of G20-commissioned studies. This has led to proposals designed to make them “bigger and better”.

Shortcomings

The need for IMF reform is becoming more urgent. It is adapting its operations to deal with the macro-economic impacts of issues like climate, gender and inequality. The IMF has created a Resilience and Sustainability Trust that is providing financing to 18 countries, primarily for adaptation. It is reviewing its Debt-Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries so that it incorporates these “new” issues.

These changes are being made in an opaque and unpredictable way, however. The IMF has not made publicly available the principles and procedures it uses when deciding what aspects of these “new” issues to take on.

It can’t accurately assess the full impacts of these issues unless it understands how communities, workers, businesses and civil society organisations will respond to the social and environmental impacts of specific policy and fiscal initiatives with macroeconomic implications. It cannot gain this information without consulting these groups.

This means it must engage more with a broader range of stakeholders than it did when it focused exclusively on more traditional macroeconomic and financial stability concerns. These new issues, therefore, raise questions about the appropriate form for the relationship between the IMF and its member states.

At the spring meetings, the Development Committee of the World Bank and the IMF “reiterated the importance of accountability mechanisms in enhancing development outcomes and stimulating internal learning and feedback.”

Yet the IMF remains the only international financial institution without an independent accountability mechanism.

The second gap relates to the fact that developing countries are spending more on external debt service than on health and education. This is undermining their efforts to deal with climate change, inequality and sustainable development goals. Some discussants also regretted that there was a net outflow of funds from the global south to the global north.

As some have noted, the amount of funding committed to new development financing initiatives by rich countries is paltry compared to what’s needed. This has led, for example, economic ministers from Brazil, Germany, South Africa and Spain to call for a global tax on billionaires.

This is an important and creative idea. But the proposal raises difficult questions about state sovereignty and about the design of the institutions of global governance.

What’s needed

While multilateral development banks have been the subject of G20-commissioned studies, the IMF has not undergone a similar examination.

South Africa should commission a group of experts to study how the IMF should change to take on these new issues. The study should look at IMF governance, operational policies and practices, and its financial needs. The purpose would be to identify the current shortcomings in structures and functions.

Experts should also think of ways to make the IMF more responsive to the needs and priorities of all its member states and their citizens.

Second, South Africa should call for a study of how best to divide responsibility between states and the international financial institutions. This is particularly important when it comes to the environmental and social impacts of operations.

The purpose would be to understand how the roles and functions of these institutions are evolving and how this is affecting their relations with their member states. The study could propose ways to ensure that the structure and functions of institutions are both respectful of state sovereignty and appropriate for the responsibilities that the institutions are assuming.

Raising a global wealth tax for developmental purposes could be one example used in this study.

Danny Bradlow is a Professor/Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancement of Scholarship, University of Pretoria. In addition to his position at the University of Pretoria, he is also a Compliance Officer in the Social and Environmental Compliance Unit of the UNDP and Co-Chair of the Academic Circle on the Right to Development, which advises the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development.

Source: The Conversation– a nonprofit, independent news organization dedicated to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good. The University of Pretoria provides funding as a partner of The Conversation AFRICA.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Aucun doute possible : comme sur tout le continent, les mouvements d'extrême-droite des pays d'Europe de l'Est membres de l'UE abordent ces élections avec la confiance d'une victoire assurée, celle de voir leur représentation augmenter. Tour d'horizon en Bulgarie, Croatie, Grèce, Roumanie et Slovénie.

- Articles / Courrier des Balkans, Bulgarie, Croatie, Une - Diaporama, Grèce, Roumanie, Slovénie, Questions européennes, Politique intérieure, Européennes 2019, Extrême-droite Balkans

Comme l'Espagne, l'Irlande et Malte, la Slovénie s'apprête à reconnaître la Palestine. Le gouvernement a lancé les procédures de reconnaissance de la souveraineté de l'État palestinien, « une première étape irréversible », selon la ministre des Affaires étrangères Tanja Fajon. 57% des Slovènes y sont favorables.

- Le fil de l'Info / Une - Diaporama - En premier, Une - Diaporama, Courrier des Balkans, Israël-Palestine , Slovénie, Questions européennes, Relations internationales

Results of the General Assembly's vote on the resolution on the status of the Observer State of Palestine. 10 May 2024. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elías

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, May 13 2024 (IPS)

The United States and its closest political and military ally, Israel, once again found themselves isolated last week when 143 of the UN’s 193 member states approved a resolution enhancing the role of Palestine providing it with new diplomatic privileges.

And the US, meanwhile, has implicitly threatened to cut off funding– if and when the UN provides legitimacy to Palestine. But that legitimacy is not likely to be achieved as long the US continues to exercise its veto to deny Palestine the status of a full-fledged UN member state.

Currently, Palestine is “a non-member observer state”– a recognition granted by the U.N. General Assembly back in 2012. But any application to become a full U.N. member needs to be approved by the Security Council and at least by two-thirds of the General Assembly.

Ian Williams, President of the New York-based Foreign Press Association (FPA) told IPS: ”I have observed the Israeli reaction to Palestinian approaches for three decades. Israel derides and devalues the UN but is fervent in its opposition to a Palestinian presence. But Israel never walks out, They know that the UN resolutions are their sole legal claim to legitimacy.”

One has to rephrase Groucho Marx’s comments on being excluded from an exclusive club, why would Palestine want to be part of the Club that allows a criminal disreputable member like Israel a platform? The best answer is that it exposes the criminality of Israel and the duplicity of the US.

Sadly, he said, every unprincipled US veto for Israel erodes Washington’s diplomatic standing and lends support to tyrants in Moscow, Damascus and elsewhere, making the US an accomplice to genocide in general not just in the Middle East.

“One suspects that if Israel declared that pi equals three, the State Department would wield its veto to support it, and have its diplomats prove it with maps and diagrams,” said Williams.

The US, which has consistently vetoed Security Council resolutions on UN membership for Palestine, voted against last week’s General Assembly resolution, along with Israel, Argentina, Czechia, Hungary—and four small island developing states, namely., Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Papua New Guinea—probably under US pressure.

Perhaps so did some of the 25 countries that abstained from voting: Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Fiji, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Paraguay, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vanuatu.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), told IPS the US government’s threat to cut funding to the UN if it recognizes Palestinian statehood is a shameful effort to bully a global body into submission.

“Blocking Palestinian self-determination for no reason other than to pacify a rogue Israeli government is the rock bottom of a moral bankruptcy decades in the making,” she said.

According to the UN, Palestine’s new status will include:

1. To be seated among Member States in alphabetical order
2. Make statements on behalf of a group
3. Submit proposals and amendments and introduce them
4. Co-sponsor proposals and amendments, including on behalf of a group
5. Propose items to be included in the provisional agenda of the regular or special sessions and the right to request the inclusion of supplementary or additional items in the agenda of regular or special sessions
6. The right of members of the delegation of the State of Palestine to be elected as officers in the plenary and the Main Committees of the General Assembly
7. Full and effective participation in UN conferences and international conferences and meetings convened under the auspices of the General Assembly or, as appropriate, of other UN organs

Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, Israel Palestine Research Director at DAWN, told IPS the General Assembly vote makes it clearer than ever that the United States is the last remaining barrier blocking Palestinians from any measure of self-determination.

“America is facing growing isolation in the world due to its unquestioned backing of Israel and refusal to support Palestinian rights”, he noted.

Elaborating further, Williams said, apart from annoying (Israel’s Ambassador Gilad) Erdan, an interesting side effect of Palestine’s new privileges is that the delegation moves from a seat in the gallery to the main body of the General Assembly, sandwiched between Panama, which supported Palestine’s bid, and Palau, which never has, and whose ambassador is also the Pacific Atoll’s recently accredited representative to Israel.

“Let us hope, Palestinian representative Riyad Mansour’s team is hospitable to their new neighbor and has time for informative chats about shared histories since ironically the US had thwarted Palau’s own statehood with a threatened veto for many years because the islanders refused access to US nuclear weapons on its territory!’

Presumably Palau’s staunch anti-nuclear stance is flexible enough to accommodate Israel’s nuclear weapons and refusal to sign the NPT, declared Williams, a former President of the UN Correspondents Association (UNCA).

According to a transcript of the Security Council meeting, Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the observer State of Palestine, recounted the devastating impacts of the ongoing war in Gaza, with over 35,000 Palestinians killed, a further 80,000 injured and over two million displaced.

“No words can capture what such loss and trauma signify for Palestinians, their families, their communities and for our nation as whole,” he said.

He added that the Palestinians in Gaza have been pushed to the “very edge” of the Strip “to the very brink of life” with “bombs and bullets haunting them”.

Mansour said despite the attacks and destruction, the flag of Palestine “flies high and proud” in Palestine and across the globe, becoming a “symbol raised by all those who believe in freedom and it’s just rule”.

“It is true that we will not disappear, but the lives lost cannot be restored,” he stated.

Mansour said after holding observer status for 50 years, “we wish from all those who invoke the UN Charter to abide by the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination guaranteed by the Charter.”

Ambassador FU Cong of China, a permanent member of the Security Council, said Palestine should have the same status as Israel– and that Palestinian people should enjoy the same rights as Israeli people.

“It is the common responsibility of the international community to support and advance the process of Palestinian independent Statehood, and provide strong support for the implementation of the two-State solution and a lasting peace in the Middle East,” he said

He pointed out that the United States has repeatedly used its veto “in an unjustified attempt” to obstruct the international community’s efforts to correct the “historical injustice long visited on Palestine”.

“It is not commensurate with the role of a responsible major country,” he said.

He also recalled the overwhelming support for the General Assembly resolution, reaffirming the right of Palestinian people to self-determination, and recommending that the Security Council reconsider favourably its application to join the United Nations

“China welcomes this historic resolution, which reflects the will of the international community,” Ambassador Fu declared.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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En Bosnie-Herzégovine, les femmes qui ont échappé au féminicide doivent aussi subir d'autres formes de violences, notamment économiques. À Mostar, le refuge Žena BiH les aide à reconstruire leur vie.

- Le blog de Téméco • Zoom sur Mostar / Bosnie-Herzégovine

En Bosnie-Herzégovine, les femmes qui ont échappé au féminicide doivent aussi subir d'autres formes de violences, notamment économiques. À Mostar, le refuge Žena BiH les aide à reconstruire leur vie.

- Le blog de Téméco • Zoom sur Mostar / Bosnie-Herzégovine

Autour du livre :
Jean-Arnault Dérens, Monténégro, La mer de pierres

- Agenda / Dans les Balkans, Monténégro, Agenda - Diaporama

(B2) Dans une introduction à notre ouvrage sur la défense européenne à l’heure de la guerre en Ukraine, la présidente de la Commission européenne, Ursula von der Leyen, a tenu à avertir : il ne faut pas relâcher les efforts face à la « Ligue des autoritaires », qui rassemble Russie, Chine et Iran.

traduction assurée par B2 (texte original en anglais au-dessous). Titre et intertitres sont de la rédaction

L’intervention russe de 2022 a brisé nos illusions

Dans la première moitié de cette décennie, de nombreuses illusions ont été brisées en Europe. L’illusion que la paix sur notre continent a été réalisée une fois pour toutes. L’illusion selon laquelle la prospérité pourrait être plus importante pour Poutine que la guerre et ses rêves délirants d’empire. L’illusion selon laquelle l’Europe, à elle seule, en faisait assez en matière de sécurité qu’elle soit économique ou militaire, conventionnelle ou cybernétique. Aujourd’hui, il n’y a plus de temps pour les illusions. Poutine a dilapidé les dividendes de la paix pour préparer sa guerre contre l’Ukraine. Au final, le monde est plus dangereux qu’il ne l’a été depuis des générations. L’Europe doit se lever pour faire face à cette réalité.

Une nouvelle ligue d’autoritaires en constitution

La seconde moitié de la décennie sera probablement encore plus sujette aux conflits. La guerre menée par la Russie contre l’Ukraine va encore plus bouleverser la géopolitique. Le niveau de la coordination stratégique entre la Russie et la Chine augmente. Et cela s’accompagne d’une coopération plus étroite avec la Corée du Nord et l’Iran. C’est une nouvelle ligue d’autoritaires. Dans le même temps, nous et nos partenaires du monde entier sommes confrontés à de multiples épreuves. Avec les conflits en Europe et au Moyen- Orient et les tensions vives en Extrême-Orient, même une grande base industrielle de défense – comme celle des États-Unis – peut être confrontée à des défis. Quel que soit le prochain président américain, nous devrions tenir pour acquis le niveau actuel d’engagement américain dans notre région.

Soutenir Kiev : un intérêt stratégique pour les Européens

Les conséquences pour l’Europe sont claires. Il est dans notre intérêt stratégique de soutenir Kiev dans cette guerre, aussi longtemps qu’il le faudra. L’Ukraine est un futur membre de notre Union. Sa frontière avec la Russie sera la frontière de notre Union. Sa capacité à dissuader une future attaque russe contribuera à notre sécurité. Plus largement, nous sommes déjà appelés à jouer un rôle plus important dans notre région et au-delà. Je pense par exemple à l’opération navale de l’Union dans l’océan Indien et en mer Rouge, l’opération Aspides, visant à protéger les routes commerciales mondiales vitales et nos chaînes d’approvisionnement contre les terroristes houthis soutenus par l’Iran. Tout cela crée un nouveau type de responsabilité pour notre Union, que j’appelle responsabilité stratégique.

Agir de manière plus coordonnée, une nécessité

Nous, Européens, devons être sur nos gardes. Cela signifie que les États membres et les États membres doivent agir de manière coordonnée. La responsabilité stratégique appelle également une contribution européenne plus forte au sein et à l’OTAN. Depuis le début de la guerre d’agression à grande échelle de la Russie, l’idée de responsabilité stratégique a guidé notre travail en matière de défense. Comme le montre ce livre (lire : La défense européenne à l’heure de la guerre en Ukraine. Des tabous tombent ?), de nombreux tabous sont tombés. Pour la première fois, l’Europe apporte une assistance militaire à un pays attaqué. Pour la première fois, nous entraînons des troupes impliquées dans une guerre interétatique européenne. Pour la première fois, nous mobilisons l’industrie de défense européenne pour soutenir l’effort de guerre d’un pays. Par exemple, avec notre nouvelle loi de soutien à la production de munitions, nous avons contribué à quadrupler la capacité de production européenne de munitions. Et nous étendons désormais une approche similaire à d’autres lignes d’approvisionnement industrielles critiques. Nous demandons à notre industrie de défense de passer en mode guerre, afin que le reste de l’Europe n’ait pas à le faire.

Investir en Européens, une obligation

Avant la guerre, en 2021, nos États membres dépensaient 214 milliards d’euros pour la défense. En 2024, cela atteindra près de 300 milliards d’euros. Mais comment cet argent est-il dépensé ? L’année dernière, près de 80 % d’entre eux sont allés hors de l’UE. Ce n’est tout simplement pas durable. L’argent de nos contribuables devrait être utilisé pour améliorer notre propre compétitivité et créer davantage d’emplois ici même en Europe. Nous avons besoin d’une nouvelle mentalité européenne de la part de l’UE, mais aussi de la part de l’industrie et des investisseurs. Pour persuader nos États membres d’acheter en Europe, nous avons besoin que l’industrie européenne de la défense intensifie ses efforts. Cela signifie que nous devons établir des chaînes d’approvisionnement robustes et fiables en cas de crise. Afin qu’une demande croissante puisse être satisfaite par une offre croissante de capacités de défense fabriquées en Europe.

Un nouvel état d’esprit pour notre industrie de défense

Nous avons également besoin d’un nouvel état d’esprit au-delà de notre industrie de défense. Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, l’intégration européenne a commencé comme un projet de paix, mais aussi comme un projet de sécurité. Sa genèse industrielle, avec le charbon et l’acier, avait une dimension sécuritaire centrale. Au fil des décennies, cette dimension sécuritaire n’a cessé de croître – car la paix exige la sécurité. La plupart des politiques de notre Union ont des implications directes en matière de sécurité : du commerce à la recherche, de l’énergie aux communications. En période de menaces sans précédent, nous devons recentrer notre attention sur la dimension sécuritaire de tout ce que nous faisons. Nous devons une fois de plus penser notre Union comme, intrinsèquement, un projet de sécurité. C’est le véritable changement de paradigme dont l’Europe a encore besoin, vers une véritable Union européenne de la défense.

(Ursula von der Leyen)

Présidente de la Commission européenne

(texte original)

In the first half of this decade, many illusions have been shattered in Europe. The illusion that peace in our continent was achieved once and for all. The illusion that prosperity might matter more to Putin than war and his delusional dreams of empire. The illusion that Europe on its own was doing enough on security – be it economic or military, conventional or cyber. Today there is no time for any more illusions. Putin squandered the peace dividend to prepare for his war against Ukraine. As a result, the world is more dangerous than it has been for generations. Europe must rise to meet this reality.

The second half of the decade will likely be even more conflict-prone. Russia’s war against Ukraine has put geopolitics further into flux. There is a growing level of strategic coordination between Russia and China. And it is coupled with stronger cooperation with North Korea and Iran. It is a new league of authoritarians. At the same time, we and our partners across the globe face multiple tests. With conflict in both Europe and the Middle East, and tensions running high in the Far East, even a large defence industrial base – like that of the US – can face challenges. Whoever the next US President will be, we should take for granted the current level of US engagement in our region.

The consequences for Europe are clear. It is in our strategic interest to support Kyiv in this war, for as long as it takes. Ukraine is a future member of our Union. Its border with Russia will be our Union’s border. Its capacity to deter a future Russian attack will contribute to our security. More broadly, we are already being called to play a stronger role in our region and beyond. I think for instance of the Union’s naval operation in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, Operation Aspides, to protect vital global trade routes and our supply chains from Iran-backed Houthi terrorists. All of this creates a new kind of responsibility for our Union – which I call strategic responsibility.

We Europeans must be on guard. This means for Member States and Member States to step up coordinated. Strategic responsibility also calls for a stronger European contribution within and to NATO. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war of aggression, the idea of strategic responsibility has driven our work on defence. As this book shows, many taboos have fallen. For the first time ever, Europe is giving military assistance to a country under attack. For the first time ever, we are training troops involved in an inter-state European war. For the first time ever, we are mobilising Europe’s defence industry to sustain a country’s war effort. For instance, with our new Act to Support Ammunition Production, we have contributed to quadrupling Europe’s production capacity for ammunition. And we are now extending a similar approach to other critical industrial supply lines, too. We are asking our defence industry to switch to war-time mode, so that the rest of Europe doesn’t have to.

Before the war, in 2021, our Member States spent €214 billion on defence. In 2024, that will rise to almost €300 billion. But how is this money being spent? Last year, almost 80% went outside the EU. This is simply not sustainable. Our taxpayers’ money should be used to improve our own competitiveness, and to create more jobs right here in Europe. We need a new European mind-set from the EU, but also from industry and investors. To persuade our Member States to buy in Europe, we need the European defence industry to step up. This means that we must establish robust supply chains that can be trusted in crisis. So that a rising demand can be met by a rising supply of made-in-Europe defence capabilities.

We also need a new mind-set beyond our defence industry. After World War Two, European integration started as a peace project, but also as a security project. Its industrial genesis, with coal and steel, had a central security dimension. Through the decades, this security dimension has continued to grow – because peace requires security. Most of our Union’s policies have direct security implications: from trade to research, from energy to communications. At times of unprecedented threats, we must refocus our attention on the security dimension of everything we do. We must once again think about our Union as, intrinsically, a security project. This is the true change of paradigm that Europe still needs, towards a true European Defence Union.

Ursula von der Leyen
President of the European Commission

Avant la guerre, Esat Bicurri était une vedette de la chanson populaire au Kosovo. Début mai 1999, les forces serbes l'ont abattu et sa dépouille a été transportée et enterrée dans un charnier près de Belgrade. Sa famille attend toujours que justice soit rendue.

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Nous vous invitons aux Journées Molière, festival qui chaque printemps nous offre une occasion unique de côtoyer des grands noms de la littérature française contemporaine !
Les Journées Molière sont organisées par l'Institut français de Serbie, en coopération avec plusieurs maisons d'édition françaises et serbes mais aussi avec les institutions culturelles et éducatives de différentes villes en Serbie.
Cette année, la 16ème édition des Journées Molière accueillera Andreï Makine, (…)

- Agenda / Dans les Balkans, Serbie

Nous vous invitons aux Journées Molière, festival qui chaque printemps nous offre une occasion unique de côtoyer des grands noms de la littérature française contemporaine !
Les Journées Molière sont organisées par l'Institut français de Serbie, en coopération avec plusieurs maisons d'édition françaises et serbes mais aussi avec les institutions culturelles et éducatives de différentes villes en Serbie.
Cette année, la 16ème édition des Journées Molière accueillera Andreï Makine, (…)

- Agenda / Dans les Balkans, Serbie

Louna Assael « était pauvre, illettrée et femme ». Avec Louna, son premier livre traduit en français, l'historienne Rika Benveniste enquête sur la vie de cette tapissière juive de Thessalonique, déchiffrant l'histoire de la ville et des Juifs qui la peuplaient, si nombreux avant la guerre et si peu nombreux à avoir survécu à la Shoah. Bonnes feuilles d'Annette Wievorka.

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Une loi sur les salles de jeu d'argent est entrée en vigueur le 29 avril, interdisant ces établissements dans les petites villes de Roumanie. Très incomplète, elle laisse les mains libres à la puissante et toxique industrie du jeu qui s'enrichit sur les addictions des Roumains les plus vulnérables. Et l'État avec elle.

- Articles / Une - Diaporama, Roumanie, Courrier des Balkans, Société, Santé

The Al-Helal Al-Emirati maternity hospital in Rafah is one of the last remaining functioning health facilities in southern Gaza. Midwives are delivering more than 70 babies per day in dire conditions and while drastically under-supplied. Credit: UNFPA Palestine/Bisan Ouda

By Natalia Kanem
UNITED NATIONS, May 10 2024 (IPS)

As millions of children and families celebrate their mothers, my thoughts turn to the pregnant women and new mothers our teams at UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, support in more than 130 countries around the world. And I hold in my heart all those who, tragically, will never live to see their newborns.

More than 800 women a day – one woman every two minutes – die needless deaths from entirely preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The situation is particularly dire for women and girls caught up in the world’s escalating crises and conflicts. Globally, more than half of all maternal deaths take place in countries affected by humanitarian crisis or fragility.

Natalia Kanem

In Gaza, women face appalling conditions before, during and after birth. At a moment when new life is beginning, what should be a moment of joy is being overshadowed by death, destruction and despair. Severely limited access to health services and emergency obstetric care put the lives of women and newborns at risk.

Today, major hospitals lie in ruins across Gaza and not a single health facility is fully operational following more than 440 attacks on health care since the war began in October.

At the Al-Helal Al-Emirati Maternity Hospital, one of Gaza’s few remaining health facilities and now the main facility for pregnant women in Rafah, at the time of writing there are only five beds for deliveries and around 60 deliveries every day. Women hoping to give birth on the ward are told to bring their own mattress and pillow.

“We are delivering babies nonstop,” says midwife Samira Hosny Qeshta. “We tell the woman who has just given birth: we need the bed. Get up and sit on a chair.”

Most women have had no prenatal care, she says. They just arrive at the hospital hoping for the best. Many are suffering from infections, due to the unhygienic living conditions in the overcrowded camps, where hundreds of people may share a single toilet and there is a lack of clean water and hygiene supplies.

“We live in a tent, and every time it rains the tent floods, and our beds get wet,” says Suhad. She is nine months pregnant and scheduled for a C-section. Hours later, she will be back in the tent.

“It will be extremely difficult after the birth,” she says. “From the physical pain to the ice cold – and there are no clothes for the baby. What has she done to be born into a situation like this?”

Even if their babies are delivered safely, thousands of women like Suhad face the inevitable question: What next? How will they keep their newborn clean, warm, fed, alive?

Many of these mothers are themselves too dehydrated and malnourished to breastfeed their children, and there is no formula to be had.

UNFPA has delivered reproductive health kits that have enabled safe births for more than 20,000 women in Gaza. We have set up a mobile maternity clinic in Rafah, with two more on the way. Hundreds of UNFPA-trained midwives are supporting pregnant women and new mothers unable to access a health clinic or hospital.

We have also distributed hygiene supplies, diapers, baby clothes, blankets and other essential items to thousands of new mothers. Yet all of this is just a drop in an ocean of need.

The world must not abandon the mothers of Gaza. They, their newborns, and all civilians must be protected and their needs met. Hospitals and health workers must never be targets.

From time immemorial, cultures across the globe have honoured the sacredness of motherhood. On this Mother’s Day, let us pay tribute to that sacred bond by remembering all the women who create, protect and nurture life, even under the most catastrophic circumstances.

The mothers in flooded tents or fleeing bombs. The mothers of hostages still waiting for their families to be made whole. The mothers and newborns fighting for their lives in overcrowded hospital wards without adequate medicines or supplies.

They need life-saving health services and support. They need dignity. Above all, they need peace. This war must end now.

Dr. Natalia Kanem is UNFPA Executive Director

IPS UN Bureau

 

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