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Les deux personnes enlevés à Toui dans la commune de Ouèssè sur la voie-Cotonou-Parakou ont été libérés dans la nuit de ce jeudi 10 septembre 2020.

Selon les dernières informations de Fraternité FM, les ravisseurs ont libéré les deux personnes après avoir réclamé 11 millions de FCFA. Les voyageurs étaient à bord d'un véhicule officiel de marque Prado le lundi 07 septembre quand ils ont été braqués par des individus non identifiés. Au nombre de trois, un cadre du ministère de l'enseignement secondaire aurait réussi à s'échapper par la brousse. Les ravisseurs sont entrés en contact avec les éléments de police de Ouèssè avec le téléphone d'un des otages.
Ils avaient réclamé la somme de 50 millions FCFA avant de libérer leurs otages. La somme a été revue à la baisse à 11 millions de FCFA. Les ravisseurs sont recherchés par les éléments de la Police Républicaine et les Services de Renseignements.
Les conditions de libération des otages ne sont pas rendues publiques.

Written by Etienne Bassot,

© European Union 2020 – Source : EP / Benoit BOURGEOIS

In her statements to the European Parliament in July and November 2019, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined the political priorities that would shape the Commission’s work programme for the years 2019 to 2024. The 2020 Commission work programme, adopted before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, mirrored these priorities. Without changing the overall structure of the six priorities, the spread of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and its significant impact across Member States obliged the Commission, however, to focus on immediate crisis management. As a result, at the end of May, the Commission adjusted its work programme for 2020, prioritising initiatives that it considered to be essential or necessary for the EU’s post-crisis recovery, in line with the Recovery Plan for Europe. The State of the Union debate provides the opportunity to take stock of the progress made thus far and to look ahead.

Delivering on promises while adjusting to a crisis scenario Recalibrating political priorities

The von der Leyen Commission took office on 1 December 2019, a month later than expected and after a long investiture process, beginning in May 2019 with the European Parliament elections. The new Commission’s priorities were sketched out in von der Leyen’s political guidelines, presented prior to her election as President of the Commission in July 2019, and further developed in the Commission’s 2020 work programme (CWP 2020), adopted on 29 January 2020. Building on the European Parliament’s political priorities and the European Council’s new Strategic Agenda for the 2019-2024 period, the Commission sought to shift from the crisis management mode that had dominated the Juncker Commission’s activities in the previous term (i.e. the eurozone crisis, the migration crisis and Brexit) to focus on the long term. The new priorities aimed at leading the transition to ‘a fair, climate-neutral, digital Europe‘, building on six ‘headline ambitions’ or priorities: i) A European Green Deal; ii) A Europe fit for the digital age; iii) An economy that works for people; iv) ‘A stronger Europe in the world; v) Promoting our European way of life; and, vi) A new push for European democracy.

The Commission has delivered on some of its commitments for its first year in office. However, as the coronavirus spread among Member States and the public health crisis unfolded, the Commission focused on coordinating a common European response to the pandemic, through a wide range of actions aimed at supporting the Member States’ health systems and countering the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic. As a result of the adoption of all those non-planned measures, the CWP 2020 was adjusted on 27 May 2020. Presented on the same day as the Commission’s Recovery Plan for Europe, the adjustments to the CWP 2020 introduced changes affecting the scope and timing of some of the initiatives included in the original work programme. The adjusted work programme prioritises all the initiatives that, according to the Commission, are essential or support the immediate recovery of Europe, such as the strategy for smart sector integration (Priority 1), the renovation wave strategy (Priority 1), the strategy for sustainable and smart mobility (Priority 1), the digital services act (Priority 2), the reinforcement of the youth guarantee (Priority 3) and the white paper on an instrument on foreign subsidies (Priority 2). In relation to some other relevant initiatives, such as the new pact on migration and the updated skills agenda for Europe (both Priority 5), the Commission expressed its commitment to adopting them as swiftly as possible, whereas some other initiatives have been delayed until the end of the year or early 2021. In any case, timelines may again be changed to reflect the Commission’s 2021 work programme, expected to be adopted in October this year.

Adjusting EU finances

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has had significant consequences for EU finances too. Both the 2020 EU budget and the proposals for the next long-term budgetary plan, covering the 2021-2027 period (the multiannual financial framework − MFF) have had to be adjusted to the new circumstances and priorities. Already in the first weeks of the pandemic, as part of the immediate EU response to the crisis, the Commission proposed to reallocate part of the 2020 budget to support the policies most in need, such as healthcare systems, research into treatments and a vaccine, and protection of jobs and businesses. To finance these actions within the very limited resources of the 2020 budget, the Commission had to resort to the budgetary margins and flexibility instruments, while also proposing amendments to the provisions of the 2014-2020 MFF.

The pandemic has further complicated the lengthy negotiations on the 2021-2027 MFF. On 27 May 2020, together with its adjusted CWP 2020 and its Recovery Plan for Europe, the Commission presented a budgetary package for recovery and resilience. The Commission’s proposal linked the future 2021-2027 MFF with the €750 billion recovery instrument (‘Next Generation EU’). The latter would be financed through funds borrowed on the markets by the Commission on behalf of the EU, the first time such a method had been used on such a big scale. Political agreement on the proposals was reached by EU leaders at a special European Council meeting on 17-21 July 2020, opening the way for formal negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament, whose consent is required for the adoption of the MFF.

Adjusting the Commission’s structure and working methods

The pandemic has also had an impact on the von der Leyen Commission’s original structure and working methods. As all Commission staff in ‘non-critical functions’ moved to teleworking (as of 16 March) and all meetings of Commission decision-making groups, including the weekly meetings of the College of Commissioners (as of 18 March), switched to being held by video-conference or tele-conference, efforts were stepped up to facilitate the exchange of information, increase coordination and speed-up the decision-making process. The Commission introduced fast-track procedures to accelerate coordination at administrative level and the College privileged written procedure (as opposed to oral procedure) to expedite the adoption of decisions. Coordination was ensured by different means, including the creation of thematic clusters (global vaccine, macroeconomic aspects of the crisis, recovery phase), in which the members of the Commission took part on the basis of their areas of responsibility, and the creation of a coronavirus response group. Initially composed of five Commissioners (Janez Lenarčič, Stella Kyriakides, Ylva Johansson, Adina Vălean and Paolo Gentiloni) and headed by the Commission President, the group aimed to coordinate the EU’s efforts to handle the crisis, although its creation was seen by some commentators as a move towards further centralisation and presidentialisation of the Commission.

Finally, it is to be noted that the recent resignation of the Trade Commissioner (Phil Hogan) may also lead to changes in the Commission’s structure or working methods. On 26 August 2020, Hogan tendered his resignation to President von der Leyen after controversy over his attendance at an event with more than 80 people, despite the applicable Irish public health guidelines to contain the coronavirus pandemic restricting gatherings to a fraction of that number. Although von der Leyen did not formally request Hogan’s resignation under Article 17(6) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), she accepted it the following day, opening the way to the appointment of a new Irish Commissioner through the procedure provided for under Article 246 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). As requested by von der Leyen – who has been committed to ensuring parity within the Commission since the beginning of her mandate – the Irish government proposed both a female and a male candidate, the First Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mairead McGuinness, and a recent European Investment Bank Vice-President, Andrew McDowell. On 8 September, von der Leyen announced that she had chosen Mairead McGuinness, and that she would take over financial services, financial stability and the capital markets union from Valdis Dombrovskis. The latter would take the trade portfolio permanently (having already taken it in the meantime), while continuing in his role of Executive Vice-President. The Council has to appoint the new Commissioner, by common accord with the Commission President, after consulting the European Parliament. Parliament is expected to organise hearings of both McGuinness (on her qualifications to be a member of the College and for her portfolio) and Dombrovskis (as regards his new portfolio), as set out under Rule 125(9) of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure concerning candidates proposed to replace individual Commissioners or in the event of a substantial reshuffling of Commission portfolios.

Read the complete briefing on ‘The von der Leyen Commission’s six priorities: State of play in autumn 2020‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Jupe Haegler war als bitterböser Cartoonist bekannt. Mit 80 Jahren ist der gebürtige Basler nun verstorben. Der Illustrator verabschiedet sich mit einer ganz besonderen Todesanzeige.

Nach dem Grossbrand im Flüchtlingslager Moria auf der griechischen Insel Lesbos stellt der Bund die Aufnahme von 20 Kindern und Jugendlichen in Aussicht.

Initiatives News - Depuis quelques jours les robinets sont à sec dans la plupart des quartiers de Nouakchott et les populations ont du mal à...

Vasárnap délelőtt mutatják be a Groupama Aréna sajtótermében azt a dokumentumfilmet, amely a Ferencváros labdarúgócsapatának 25 évvel ezelőtti Bajnokok Ligája-menetelését dolgozza fel.

Die Brandkatastrophe im Flüchtlingslager in Moria hat in der Schweiz landesweit Solidaritätsbekundungen hervorgerufen.

Die Schweiz will rund 20 unbegleitete Kinder und Jugendliche aus dem niedergebrannten Flüchtlingslager Moria auf Lesbos aufnehmen. Das teilte der Bundesrat am Freitag mit. Im Zentrum steht für die Regierung aber die Hilfe vor Ort.

Le ministre de l'Energie Dona Jean-Claude Houssou a procédé ce jeudi 10 septembre 2020 à la mise en service de l'ouvrage d'électrification de la localité de Gbakpodji dans la commune de Sèmè Kpodji.

La localité de Gbakpodji, située dans la commune de Sèmè Kpodji conjugue désormais l'obscurité au passé. Elle a été raccordée au réseau de la Société béninoise d'énergie électrique (SBEE) après plusieurs années d'attente.
L'ouvrage d'électrification par raccordement au réseau de la SBEE réalisé par l'ABERME a été mis en service par le ministre de l'Energie pour le bonheur des populations.
L'ouvrage est caractérisé par un réseau mixte long de 1100 m, un réseau BT pur long de 2100 m, un transformateur de 100 KVA, 10 lampadaires LED, pour impacter 1000 personnes. Le coût global de réalisation du projet est de 60 millions de FCFA.

A.A.A

Degraded farmland is being restored in Mahbubnagar district of Telangana state in India. Investing in sustainable land management and reversing land degradation will help build economies post-COVID-19 and help poor people increase their incomes. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS

By Stella Paul
HYDERABAD, India , Sep 11 2020 (IPS)

Investing in sustainable land management and land restoration will help build economies post-COVID-19 and help poor people increase their incomes as the destruction of global food chains by the pandemic provides a chance for ensuring diversity in production through ensuring the inclusion of local producers.

It also provides an opportunity to repurpose incentives for subsidies so that they deliver more common benefits for everybody without impacting the bottom line for the farmers, says Louise Baker the Managing Director of the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Baker is the first woman to hold the position in the U.N. agency and was appointed by UNCCD’s Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw in June.

Originally from England,. Baker joined the UNCCD secretariat in 2011 and had been serving as Chief of the External Relations, Policy and Advocacy unit since 2014.

In an interview with IPS, Baker talks about the current global status of land restoration and identifies the areas where more work is needed. She also candidly shares her own vision of a future where sustainable land management is considered a new normal and used widely by nations across the world to create employment and gender equity and to improve the quality of life of the poor. Excerpts of the interview follow.

Louise Baker Managing Director of the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

IPS:  How does it feel to be the first woman MD of Global Mechanism and what excites you about your new role?

Louise Baker (LB): It is exciting for me to move over to Global Mechanism.

I think, what’s interesting about my role is putting policy into action. If the countries use the policy, start writing projects, start doing it on the ground – kind of making it happen, then it feels like there is a momentum behind the work of UNCCD now and there is a sense of direction. So, I am excited that all the work I have been doing in policy, now I can see it on the ground, transforming people’s lives.

IPS: In the next 10 years, what would you like to change or like to see changed?

LB: I would see the cross-sectoral nature of land being taken seriously, not just in silos that says “this is an environmental issue or agricultural issue”, because it’s not. Its culture, agriculture, its land, its water, urban development, rural development, women …so I think it should find its place like climate does – find its place in multiple sectors. People need a more holistic approach. So, I would like to see that.

I would like a conversation around what we spend on issues that impact the land. We spend a lot, globally, on incentives in agricultural sector. We sponsor fertilisers, we sponsor pesticide, we provide inputs in the agriculture.  I think there is an opportunity to repurpose those incentives, those subsides so that they deliver more common benefits for everybody without impacting the bottom line for the farmers.

I would like to see – flagships. I would like to see things like the Great Green Wall of Africa. I would like to see the Ganges rehabilitated, I would like to see things that rub people’s imagination, I would like to see people inspired to do something about this.

I would also like to see, in terms of access to financing, the least developed countries getting a bigger share of the financing.

IPS: How can least-developed countries get enough financing?

LB: You quite often see the big financing processes – the countries that are able to write fabulous proposals, get the lion’s share of the money from the international processes. And those countries that are without the in-house capacity to wade through the difficult proposal writing processes, often don’t get the money they need. So, the people who are the least able to write the proposals are the ones who need it. An international effort to start the pipeline of bankable projects for countries who need it the most would be important and I think that goes across the private sector.

The public sector has got quite a high standard in terms of what it demands for financing – all these requirements and then you need to make a profit. So, it gets even more complicated to get incentivise, de-risk and get a pipeline of projects particularly in vulnerable communities for the private sector to take a risk on. So, I think ensuring the quality of those proposals and building the capacity of people to get those proposals in would be really important.

IPS: What is reverse land degradation and build back better? How can this help restore the economy impacted by the pandemic?

LB: In terms of the post-COVID-19 world, I think its critical that we do build back better. People who are most affected by COVID-19 – people who are in most precarious situations, people who don’t have fixed term jobs, don’t get a salary at the end of the month to get what they need and rely on natural resources to pay for what they need. There’s an opportunity I think for the first time in  terms of the incentives plans to build the economy back, to invest in these natural resource base, to invest in many countries for the survival of the poor people so they can increase incrementally their incomes.

It means things like value chains which were destructed during COVID-19 are shorter. You can work with local producers. Global value chains often cut out local producers, so you want to ensure diversity in your production, you want to ensure, for example, it’s not a value chain that is just producing food for export and there is no local production of food.

Q: What kind of returns can come from investing in sustainable land management and reverse land degradation?

LB: It’s very site-specific. In general, if you invest a dollar, the economic return is between $5 to $10 in the restoration economy. And that’s across the board, so it’s an average number.

But actually there are economic benefits in terms of the eco-system services provided: if you sustainably manage the land in a dryland area, you will get more water and therefore your crops will grow better and therefore you will not suffer from dried crops so much.

There is an economic benefit in terms of new value chains, that you can now grow crops in certain areas where you couldn’t before. And if you are smart about it then there are green products that you can sell to new value chains, local or international. For example, food like Moringa and Baobab are now considered “super foods” in many countries. And so, you can create a market and high-income jobs as you go down the chain. So, there’s marketing, packaging, design, production – it’s all tied onto the natural base. So, there is a return in the investment into the eco-system services. The big win is if you can leverage that into an economic opportunity that creates more jobs, creates different types of jobs.

IPS: How can land restoration empower the youth or contribute to gender equity?

LB: Young people are really enthusiastic about changing the world and they have got brilliant ideas to change the world but they need to be given the space to do it and the space isn’t necessarily being a farmer or what their grandparents did. They need to have their creativity, they need to bring in new technologies, new innovations like drip irrigation, drone technology, planting by drones, designs for groundwater recharge. new ways to working their new models. And I think that needs to be encouraged as well. In terms of gender, women hold valuable knowledge on land use and management, especially in the rural areas.

Therefore, using gender‐specific ways of documenting and preserving women’s knowledge should be central to sustainable management and restoration efforts. Increasing women’s presence in decision-making will play a pivotal role in closing the gender gap in land ownership and management and help create a land degradation neutral world that is gender responsive.

IPS: What is the global status of the promises made by the nations in the last UNCCD COP on land neutrality?

LB: Numbers or countries committing are still quite high. Barbados joined last week. And so, Barbados is committed to set up its target. Globally if you add up the other programmes’ voluntary contributions it’s a lot of land the countries have committed to move into sustainable management.  I think there’s still some work to do on the targets to identify geographically where the work will happen, and there’s quite a lot to do to ensure the benefits of land restoration is enjoyed by all segments of  society.

We are quite excited to work around gender. We have seen some very generous funding from the Canadians to work on mainstreaming gender into our work. So, I think there’s progress definitely, but there’s still a way to go.

The big challenge is – and we have spoken about capacity building in proposal writing – translating the targets into bankable projects. It’s a work that’s ongoing. A couple of countries -Armenia and Turkey – have actually gone through the process for some adaptation funding by GEF.

IPS: Women are disproportionately affected by climate change yet underrepresented at the decision-making table. Can your appointment be looked at a part of the growing trend of change the picture?

LB: The credit of my appointment goes to Ibrahim Thiaw – the Executive Secretary of UNCCD who has also recently appointed Tina Birmpili of Greece as the next Deputy Executive Secretary of UNCCD. I don’t think we are appointed because we are female, but of course I see this as an opportunity to do more work and contribute more to building of the momentum that UNCCD now has.

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The post Q&A: Land Restoration can Help Restore Post-COVID-19 Economy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Auf der Autobahn A2 bei Reiden LU krachte es am Freitagmittag. Ein Chauffeur wurde dabei verletzt.

Les membres de la Sûreté de la wilaya de Chlef ont procédé à l’arrestation d’un employé du secteur de la santé pour détention et vente de produits pharmaceutiques sans autorisation. Selon un communiqué de la Sûreté de la wilaya de Chlef, les membres de la police ont procédé à l’arrestation d’un employé du secteur de […]

L’article Chlef : Arrestation d’un employé du secteur de la santé pour vol est apparu en premier sur .

Életfogytig tartó börtönbüntetést kapott Németországban egy ápoló 85 beteg megölése miatt, az ítélet pénteken emelkedett jogerőre.

Paris et Berlin souhaitent devenir les maitres incontestés de l’hydrogène vert. Comment ? Les deux nations prévoient de construire une usine de production commune, qui sera percevra des aides financières publiques. Toutefois, l’énergie atomique demeure source de désaccord.

Sme.sk: A közlekedési minisztérium meghosszabbította a Pozsony-Dunaszerdahely-Komárom vasúti pályaszakaszon zajló személyszállításra kiírt nyilvános versenypályázat jelentkezési határidejét. Az új határidő október 8. – közölte pénteken Ivan Rudolf, a tárca szóvivője.

Soll die Schweiz Flüchtlinge aus Lesbos aufnehmen. Daniel Bach, Sprecher des Staatssekretariats für Migration, sagt, das werde noch heute im Bundesrat diskutiert. Humanitäre Hilfe sei aber bereits angelaufen.

Schweizer Städte sind bereit, Flüchtlinge aus dem abgebrannten Flüchtlingslager auf Moria aufzunehmen. Der Zürcher Stadtrat Raphael Golta sagt, der Bund müsse einen Schritt auf die Städte zugehen.

Nicolas Perrenoud von der Hilfsorganisation «One Happy Family» schildert die aktuelle Lage auf Lesbos, nachdem das Flüchtlingslager Moria abgebrannt ist.

Ex-Radprofi Jens Voigt (48) kommt aus dem Schwärmen nicht hinaus. Er vergleicht Tour-Etappensieger Marc Hirschi (22) mit den ganz Grossen des Radsports.

CNDH - Le président de la commission nationale des droits de l’homme Maître Ahmed Salem Bouhoubeyni et le président de la commission...