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Der Ehrengast-Pavillon ist der Herzstück der Frankfurter Buchmesse. In diesem Jahr ist Norwegen zu Gast. Wer nordische Landschaften und Gemütlichkeit erwartet, dürfte enttäuscht sein.

Noch im Frühling wollte Zalando von Frauen in der Geschäftsleitung nichts wissen. Das soll sich nun ändern. Auch dank einer Kolumne von BLICK-Kolumnistin Patrizia Laeri.

STELLUNGNAHME zum Entwurf des Gesamthaushaltsplans der Europäischen Union für das Haushaltsjahr 2020
Ausschuss für auswärtige Angelegenheiten
Michael Gahler

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2019 - EP

Une nouvelle initiative de dialogue pour une sortie de la crise actuelle est lancée par 19 personnalités issues de la société civile. Cette liste est constituée de plusieurs cadres de la société civile en majorité des professeurs des universitaires, ainsi, que des juristes et des syndicalistes, ainsi que l’ancien ministre, et candidat à la présidentielle […]

The post Initiative pour une sortie de crise : La liste des 19 signataires appeared first on .

La police cantonale bernoise recherche une personne suspectée d'avoir usé de violence pour voler un téléphone à Nidau.

President Hassan Rouhani of Iran

By Sohrab Razzaghi and Masana Ndinga-Kanga
JOHANNESBURG / AMSTERDAM, Oct 15 2019 (IPS)

2019 has not been a good year for Iranian human rights activists. At a time where civic space had completely closed, many watched in disbelief as the regime mounted even more restrictions on civil society. Over recent months, many activists have been arrested, like Noushin Javari (a photographer), Marzieh Amiri (a journalist), and Javad Lal Mohammadi (teacher).

As the UN Third Committee prepares to meet in October 2019, it will be worth following whether the General Assembly will take proactive steps to respond to the crisis in Iran or continue to avert its eyes in the face of complicated global politics that have emboldened President Rouhani in his regressive anti-western crackdown on civil society.

During the UN General Assembly on 25 September 2019, Iranian President Rouhani’s called for the creation of a ‘coalition of hope’ in the Gulf region, that would focus on “peace, stability, progress and welfare” and working to “invest on hope towards a better future rather than in war and violence [sic],” with the aim of restoring justice and peace.

However, the civic space track record of Iran and many of its Gulf neighbours demonstrates that oftentimes the state is the perpetrator of violence and restrictions in-country, curtailing the very justice and peace it aims to implement.

It then begs the question, how can a regional coalition of hope be developed, when the state so frequently responds to human rights defenders with violence – excluding the language of human rights from even sustainable development goals.

Many civil society actors have been detained – deemed enemies of the state and foreign agents. As Iranian communities reel under the pressure of yet another bout of sanctions, it is worth begging the question ‘does the closure of civic space serve the interests of sustainable development in Iran?’

Contrary to what policymakers responsible for civic space closure might think, these restrictions ultimately hurt sustainable development. Human rights activists around the world, including in Iran, are oftentimes the critical purveyors of equitable ‘sustainability’ in the development process, campaigning for environmental justice, worker’s rights and the respect for the dignity and humanity of all.

In 2018, the Ayatollah Khamenei’s official website published a draft 50-year vision for “progress.” The document, entitled the Islamic-Iranian Pattern for Progress (IIPP), sets out a set of objectives to be met by 2065, covering a vast range of issues, among them the economy, justice and poverty – still to be approved by parliament.

The plan focuses on addressing poverty, the economy and the justice system. It seeks further alignment of religion and the sociopolitical system in the country, but also includes provisions for “prompting independence, accountability and specialization in the judiciary” and “enhancing women’s position and providing equal opportunities for them, with emphasis on their role as mothers.”

Critics of the regime would not be wrong to look at these policy objectives with concern, especially as the regime has a narrowed position on the role of women in society and has repeatedly failed to guarantee independence of the judiciary – where human rights defenders and political dissenters are subject to numerous violations of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (to which Iran is party).

According to a recent comparative report on Sustainable Development, Iran is in 82nd place among 156 countries. This lower-than-average score, however, is not surprising. Iran has not committed to the indexes of sustainable development, meaning people in Iran are not participating in a systematic and organized manner in the process of development. Instead, policymaking and development is a top-down process steered by the government.

In fact, most involvement of Iranians in this process is decorative. As a solution, Iranians have been organizing themselves in civil society to combine their voices and make sure they are heard. This, however, is counteracted by repression from the state, resulting in the country being rated as closed on the Civicus Monitor.

Countless activists who have been advocating for the true meaning of sustainable development have paid the price. Civil society activists, especially environmental activists, labor union and teacher union activists, as well as human rights defenders have been wrongfully persecuted.

Eight environmental activists are sitting in prison on charges of espionage, four of whom are additionally charged with “sowing corruption on earth”. If convicted, they will face death penalty. Another environmental expert, Dr. Kavous Seyed Emami, died in detention, and the circumstances of his death are unclear.

According to the Iranian Constitution, citizens are permitted to set up associations and assemblies; yet this clause is not implemented. Few, if any, groups have permission to freely form associations, including socio-political groups or ethnic/religious minorities. Last month for example, Omid Mehr foundation was closed by government authorities. When asked about the reason for closure, authorities said that Omid Mehr foundation was advocating Western values, which does not fit in Iran.

The false claim that campaigning for human rights is equal to advocating Western values is an adage used by repressive regimes to silence dissent and put forward a development agenda that excludes minorities and others on the margins. But development is not sustainable if they are excluded.

For example, the regime frequently equates the campaigns of women to determine their dress codes as acts against the state, threats to national security or prostitution. Despite the peaceful protest (handing out flowers in commemoration of International Women’s Day) against the hijab by Yasaman Aryani and Monireh Arabshahi, they were sentenced to 16 years imprisonment after being subject to enforced disappearance. Such lengthy sentences and gross human rights violations do not equate sustainability nor development.

The government not only fails to safeguard the freedom of associations and civil society organizations, but actively creates non-independent organizations (or Governmental NGOs, GONGOs) to put forward an inaccurate picture of civic engagement by the state.

Only CSOs that support the agenda of the state are accepted by the government, strengthening the top-down, government-centered way of working. The Organization for Defending Victims of Violence (ODVV), one of many GONGOs, attends international meetings, including UNHRC meetings.

Actively curating a counter-narrative of progress through GONGOs shows the vulnerability of the state to international pressure in an interconnected global political economy. The state recognizes its reliance on international partnerships for the advancement of its economic objectives.

But instead it fails to align its internal policy processes to international human rights conventions – channeling resources that could be spent on authentic engagement with civil society in country to its image. As a result, tensions in Iran are mounting at the dire state of socioeconomic affairs.

For instance, in January 2018, mass protests against poverty and economic difficulties erupted in the country. Rather than engage with citizens, the state responded through 4,967 arrests and any assembly was strictly and heavily repressed.

Among those arrested were activists, women, workers, students and teachers. Many of the arrestees have been sentenced to long imprisonment terms. Many more are critical to the realization of sustainable development in Iran.

Rather than supporting socioeconomic development, the state-imposed limitations on freedom of assembly and association in Iran, have weakened and decapacitated citizen engagement, and prevented their participation in the process of achieving sustainable development. It is short-term thinking that creates enemies of civil society and sustainable development.

In fact, a dynamic, vibrant, democratic and development-oriented association landscape is an important requirement for sustainable development. By releasing activists and opening the civic space, Iran can truly begin the process of social change for the upliftment of all.

The post Vibrant Civil Society Essential for Sustainable Development in Iran appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Sohrab Razzaghi is Executive Director of Volunteer Activists Institute a non-profit, non-governmental, non-political and independent institute, whose primary aim is capacity building among activists and civil society organizations for democracy, human rights and peace building within Iranian society and communities in the MENA region.

 
Masana Ndinga-Kanga is MENA Advocacy Lead at CIVICUS, an alliance of 7000 civil society partners around the world.

The post Vibrant Civil Society Essential for Sustainable Development in Iran appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Le Canton de Genève va prendre une centaine de mesures pour améliorer la mobilité douce d'ici 2023.

Der EU-Haushalt werde den Forderungen nach mehr Mitteln für Klimaschutz und höhere Investitionen in nachhaltige Technologien nachkommen, verspricht Haushaltsberichterstatterin Hohlmeier.

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2019 - EP

Die EU hat die Fangmöglichkeiten der Ostseefischer im kommenden Jahr für alle Fischarten teils deutlich abgesenkt. Die Bundesregierung setzte sich aber mit ihren Forderungen nach "moderateren" Kürzungen als von der EU-Kommission vorgeschlagen durch. Von Umweltverbänden kam Kritik.

Retrouvez la Story de Madame Mariem Daddah, la première première dame de Mauritanie. Elle a partagé avec nous les moments forts de sa vie. Cette...

MINSK, 15 October 2019 – Following an invitation from the country’s authorities, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission (EOM) for the 17 November early parliamentary elections in Belarus.

The mission is led by Corien Jonker and consists of a core team of 11 experts based in Minsk and 30 long-term observers, who will be deployed throughout the country from 23 October. In addition, ODIHR will request that OSCE participating States provide 400 short-term observers, who will arrive several days before the elections.

The mission will assess whether the elections are held in line with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. Observers will closely monitor fundamental aspects of the election such as voter registration, candidate registration, campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies, election-related legislation and its implementation, and the resolution of election-related disputes. As part of the observation, the mission will also monitor the media coverage of the campaign.

Meetings with representatives of state authorities, political parties, civil society, the media and the international community form an integral part of the observation.

On election day, the ODIHR EOM will join efforts with delegations from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to observe the opening of polling stations, voting, the counting of ballots and the tabulation of results.

An interim report will be published to update the public and media during the course of the observation. The day after the election, ODIHR’s preliminary findings and conclusions will be presented at a press conference. A final report on the observation will be issued approximately two months after the end of the election process.

For further information, please visit www.osce.org/odihr/elections/belarus/429278 or contact Kira Kalinina, Media Analyst, at +375 29 660 5217 (Minsk mobile), or at kira.kalinina@odihr.by

or

Katya Andrusz, ODIHR Spokesperson, at +48 609 522 266 (Warsaw mobile), or at katya.andrusz@odihr.pl.

Volkswagen has postponed the decision on opening a new car factory in Turkey against the background of the Turkish military offensive in Syria. "The final decision for the new plant was postponed by the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG," a company spokesman said on Tuesday (15 October), confirming media reports.

Ils ont surtout dénoncé le bradage des ressources naturelles du pays et appelé au retrait du controversé projet de loi sur les hydrocarbures. L’adoption en Conseil des ministres, dimanche, du nouveau projet de loi sur les hydrocarbures semble avoir mobilisé davantage les Algériens du Canada qui ont été nombreux à participer à la manifestation dominicale, […]

The post Acte 34 de la révolution citoyennes des algériens à Montréal : Mobilisation contre la loi sur les hydrocarbures appeared first on .

According to the UN, an estimated one-third of all food is lost or wasted worldwide as it moves from where it is produced to where it is eaten.

By External Source
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 15 2019 (IPS)

With one-third of food produced for human consumption lost or wasted, and millions still going hungry, the UN’s food-related agencies are shining a spotlight on the issue: on Monday, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published its annual State of Food and Agriculture report with findings that could lead to a reduction in food loss and waste, and, earlier in October, the World Food Programme (WFP) launched its awareness-raising #StopTheWaste campaign.

 

Pinpointing the problem

“How can we allow food to be thrown away when more than 820 million people in the world continue to go hungry every day?”, asked FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu in the foreword to his agency’s report.

The study contains fresh estimates of the scale of the problem, enabling a better understanding of the challenge, and suggesting possible solutions, by looking into why, and where, loss and waste take place. The FAO makes a distinction between food losses, which occur at the stage when food is harvested, up until the moment when it is sold; and food waste, which occurs during the sale and consumption of food.

 

Getting to the root of the issue

Guidance for countries, suggesting policies and interventions that can reduce food loss and waste, is also part of the report. This include providing incentives for farmers and producers, to make it cost-effective for them to be more efficient and less wasteful. These incentives may involve financial help for smallholders, who don’t have the means to pay for improved techniques and practices.

Armed with better data, such as the information in the report, governments will be able to target their actions more accurately and raise awareness of the benefits of reducing food loss and waste among suppliers and consumers and influence their decision-making.

 

 

The World Food Programme is also hoping to bring the problems surrounding food loss and waste to a larger audience, with the launch of its #StopTheWaste campaign, which is encouraging all of us to think about how we can reduce food waste in our daily lives.

In the field, WFP helps smallholder farmers to get their food to the people who need it most, by providing new technologies for storage and transportation, that prevent crops from spoiling prematurely and connecting them with markets.

This story was originally published by UN News

The post Stop the Waste: UN Food Agencies Call for Action to Reduce Global Hunger appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The EU will be better off without the UK, and the UK will be better off without the EU. This is according to IMF's former chief and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who has been involved in several financial and sexual scandals. EURACTIV's partner Ouest-France reports.

The 20-year-old vows to 'come back stronger' after rupturing knee ligaments in the Super Eagles' friendly against Brazil in Singapore.

COPENHAGEN, 15 October 2019 – A new report issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism (CCT) provides a comprehensive look at the state of implementation of a key UN Security Council Resolution on addressing the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters returning or relocating from conflict zones.

The report, “Strengthening Border Security and Information Sharing in the OSCE Region: A Parliamentary Oversight Exercise,” details more than 20 responses from parliaments on efforts at the national level to develop Advance Passenger Information (API), Passenger Name Records (PNR) and biometric data management systems, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2396. It explores efforts to develop efficient inter-agency operational frameworks for processing data at the national level and effective schemes for exchanging information at the international level.

“By improving practices on exchanging information and enhancing co-operation on border security, governments can help ensure that their citizens – and the citizens of other countries – are kept safe from violent extremists,” said CCT Chair Abid Raja (MP, Norway). “It is a grim reality that foreign terrorist fighters returning or relocating to their countries of origin, or to third countries, pose a serious threat to public safety. This OSCE PA report on border security intends to highlight progress made and inspire other countries to redouble their efforts to counter this threat, including through the identification of several promising practices.”

Makis Voridis (MP, Greece), who served as CCT Chair from 2017 to 2019 and oversaw the commission of the OSCE PA report, explained that holding governments to account for commitments they have freely agreed to is an essential task that parliamentarians are well suited for.

“As parliamentarians, we can help ensure that our governments live up to their international obligations,” Voridis said. “By asking questions of our governments about what they have done to implement commitments made at the international level, we can add real value to this process and help identify shortcomings and areas that need further attention.”

Among the report’s key findings:

• The challenges faced during the implementation of API, PNR, biometric data management systems originate from the complex and novel nature of the field. These include legal, operational as well as resource and infrastructure-related matters.
• The need to better integrate and facilitate information exchanges across different national databases, including those managed by customs, borders and law enforcement authorities, is a top priority.
• Legislation providing independent oversight mechanisms and the opportunity for citizens to redress proves critical for complying with international human rights law in the context of API, PNR and biometric information systems.
• The lack of harmonized approaches towards personal data protection and the right to privacy has the potential to complicate effective law enforcement co-operation on information sharing and border security.

The report notes that some of the most critical challenges in setting up and maintaining modern systems for API, PNR and biometrics often relate to staff expertise, human resources development and IT capabilities. IT software and hardware components present high maintenance and upgrading costs that are critical for the timely and reliable data transmission between private airlines and law enforcement authorities.

National parliaments are ideally positioned to pass comprehensive legislation and oversee the implementation of relevant counter-terrorism policies and measures on border security and information sharing, the report concludes. It recommends that governmental decrees enacted to regulate this technical field should be increasingly replaced by comprehensive legislation adopted by national parliaments to ensure wide political participation and full democratic control over the legislation.

Furthermore, governments in the OSCE region should set up clear operational frameworks to facilitate smooth inter-agency co-operation and co-ordination at the national level and co-operation should be further strengthened between national authorities and private companies involved in the implementation of modern API, PNR and biometrics (i.e. air carriers and travel agencies), the report notes.

Finally, governments should work in synergy with the UN and the OSCE on these issues, in order to ensure a harmonized approach in compliance with international human rights law and OSCE commitments.

The full report is available here.

For background on the work of the OSCE PA's Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism, please click here.

The euro is the most tangible symbol of European unification, and it is here to stay and prosper, writes Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the European Central Bank.

Die Dominanz von US-amerikanischen und chinesischen Unternehmen hat in Europa die Alarmglocken läuten lassen. Eine neue Industrie- und Handelsstrategie soll her - nach Ansicht vieler Experten aber bestenfalls, ohne die Binnenmarktregeln zu verwässern.

António Guterres szerint a vízhez jutás emberi jog, az ENSZ elkötelezett, hogy mindenkinek biztosítani kell a szükséges, tiszta vízmennyiséget.