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A letter sent by member of European Parliament Paul Tang, seen by Euractiv, raises questions regarding the potential effects of the UK's Data Protection Bill on the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Opening of the World Social Forum 2024 in Kathmandu

By Isabel Ortiz
KATHMANDU, Nepal, Feb 23 2024 (IPS)

This week the 2024 annual meeting of the World Social Forum (WSF) was held in Nepal. There were fifty thousand participants from over 90 countries, exchanging strategies to address the multiple global crises, from climate catastrophes to unfettered capitalism, inequality, social injustice, wars and conflict.

The WSF was created in 2001 as a counterbalance to the elitism of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The WEF, founded and chaired by a private financial sector foundation, fosters the influence of the corporate world among governments in the luxury ski resort of Davos (Switzerland).

Isabel Ortiz

By contrast, the WSF was created as an arena for alternative thinking, where the grassroots and social avant-garde could gain a voice, challenging the neoliberal idea that “there is no alternative” (TINA); instead affirming that “another world is possible” built upon peace, human rights, real democracy, equity, and justice.

While Davos is the meeting for the 1%, the wealthiest people in the planet, Kathmandu is the meeting for the rest of us. The UN Secretary-General extended his best wishes for WSF 2024 for “restoring hope and finding innovative solutions for people and the planet.”

Indeed, the WSF 2024 was hotbed of ideas, alternative experiences and strategies. There is no concluding summary or annual declaration because the WSF organizers seek to maintain a plurality and diversity of messages. The following points reflect my personal overview of the key topics discussed:

• Denouncing the genocide in Gaza, a demand for an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of a free state of Palestine.

• Refuse militarization and wars: Cut military spending and power, promote peace and democracy. Defense spending is increasing while austerity policies cut social spending, this trend must be reversed.

• Organize against the rise of the far right: Radical right governments around the world have eroded democracy, human rights and civil society. Reports were made of censorship, repression, abuses of justice, unjustified raids and unfair imprisonment of progressive citizens, by the governments of Modi in India, Duterte in Philippines, Orban in Hungary, Duda in Poland, Al-Sisi in Egypt, Trump in the US, Bolsonaro in Brazil, among others There were also many reports of abusive litigation by corporations and politicians against journalists, activist researchers and CSOs, that are silencing critical voices.

• Fight inequality to counter the excessive concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a small elite. Inequality is the result of deliberate political and economic choices, and it can be reversed to build a just, equal and sustainable world.

• End Austerity, illegitimate debt and neoliberal economic policies that have failed citizens resoundingly. These outdated policies, imposed by international financial institutions (IFIs) like the IMF and the World Bank through the Ministries of Finance and G20, mostly benefit corporations and investors in the US and in a few Northen countries, result in real and lasting harm to the lives of ordinary people. There are alternative economic policies, such as the adequate taxation of wealthy millionaires and corporations, that can finance prosperity for people and planet.

• Redress violations of human rights for women, Dalits (the ‘untouchables’) and lower castes, LGBT, persons with disabilities and different ethnicities; demanding enactment and implementation of inclusive policies and strategies to eliminate class, caste, gender and race-based disparities.

• The 2024 Feminist Forum focused on addressing systemic barriers that impede women’s rights, from patriarchy to macroeconomic policies, through transformative feminist action that leads to change.

• Ensure public services, universal social security or social protection, and labor rights for all, including informal workers and migrants, instead of the current austerity driven trend to privatize or corporatize public services, to reduce welfare benefits and to deregulate the labor market.

• Peasant protests and movements: La Via Campesina is the largest movement today with two hundred million peasant members fighting for food security, against agribusiness and GMOs. It is very active, has alliances with unions, indigenous peoples’ movements and it is a good model for other movements.

• Climate Justice: A number of sessions discussed climate catastrophes, the IFIs support for fossil fuels, just transitions, habitat, and sustainable development.

The lack of will of the world’s political and economic elites to resolve today’s multiple crisis fuels discontent among citizens and disillusionment with conventional parties. People everywhere are losing faith in governments, institutions, and economic and political systems. Governments and world leaders would do well to listen and to act upon the ideas coming from the World Social Forum.

Isabel Ortiz, Director of the think-tank Global Social Justice, was Director of the International Labor Organization and UNICEF, and a senior official at the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Nouveau mécontentement des agriculteurs en Croatie. Apres les manifestations de décembre provoqués par les abattages de porcs jugés abusifs, des paysans du Međimurje et de Slavonie ont manifesté cette semaine avec leurs tracteurs. Eux aussi dénoncent des conditions de travail toujours plus dures.

- Articles / Croatie, Economie, Courrier des Balkans, Agriculture

Nouveau mécontentement des agriculteurs en Croatie. Apres les manifestations de décembre provoqués par les abattages de porcs jugés abusifs, des paysans du Međimurje et de Slavonie ont manifesté cette semaine avec leurs tracteurs. Eux aussi dénoncent des conditions de travail toujours plus dures.

- Articles / Une - Diaporama, Croatie, Economie, Courrier des Balkans, Agriculture

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Über sechs Millionen Menschen sind bisher vor dem Krieg in der Ukraine geflohen. Die medizinische und soziale Unterstützung der Flüchtlinge müsse deshalb auch weiter eine Priorität bleiben, betont die WHO. Sie forderte ein starkes politisches Engagement der EU.

EU-Landwirtschaftskommissar Janusz Wojciechowski machte die "Handels- und Klimapolitik" der EU für die Unzufriedenheit der Landwirte verantwortlich. Der Landwirtschaftsausschuss des Europäischen Parlaments hatte ihn zuvor aufgefordert, sich für die europäische Landwirtschaft einzusetzen.

Credit: UNICEF/Abdulazeem Mohamed
 
War in Sudan is putting the future of its 24 million youngest citizens at risk, the Representative of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned. January 2024
 
Meanwhile geopolitical and geoeconomic fragmentation threaten the development and survival of children across the globe. But a more hopeful path exists.

By Jasmina Byrne
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 23 2024 (IPS)

At the start of 2024, we stand at a critical juncture: Geopolitical tensions are escalating, economic integration is unravelling, and multilateral cooperation is faltering. This global fragmentation threatens to undermine decades of progress made for children worldwide.

The choices we make today – whether to continue on this path or whether we should bolster global cooperation – will have a profound impact on generations to come.

Children are always the most vulnerable in times of crisis – a reality highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, when school closures, economic hardship and disrupted health services jeopardized children’s rights and wellbeing.

Almost four years since that pandemic was declared, our new report, Prospects for Children in 2024: Cooperation in a Fragmented World, paints a concerning picture for children’s future development and welfare.

Tensions among major powers are rising and the threat of new conflicts emerging is high. Beyond the immediate physical dangers, children can experience lasting psychological trauma and violations of their basic rights.

If military spending continues increasing at the expense of investments in healthcare, education and social protections, children’s development will be further compromised.

Meanwhile, economic fragmentation is widening disparities between countries. Restrictive trade policies and supply chain disruptions are leading to rising energy and food prices, reducing access to essential goods and negatively impacting child nutrition and household incomes.

Competition for critical minerals essential for the green economy is increasing the risks of trade fragmentation while threatening the pace of the green energy transition. At the same time, the drive to expand mining for minerals puts mining communities and children at risk of exploitative practices.

Despite continued global economic growth, the lukewarm and uneven recovery is diminishing prospects for reducing child poverty. From now until 2030, 15 million more children a year will be living in poverty than would have otherwise, due to the unequal post-COVID recovery.

This gloomy picture is compounded by the weakening of multilateral institutions, which is further undermining the potential for progress for children. Why?

Because a fragmented multilateral system that is hamstrung by competing interests will struggle to deliver on conflict prevention, climate change, effective digital governance, debt relief and enforcing child rights standards, fuelling dissatisfaction in the Global South with rising inequalities.

Children in the poorest nations also face continued barriers to financing for basic services. Crippling debt, high remittance fees and lack of voice in global economic governance restrict investments in healthcare, education and social protections – investments vital to children’s survival and development.

But amid all these concerning trends, we see still signs of hope. Alternative alliances are emerging in the developing world to advance cooperation, bringing novel policy solutions, more nimble policymaking and effective results.

Despite expressing discontent with current democratic political structures, young people remain optimistic that opportunities exist to reform and resolve deficiencies in the political system, whether at the national or international level. They are engaging as change-makers, breathing new life into civic participation and democratic renewal.

In addition, technological innovations are unlocking new opportunities to empower children and enhance their rights. Green transition, if carried out in a just and sustainable way – one that prioritizes young people’s needs, skills and access to jobs in emerging sectors (such as the digital and green economy) – can benefit younger generations.

Reforms and modernization of global governance and financing arrangements could still deliver greater justice for developing countries. This more hopeful path will not unfold on its own. It requires global leaders to make an active choice – to double down on solidarity, inclusion and cooperation despite tensions and instability.

Prioritizing children and their rights must be at the centre of this choice.

Jasmina Byrne is Chief, Foresight & Policy, UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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561556 Željka Šulc

SARAJEVO, 16 February 2024 - The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina welcomes the adoption of the Law on Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, a piece of legislation vital for the ability of authorities and institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina to more effectively fight organized crime, corruption and terrorism.

Over the course of the past several years, the Mission has been providing extensive support to the Council of Ministers working groups tasked with developing key policy and legal documents in the field of combatting money laundering and terrorist financing. A number of these key policies have since been adopted, including an updated National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing and its Action Plan and the new Strategy for Preventing and Combating Terrorism, the Risk Assessment on Organized Crime, and the Strategy for Combating Organized Crime. These documents were developed with a commendable degree of professionalism and commitment by representatives from competent institutions from all levels of government - and with exemplary leadership from the BiH Ministry of Security.

The Working Group for the Law on Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing was effective and constructive in finding solutions that have now materialized in a Law which is largely aligned with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. This positive outcome benefits the political and economic prospects of Bosnia and Herzegovina - for citizens and businesses alike.

Die bulgarische Partei Vazrazhdane hat sich der Rechtsaußen-Fraktion ID im Europäischen Parlament angeschlossen, welcher auch die AfD und Marine Le Pens Rassemblement National angehören. Zuvor hatten Abgeordnete am Mittwoch auf Einladung von Putins Partei Moskau besucht. 

Am Ende wurde der Druck aus der EU und der eigenen Bevölkerung zu groß: Die slowakische Regierung von Ministerpräsident Robert Fico hat Teile einer umstrittenen Reform des Strafgesetzbuches zurückgezogen.

Morgen jährt sich die Invasion Russlands in der Ukraine zum zweiten Mal. Da das kriegsgebeutelte Land an Munitionsengpässen und einem Mangel an Ausrüstung leidet, richtet sich nun der EU-Chefdiplomat mit einem dringenden Appell an die Mitgliedstaaten.

Spaniens stellvertretende Generstaatsanwältin forderte den Obersten Gerichtshof am Donnerstag auf, ein Verfahren gegen den katalanischen Separatistenführer Carles Puigdemont wegen Terrorismus einzustellen. Sie widersprach damit der Mehrheit der obersten spanischen Staatsanwälte sowie dem Nationalen Gerichtshof.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Latvia approving a ban on Russian agricultural products, Slovakia's Fico backtracking on criminal law reform, and so much more.

Aujourd’hui dans L’Expresso : la Lettonie interdit l'importation de denrées alimentaires russes, les juges espagnols divisés sur le « cas Carles Puigdemont », une directive propose de créer des « permis tracteurs » pour les agriculteurs européens

Le parti d’extrême droite pro-russe Vazrazhdane a rejoint mercredi le groupe parlementaire d’extrême droite Identité et Démocratie (ID) au Parlement européen. Il y a quelques semaines encore, les députés du parti étaient à Moscou sur invitation du parti de Vladimir Poutine.

Die Europäische Kommission ist laut Medienberichten bereit, erste Gelder für Polen aus der europäischen Wiederaufbau- und Resilienzfazilität zu genehmigen, welche wegen Bedenken zu Polens Rechtsstaatlichkeit eingefroren worden waren. Dies könnte noch in dieser Woche geschehen.

The Biden administration on Thursday (22 February) warned Iran of a "swift and severe" response from the international community if Tehran provided ballistic missiles to Russia, after Reuters reported earlier this week that the Islamic Republic shipped the powerful weapons to Moscow.

Un conflit entre associés a viré à la bagarre devant les patients. «Les corps volaient», selon un témoin.

Kommunistische und grüne Europaabgeordnete aus Frankreich haben ihre Kollegen aufgefordert, bei einer Abstimmung zur EU-Führerscheinrichtlinie nächste Woche gegen die Einführung neuer Führerscheine für Traktoren zu stimmen. Der Vorschlag dazu stammt ausgerechnet von der konservativen EVP.