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Le transport fluvial, seule alternative pour les échanges entre les populations béninoises et nigériennes du fait de la fermeture des frontières du côté du Niger, est désormais interdit. Un fort détachement d'éléments de la police républicaine est déployé sur les rives du fleuve pour empêcher tout passage.

La frontière ou rien ! Plus de passage de marchandises et de personnes via le fleuve Niger pour entrer sur le territoire béninois. Le transport fluvial autorisé depuis plusieurs semaines du fait de la fermeture des frontières du côté du Niger est interdit. Le constat est fait ce mercredi 22 mai 2024.
Cette nouvelle décision des autorités béninoises s'inscrit dans leur volonté de formaliser les relations avec le Niger. Plus de détails à venir.

F. A. A.

By External Source
May 22 2024 (IPS-Partners)

 
Bruno Maes is the UNICEF Representative in Haiti. He officially took office in August 2020. A Belgian national, Mr. Maes previously served as UNICEF Representative in Madagascar from 2007 to 2012, in Chad from 2012 to 2015, and recently in Egypt from September 2015 to 2020.

Mr. Maes joined UNICEF in 2000 and served as Deputy Representative in Burundi and Ethiopia. Before joining UNICEF, he served as Representation of the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO) for Angola.

Mr. Maes holds a Master’s Degree in development economics from the University of Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium.

ECW: Armed groups reportedly now control 80-90% of Port-au-Prince and over 360,000 people – the majority of them children – have been displaced. The country seems to be mired in a culture of violence. How can Education Cannot Wait, UNICEF and other local partners work together to provide these girls and boys with the safety and protection of quality, holistic learning environments?

Bruno Maes: UNICEF expresses grave concern over the swift deterioration of the security situation countrywide, particularly in multiple neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince and in the Artibonite Department. Recent weeks have seen a disturbing trend of violence targeting public institutions and vital social infrastructures, including schools. The violence has led to the temporary closure of hundreds of schools, depriving children of their right to education.

The instability in Haiti continues to undermine education. Frequent disruptions in educational services have posed significant challenges in accessing schools. Occupation of classrooms by armed groups and by internally displaced persons (IDPs) has further reduced access, leaving children vulnerable to the increased risk of recruitment into armed groups or to being the victim of social exclusion, sexual and physical abuse, and socioeconomic discrimination.

As of the end of January, a total of 900 schools had temporarily closed, depriving approximately 200,000 children of their right to education. In a country facing increasingly complex conflicts and instability, education can never be considered merely an option. It must be acknowledged as a necessity, a matter of survival, and a key to social stability.

In Haiti, UNICEF is ensuring access to inclusive and relevant quality education, in a safe and protective learning environment, for all students in public school, including children living with disabilities, affected by a situation of violence, armed conflict or natural disaster.

Support from Education Cannot Wait (ECW) helps UNICEF in assisting families affected by violence and displacement to reintegrate children into formal education. Where integration into formal schools is not feasible, UNICEF collaborates with partners to establish alternative, safe, and temporary learning environments for children. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to ECW for its invaluable support in our efforts to sustain education in emergencies (EiE).

Regarding our expectations of ECW, UNICEF, and other local partners on issues of safety and the protection of a holistic, quality learning environment, we believe that the best way to work together will be to ensure capacity building of teachers on key issues. These include protection, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) for children through protection mechanisms combined with social-emotional learning (SEL) activities in targeted schools. This action must be carried out through a strong partnership with the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (MENFP in French).

In connection with ongoing initiatives to strengthen psychosocial support and social cohesion in the response, we need to mobilize for the integration of MHPSS into teaching, the strengthening of the code of conduct recently validated by the MENFP to reinforce social cohesion in the school environment, the implementation of school referral mechanisms to other sectors such as hild protection, health, nutrition, the promotion of the Safe Schools Declaration, and, finally, the adoption of gender-based violence risk mitigation measures and school safety plans in the face of attacks on education.

ECW: The education in emergencies response in Haiti – and indeed across the world – is underfunded. Why should donors scale-up funding through multilateral funds such as Education Cannot Wait to respond to this forgotten crisis and deliver on the promises outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?

Bruno Maes: There are many reasons why donors should increase funding through multilateral funds such as ECW. I can mention two:

Firstly, ECW is a structure that has considerable influence at global and even national levels, due to the funds it has already granted to Haiti. These include ECW’s First Emergency Response from 2021 to 2022 in response to the Great South earthquake, and then the Multi-Year Resilience Programme for the period 2022-2025). ECW’s technical expertise, direct relations with UN agencies in Haiti (WFP, UNICEF, the Office of the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator), transparent fiduciary management and long experience of working with different countries and regions are major assets to support this argument. Like the United Nations, ECW as a multilateral fund plays a very important role in low-income countries, including in emergency situations.

Secondly, the purpose of these funds – financed by multiple countries – is the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which is our collective goal, in line with the 2030 agenda. And as the fund’s name suggests, education cannot wait in Haiti. The current situation has led to an increase in the number of internally displaced persons, and has created huge gaps in terms of access to basic social services such as education and health. As I speak, almost 4,000 schools are temporarily unable to function in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area (this situation would affect nearly 1.2 million students). Speaking in Washington DC in April on “Linking Education and National Security, Competitiveness and Global Stability” as part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ “Quality Education for Security and Economic Growth” initiative, Haiti’s Minister of Education, Nesmy Manigat, described the educational response to the current situation as “a race against time, not only to guarantee the right to education for thousands of children affected by the crisis, but also to prevent some of them from unwittingly becoming child bandits or child soldiers.”

ECW: #RightHereRightNow, climate change, environmental degradation, soaring temperatures, natural disasters and extreme weather events create a clear and present risk for the children of Haiti. How can we connect education action with climate action in Haiti and beyond?

Bruno Maes: It’s worth remembering that among island countries, Haiti ranks 3rd in terms of vulnerability to climate change. It is also well known that extreme weather events are becoming increasingly severe, occurring almost five times more frequently than 40 years ago, disrupting the education of nearly 40 million children worldwide every year.

In Haiti, the consequences of the most recent earthquake caused enormous damage to infrastructure, with 1,250 basic schools in the three hardest-hit areas (Cayes, Camp-Perrin and Sant-Louis-du-Sud/South department) damaged or destroyed. This situation has directly or indirectly affected 307,359 pupils, whose educational continuity has been disrupted. Nearly 7,512 teachers and more than 1,000 school principals were affected by the earthquake.

There are several ways of connecting education action with climate action in Haiti and beyond, including the promotion of key related themes in new curricula. These would include: the management of household waste and plastic waste; the fight against deforestation and its main consequences; the fight against the unhealthy school environment and the living environment of the learner; the fight against the consequences of certain human activities harmful to the environment (industrial waste, greenhouse gas emissions); the rational management of water resources in a context of climate change; and the management of energy sources in a context of global warming. The unpredictability of the consequences of climate change is likely to exacerbate the climatic impacts on already sensitive sectors, such as education, and limit the country’s economic growth.

ECW: This is arguably the most pressing humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere; how can education promote peace, stability, and economic resilience in a context like Haiti?

Bruno Maes: In the Haitian context, and in line with the aforementioned speech by Haiti’s Minister of Education, I believe that education can promote peace, stability and economic resilience through curriculum transformation. This is the most important step in meeting the challenges of an unstable world undergoing rapid social, economic, technological and climatic change.

As the Minister of Education suggested in the same statement quoted above this, to achieve this:

o Efforts must be made to ensure that curriculum transformation is integrated throughout the education system, including curricula and textbooks, teacher preparation and pedagogy, assessment and school climate etc.
o Education systems must equip young people with the life skills and knowledge they need to make a successful transition from the classroom to the world of work. Indeed, it has been shown that there is a positive link between increased human capital and economic outcomes such as higher wages, increased labor market participation rates and economic growth.
o The modalities of the offer or its curriculum must lead to inclusion and equity. Otherwise, education could turn out to be a double-edged sword, leading to or exacerbating conflict. At this level, the country needs to develop and implement public policies to ensure that educational services are a public good that is equitably shared and promotes peace and social justice.
o One of MENFP’s priority advocacy issues for Haiti’s next constitutional revision will be to raise awareness of the need for a consensus to integrate the percentage of minimum public spending per year for the education sector.

ECW: We all know that ‘leaders are readers.’ What are three books that have most influenced you personally and/or professionally, and why would you recommend them to others?

Bruno Maes: The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell. Based on a true story, this book follows a young teacher, Erin Gruwell, who transforms the lives of her at-risk students through the power of education and writing. In the face of adversity and societal expectations, Erin encourages her students to express themselves through writing, helping them find their voices and realize their potential. The book is a compilation of diary entries written by the students themselves, chronicling their personal struggles, triumphs, and growth over the course of their high school years. The Freedom Writers Diary illustrates the profound effect that a dedicated teacher and a supportive educational environment can have on students, especially those facing significant challenges. It’s a testament to the transformative power of education in empowering young people to overcome obstacles and create a better future for themselves.

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover. This powerful memoir tells the story of Tara’s journey from growing up in a strict and isolated household in rural Idaho, where education was undervalued and often inaccessible, to ultimately pursuing higher education at prestigious universities like Harvard and Cambridge. Through her compelling narrative, Tara highlights the transformative power of education in breaking free from the constraints of her upbringing and shaping her identity.

And finally, The Prophet by Khalil Gibran. “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.” This passage beautifully captures perspective on the unique essence and individuality of children, emphasizing the importance of nurturing their growth and allowing them to pursue their own paths in life. It invites stakeholders to support children’s education not to mold them into replicas of themselves, but to empower them to discover and fulfill their own potential.

 

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Le produit brut des jeux a atteint 420 millions de francs l’an dernier. Vaud et Genève pèsent lourd dans ce pactole, promis pour une bonne part à l’utilité publique.

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Les méthodes que nous utilisons pour mesurer le temps ont énormément évolué au cours de milliers d'années, mais elles ont aussi changé nos vies.

Every Crisis-Affected Girl and Boy has the Right to Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education

By External Source
May 22 2024 (IPS-Partners)

In the lead up to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ Summit of the Future, taking place on 22-23 September 2024, Education Cannot Wait is supporting the global #ActNow Campaign with an urgent call to increase funding for the +226 million crisis-impacted children worldwide urgently in need of an education through ECW’s global #ShareTheirVoices campaign.

According to the United Nations, without additional resources, 84 million children and youth will be out of school by 2030, 300 million will lack basic numeracy and literacy skills, and only one out of six nations worldwide will achieve our promise of universal secondary education. Low- and lower-middle income countries face a US$100 billion annual financing gap to reach their education targets.

Education Cannot Wait (ECW), as the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations, has mobilized US$900 million towards its US$1.5 billion funding target required to deliver on our 2023-2026 Strategic Plan. ECW urgently appeals to donors for US$600 million to close the funding gap so we can reach 20 million crisis-affected children and adolescents with the safety, hope and opportunity of quality education.

ECW’s #ShareTheirVoices campaign brings together the words of crisis-affected girls and boys from places like Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gaza, North-East Nigeria, Sudan, Haiti, Cox’s Bazaar, South Sudan, Syria and Ukraine, where the converging challenges of armed conflict, forced displacement, climate change and other protracted crises are derailing development gains and putting girls’ and boys’ lives at grave risk.

Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls and women are officially, and unacceptably, banned from secondary and tertiary education. One Afghan girl says, “I may have been denied the right to learn, but my hunger for knowledge will not be extinguished. I will find a way to educate myself and inspire others to do the same.” Afghans girls deserve no less than an equal opportunity to develop their potential, thrive and pursue their dreams. We must continue to share their voices.

In Gaza, the education system has collapsed. Innocent children are bearing the brutal brunt of a catastrophic humanitarian situation unfolding before our eyes. Since early October, 625,000 children enrolled in schools across Gaza have had no access to education, and approximately 86% of school buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Despite the destruction and devastation that surrounds them, children are still grasping on to the hope of a brighter future where they can live and learn in peace and protection. A school-aged girl in Gaza says, “I love school, I don’t like war at all. I miss my teacher very much. I miss my friends, and I miss playing with them.”

From within the world’s largest refugee camp, Cox’s Bazaar, located in Bangladesh, 11-year-old Zawad, a Rohingya refugee, says, “Educated people have the knowledge to define right and wrong, which will help them lead a better life. I ask world leaders to provide more support for education.”

The deadly armed conflict in Ukraine continues to rage on with millions of girls and boys heavily affected – suffering trauma, shelling, displacement, injury and death. School is an important place for 16-year-old Anastasia but the piercing siren signaling possible rocket attacks is all-too familiar. “When we go to the shelter, it’s harder to sit in class. It’s hard to hear, it’s hot and it’s harder to memorize information – but I feel safe at school,” says Anastasia, who dreams of one day becoming a doctor.

Aisha, 13, is in a wheelchair, and was denied education for most of her life as a result of her disability and ongoing conflict and insecurity in North-East Nigeria. “Before I came to this school, I was not doing anything – no education at all. Now, I am able to learn and, when I grow up, I want to become a teacher so I can teach other kids,” says Aisha. She is just one of 20 million children out of school in Nigeria.

If we don’t #ShareTheirVoices, if we don’t act, what chance do these crisis-affected – yet full of potential and hope – children have? And what hope does humanity have if a quarter of a billion children and adolescents never access a school and only experience brutal violence and trauma? For Aisha, Anastasia, and millions of other girls and boys caught in crises across the world, education is not just life-changing, it is also lifesaving.

We must #ShareTheirVoices as we come together as a global community to #ActNow for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and for universal human rights. We know that quality education is an essential support in delivering on all of the other SDGs, from ending famine, starvation and extreme poverty, to gender equality and addressing the climate crisis.

Education Cannot Wait for any crisis-affected child – no matter who or where they are. Let’s #ShareTheirVoices and #ActNow: every girl and boy has the right to the safety, hope and opportunity of a quality education.

 

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S’appuyant sur des rapports, le Vaudois estime que la Suisse n’a pas besoin de nouvelles subventions, malgré le protectionnisme de l’UE et des États-Unis.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced today Wednesday (22 May), that he will go to the polls on 4 July, after his party The Conservative and Unionist Party (ECR), had been in power for 14 years, 

Ecobank Bénin, qui fait partie du principal groupe bancaire panafricain, est fière d'annoncer qu'elle a été reconnue Meilleure Banque du Bénin 2024 lors de la remise des prix annuels de la Meilleure Banque décernés par Global Finance. Cette victoire reflète l'engagement sans faille de Ecobank Bénin à répondre aux besoins en constante évolution de son large éventail de clients et à leur apporter le meilleur service possible.

Lazare Noulekou, directeur général de Ecobank Bénin, a déclaré : "Remporter ce prix est un grand honneur. Il constitue une reconnaissance publique du dévouement de mes collègues, qui sont toujours prêts à donner le meilleur d'eux-mêmes en offrant des services de qualité à nos clients. Qu'il s'agisse de donner les moyens d'agir à ceux qui n'étaient pas encore bancarisés en leur proposant une procédure d'inscription simplifiée, d'inscrire les PME et les grandes entreprises pour leur permettre de profiter de la mise en relation d'acheteurs et de vendeurs à travers l'Afrique ou de bénéficier de notre vaste gamme de produits et de services, Ecobank Bénin est disposée à apporter des solutions à forte valeur ajoutée".

Le jury de Global Finance a sélectionné Ecobank Bénin comme lauréat sur la base de la croissance de son bilan, de sa rentabilité, de ses relations stratégiques, de sa création de nouvelles activités et de son innovation en matière de produits, ainsi que de l'avis d'experts du secteur des services financiers.

Le prix de la Meilleure Banque fait également suite au lancement par le Groupe Ecobank de sa campagne de marque ‘Un meilleur choix | Une meilleure Afrique', qui reflète l'engagement inébranlable de la Banque envers le continent africain. Cette campagne s'appuie sur la volonté de la Banque de s'améliorer en permanence, de proposer des services financiers améliorés, une expérience client exceptionnelle et des solutions davantage centrées sur le client.

Cette nouvelle distinction vient s'ajouter à la liste toujours plus longue des prix remportés par Ecobank, qui a également reçu le prix de la Meilleure Banque pour les PME en Afrique, de la Meilleure Banque de change au Nigeria, de la Meilleure Banque au Togo ainsi que le prix de la Finance durable au Ghana, tous décernés par Global Finance.

À propos de Ecobank Bénin
Filiale du principal groupe bancaire panafricain Ecobank, Ecobank Bénin exerce son activité bancaire sous la tutelle du ministère des Finances qui lui a octroyé son agrément en 1989. Son siège social est sis à Cotonou, Rue du Gouverneur Bayol, 01 B.P. 1280, en République du Bénin. La Banque compte 22 agences, 62 GAB et plus de 1200 Points Xpress. Elle offre ses services à de nombreux particuliers, écoles, églises, entrepreneurs individuels, PME, entreprises locales, entreprises régionales, ONG, institutions financières, organisations internationales, multinationales, entités du secteur public, gouvernements et organismes publics à travers la Banque des Particuliers, la Banque Commerciale et la Banque de Grande Clientèle et d'Investissement. La Banque est détenue à 79 pour cent par Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), le conglomérat financier panafricain dont le siège se situe à Lomé, au Togo, et qui opère dans 35 pays d'Afrique subsaharienne.

À propos du Groupe Ecobank (également ‘Ecobank Transnational Incorporated' ou ‘ETI')
Le Groupe Ecobank est le premier groupe bancaire panafricain du secteur privé, doté d'une expertise africaine inégalée. Il est présent dans 35 pays d'Afrique subsaharienne, ainsi qu'en France, au Royaume-Uni, aux Emirats Arabes Unis et en Chine. Son réseau panafricain unique offre une plateforme unifiée pour les paiements, la gestion de trésorerie, le commerce et les investissements. Le Groupe Ecobank emploie plus de 14 000 personnes au service de plus de 32 millions de clients et propose une gamme complète de produits, services et solutions de la Banque des Particuliers, de la Banque Commerciale et de la Banque des Grandes Entreprises et d'Investissement à travers de multiples canaux, y compris numériques. Pour plus d'informations, veuillez consulter ecobank.com.

Weimar Triangle countries Germany, France, and Poland agreed to make "speaking and acting with one voice" regarding the bloc's foreign policy a joint priority after the European elections.

.The European Space Agency (ESA) on Wednesday (22 May) received ten countries' signatures for its Zero Debris Charter, dealing with 'space junk' orbiting Earth, amid mounting concerns over increasingly overcrowded outer space.

Dans un texte de compromis qui sera discuté jusqu’à jeudi (23 mai), la présidence belge du Conseil de l’UE vise à surmonter le principal obstacle qui empêche les États membres de parvenir à une position commune sur les règles controversées concernant les plantes biotechnologiques de dernière génération.

There are over 2 million incarcerated people in the United States of America alone, the highest number of prisoners in the world per country. Credit: Bigstock

By Oswald Newbold II
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, US, May 22 2024 (IPS)

This month, non-governmental actors from across the world recently convened in Nairobi for the UN Civil Society Conference in Support of the Summit of the Future to demand that their issues are prioritized in the Pact for the Future – which is envisaged to turbocharge the sustainable development goals.

This was a crucial moment for civil society to influence country positions towards the adoption of this Pact and its annexes – the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations.

An often-sidelined constituency in global development discourse are incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people who are relegated to the periphery of international global development discourse. Where included, they are combined with a wide range of ‘marginalized groups’ which does not address their unique issues. Instead, it perpetuates their exclusion.

United Nations members in their ongoing negotiations on the Pact for the Future, must consider criminal justice reform and its implication to development and human rights. Until then, we will fail in the promise of leaving no one behind towards our collective goals for people and the planet

Consider that there are over 2 million incarcerated people in the United States of America alone. Those most at risk of this discrimination are poor people, people using drugs and racial minorities.

This is the highest number of prisoners in the world per country. It is larger than the population of Bahrain or Djibouti. In fact this statistic is higher than the combined population of the world’s 10 least populated countries.

Notwithstanding, crime rates have reduced over the past 3 decades, yet imprisonment and sentences continue to become higher and longer.

Ironically, the United States’ national anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner, expresses the country to be the land of the free.

To accelerate our development goals including our aspirations on peace, justice, and strong institutions; and those of reducing inequalities, it is imperative that the scourge of mass incarceration in America is mitigated and ultimately ended.

There have been relative national efforts towards this. Since 2017, April is designated as Second Chance Month in the United States, to raise awareness about the challenges faced by individuals with a criminal justice history.

Additionally, the enactment of policies provides opportunities for second chances, such as workforce training, education opportunities, and wraparound reentry services. Nonetheless, it is not enough as there is need for more political will in harnessing the potential of this opportunity.

Moreover, while it is crucial for breaking stigma and supporting systemic-impacted persons with their reintegration to society, it is important to recognize that some individuals do not even get first chances in life.

Significant correlations exist between mass incarceration and the dispossession of first chances; disproportionately impacting many who have never had genuine opportunities in life.

Poverty, in its various manifestations including access – or lack thereof, to education; and income inequalities among others often forces individuals into desperate situations for survival.

Furthermore, cycles of drug use which many are born into, are harder for poor people to break due to lack of health insurance and proper support systems.

Prisoner’s statistics from the Bureau of Justice shows that every state incarcerates black residents in its prisons at a higher rate than white residents. These racial biases are also present in sentencing, upsurging the disparities in the criminal justice system.

It could additionally be argued that there is an economic incentive to maintaining mass incarceration. The free labor by prisoners evidenced by the “convict leasing program” that started in America in 1908, is still mimicked to date in a modified form.

Essentially, jails and prisons have become the legalized slavery system afforded by the 13th Amendment, of the United States Constitution.

The repercussions of mass incarceration are deleterious. These include mental health deterioration, declining physical well-being, the spread of diseases and sexual violence.

Economically, upon release, formerly incarcerated individuals face systemic obstacles in obtaining sustainable incomes, affordable housing, and societal acceptance.

Post-incarceration life is burdened with collateral consequences rooted in stigmatization and marginalization, leading to social ostracization. Failing to reintegrate successfully, some individuals succumb to recidivism.

While society operates under a social contract defined by laws and regulations that governs order, there must be consequences for contravention. Nonetheless, these should not solely focus on punishment but also on rehabilitation, never resorting to destruction.

As the world envisions a new global governance system and a post-2030 development agenda, it is imperative that these reforms are reflected at regional, national, and grassroots levels, towards a just and equitable world.

United Nations members in their ongoing negotiations on the Pact for the Future, must consider criminal justice reform and its implication to development and human rights. Until then, we will fail in the promise of leaving no one behind towards our collective goals for people and the planet.

Oswald Newbold is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Reentry Professionals Inc. He also holds the position of Reentry Coordinator at The Reentry Center of Riviera Beach. He is reachable at contact@oswaldnewbold.com—

Le parti tchèque Liberté et démocratie directe (SPD, ID) a déclaré mercredi (22 mai) qu’il ne siègerait pas au sein du même groupe que le parti Alternative pour l’Allemagne (AfD) au Parlement européen, emboîtant ainsi le pas au Rassemblement national (RN) français.

La Société Nationale de Transport Maritime des Voyageurs, Algérie Ferries, a annoncé ce mercredi, dans un communiqué, le lancement d’une nouvelle offre promotionnelle à l’occasion […]

L’article Algérie Ferries annonce des réductions jusqu’à 60% pour l’été 2024 est apparu en premier sur .

Le Conseil des Ministres s'est réuni mercredi, le 22 mai 2024, sous la présidence de Monsieur Patrice TALON, Président de la République, Chef de l'État, Chef du Gouvernement.

Les décisions ci-après ont été prises :

I- MESURES NORMATIVES.
Au titre de ces mesures, il a été adopté, le décret fixant la structure-type de l'administration des communes en République du Bénin.

II- COMMUNICATIONS.

Autorisation de signature d'une convention-cadre pour le développement de programmes spécifiques de collaboration en matière d'optimisation des pôles d'excellence médicotechnique, de gestion hospitalière, de recherche, d'enseignement et de formation.
Le renforcement des capacités de prise en charge des patients dans nos établissements hospitaliers, rend indispensable le besoin de développer, sur place au Bénin, des pôles d'excellence dans certaines spécialités pointues en vue de réduire les cas d'évacuations à l'extérieur, tout en garantissant la qualité des soins.
A cet effet, des contrats spécifiques sont en cours d'exécution notamment pour le traitement des affections cardiovasculaires et des maladies cancéreuses.
Dans la même logique, certains domaines de spécialités comme les soins palliatifs, les soins aux grands brûlés, les infections ostéoarticulaires, les plaies difficiles, notamment des escarres, la médecine d'urgence et la traumatologie-orthopédie, pour ne citer que ceux-là, nécessitent d'être renforcés, en termes de mise aux normes des infrastructures et des équipements, de perfectionnement du personnel soignant et d'actualisation des protocoles de soins.
C'est dans ce cadre que le Conseil a autorisé la signature d'une convention-cadre tripartite entre le ministère de la Santé, le ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique et le Groupe hospitalier Diaconesse Croix Saint-Simon. Ce dernier aura pour mission d'apporter son appui technique dans les soins à prodiguer sur site aux patients béninois, la formation complémentaire des spécialistes du domaine, l'organisation au profit des intéressés de stages en Europe. Son expertise s'étendra également au choix des équipements, y compris leur maintenance ainsi qu'à la rénovation des locaux indispensables pour l'offre de soins de qualité optimale.

III- RENCONTRES ET MANIFESTATIONS INTERNATIONALES.
Il a été autorisé, sous cette rubrique, l'organisation au Bénin de :
la 6ème édition du Forum annuel des agences nationales de Volontariat de l'espace CEDEAO, du 27 au 29 mai 2024 ;
la 11ème Conférence internationale des Grandes Chancelleries francophones d'Afrique et de France, du 24 au 28 juin 2024 ; puis
l'Assemblée générale de l'Association internationale des Régions francophones (AIRF), les 9 et 10 juillet 2024.

IV- MESURES INDIVIDUELLES.
Sur proposition du ministre de la Décentralisation et de la Gouvernance Locale, monsieur Jacques Rolland AMADOU est nommé préfet du département de la Donga.

Fait à Cotonou, le 22 mai 2024,
Le Secrétaire Général du Gouvernement,
Edouard OUIN-OURO.

In this year of elections more than ever, everyone needs access to fair and unbiased reporting. You might have noticed worrying trends in the news about media politicisation and a lack of transparency around media ownership across the European Union. With threats, harassment, public shaming and even assassinations of journalists having a considerable chilling effect on the media landscape, Parliament has advocated better protection for press freedom and media pluralism in the EU and beyond. Its November 2020 resolution, for example, raised awareness of attempts by some EU governments to silence critical media and undermine media freedom and pluralism. So what has the Parliament done to protect our media environment?

The European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), the first ever EU-level regulation on media freedom, pluralism and protecting journalists, applies since April 2024. It ensures that the rules are the same for media online and offline, throughout the EU. It addresses the risk of ‘media capture’ through hidden funding, lack of transparency in the ownership of media outlets, the use of spyware, and provides guarantees against financial distress and market concentration. Parliament succeeded in removing a proposed reference to ‘protecting national security’ that might give state authorities a ‘blank cheque’ to spy on journalists. The act states that EU countries will have to respect media service providers’ editorial freedom. In line with Parliament’s request, all public authorities will have to publish annual accounts of their public advertising expenditure, including when advertising on online platforms. Parliament also ensured that very big online platforms, sometimes known as ‘gateways’, have to give a statement of reasons before they restrict content.

At the time of her murder in 2017, Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was facing 43 different vexatious libel suits. To end this type of harassment of journalists – strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) – the EU adopted its Anti-SLAPP Directive in April 2024. The law obliges EU countries to ensure courts can dismiss these kinds of cases as unfounded, and do so early, under a mechanism for early dismissal of abusive cases,to avoid lengthy and cumbersome civil procedures. To help EU countries organise measures to deal with criminal proceedings brought abusively against journalists and other activists, the European Commission has provided guidance in a non-binding recommendation.

This way, Parliament used both its law-making and agenda-setting powers to promote democratic participation, fight disinformation and support media freedom and pluralism. Parliament’s powers fall broadly into six, often overlapping, domains: law-making, the budget, scrutiny of the executive, external relations, and, to a lesser extent, constitutional affairs and agenda-setting. This graphic shows more examples of areas where Parliament used one or more of its different powers to influence legislation:

Mapping the European Parliament’s powers in different areas

For a fuller picture of the European Parliament’s activity over the past five years, take a look at our publication Examples of Parliament’s impact: 2019 to 2024: Illustrating the powers of the European Parliament, from which this case is drawn.

Zwei europäische Unternehmen wurden am Mittwoch (22. Mai) von der Europäischen Weltraumorganisation (ESA) ausgewählt, um ein Frachtraumschiff zu entwickeln, das wieder in die Atmosphäre eintreten kann. Damit sollen die europäischen Bemühungen um einen unabhängigen Zugang zum Weltraum erleichtert werden.

Private Wettbewerber haben gegen ein von der EU-Kommission genehmigtes deutsches Subventionsprogramm in Höhe von 1,7 Milliarden Euro für kürzere Güterzüge protestiert. Von dem Programm soll vor allem die staatliche DB Cargo profitieren.

Des chercheurs genevois ont découvert que cet opiacé, cent fois plus puissant que la morphine, agit conjointement sur deux zones différentes du cerveau.