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Delegates at the European People’s Party’s (EPP) congress in Bucharest officially elected EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday (7 March) to become the party’s lead candidate for June’s European election.

Die Europäische Kommission hat am Mittwoch beschlossen, die Einfuhren neuer Elektrofahrzeuge aus China gemäß den EU-Antisubventionsvorschriften zu registrieren. Hintergrund ist der "massive" Anstieg der Einfuhren und die mögliche Verhängung rückwirkender Zölle am Ende der Untersuchung dieser Fahrzeuge.

Africa has recently displayed unapologetic intentionality about its rising emergence from a historically marginalized position in international politics. Credit: United Nations

By Stephanie Musho
NAIROBI, Mar 7 2024 (IPS)

The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women will this month bring together government, civil society, and the private sector to strategize on the acceleration of gender equality, through strengthening institutions and financing from a gender perspective.

This comes a few months after a UN report indicated that it will take almost 300 years to attain gender equality. There is however renewed hope emanating from the efforts of African states – who just like women and girls around the world, have for years been working tirelessly to overhaul an unfair international system and bring down depressing statistics that have become synonymous with them.

Africa has recently displayed unapologetic intentionality about its rising emergence from a historically marginalized position in international politics.

African governments can bolster the acceleration of the attainment of gender equality through the mainstreaming of intersectional feminist values in their evolving yet gallant foreign policy positions

Recently, Egypt and Ethiopia joined South Africa as the only African countries in the BRICS – a geopolitical bloc set up to counter the political and economic dominance of the wealthier nations of North America and Western Europe.

In 2023, the African Union also successfully negotiated its permanent position as a member of the G20 – a leading intergovernmental platform on economic stability and cooperation. Collectively, the G20 controls more than 85% of global gross domestic product, around 75% of global exports, and about 80% of the world’s population.

In this sense, after a 7-year lobbying mission, Africa engineered an overdue shift from a tokenistic and extractive model of engagement that was in operation prior to its recent ascension to meaningful engagement at the decision-making table on a wide range of fiscal and economic issues.

This however remains the reality for women and gender minorities who are habitually included not to contribute to strategy formulation towards solving problems which they experience first-hand, but for the implementation of pre-determined activities often for the compliance with ‘standard form’ gender checklists for the sole purpose of fulfilling diversity quotas.

African Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors have also been putting up a united front in global financial architecture reform efforts, towards new sources of development financing while deconstructing existing exploitative structures that have the continent in perpetual debt traps.

Parallels could be drawn with discriminatory labor practices and unequal pay, further compounded by unequal education opportunities and harmful traditional practices which push women and girls into vicious poverty and dependency cycles, ultimately cutting off their prospects of self-actualization.

African heads of state and government have reiterated the African position that calls for at least two permanent representative seats on the United Nations Security Council that is mandated to maintain international peace, globally.

Presently, Africa only holds temporary rotational membership despite decades of advocating for meaningful inclusion in this powerful decision-making UN organ. Albeit, given that historically the continent has been used as a battlefield for proxy wars by western states.

Moreover, African nations are increasingly taking up bold foreign policy positions. For example, South Africa recently brought Israel to the International Court of Justice for violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, against Palestinians in Gaza.

While it could take years for a final ruling from the Court – and with others arguing that the move was merely symbolic; preliminary orders which stopped short of a ceasefire were in favor of South Africa.

Not only does this set precedent in a longer judicial process as it contributes to the jurisprudence of international criminal law. It also establishes the rising influence of the BRICS member-African state in the global political landscape.

There is then opportunity for more African states to follow this lead on the over 110 active conflicts classified under international humanitarian law, towards accountability for violations occurring in wartime.

These have often been found to disproportionately affect women, girls and non-binary persons including by way of their sexual brutalization.

African governments can bolster the acceleration of the attainment of gender equality through the mainstreaming of intersectional feminist values in their evolving yet gallant foreign policy positions.

This is certain to encompass and integrate all their diversities and tailor suitable and sustainable interventions for their different contexts. Herein lies the promise of feminist foreign policy.

The same exclusive and abusive colonial structures that have for years sidelined the continent in global governance structures including international finance institutions, are the same ones upon which patriarchal structures are founded upon.

Hence, a cross-learning opportunity for civil society and the African bloc of states towards the pursuit of feminist foreign policy with sovereign states and multilateral organizations towards sustainable development. Without this, women, girls and gender minorities will continue suffering systemic inequalities that violate their human rights and freedoms for at least, three centuries.

Stephanie Musho is a human rights lawyer and a Senior New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute. 

Dick Roche’s recent commentary ‘Preaching transparency but not practicing it” prompted many reactions, but none from the institution in focus: the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). The author comes back with 10 questions concerning its handling of the Euroins case in Romania.

Les partis européens de centre droit ont profité du congrès du Parti populaire européen mercredi (6 mars) pour exprimer leurs préoccupations sur des questions nationales et leur opposition à la ligne du parti, nombre d’entre eux ressentant la pression exercée par la montée de l’extrême droite.

SKOPJE, 7 March 2024 – Gender and security will take centre stage at a conference hosted by the OSCE Mission to Skopje and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Skopje on 7 and 8 March. The conference brings together law enforcement agencies from the region to exchange experiences and best practices in achieving gender equality within law enforcement.

“North Macedonia has introduced a very successful Gender Mentoring Programme with our support,” said Ambassador Kilian Wahl, Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje. “Since 2018, this programme has led to an 18% increase in women in senior management positions in the police force. We strongly believe this success should be replicated elsewhere.”

“Several studies show that women play an important role in building a stable and democratic society. With greater involvement of women in the police force at all levels, the functioning of the institution as a whole will improve. In this manner, internal cohesion and the security institutions’ capacity is strengthened,” said President Stevo Pendarovski while addressing the conference.

“Fortunately, we're not starting from scratch. The OSCE Mission to Skopje provides support through the Gender Mentoring Programme, which is already yielding results and brings changes to the institutional culture of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But this program should not be just a one-time activity, but part of the standard institutional training in the Ministry,” he added.

In his address, Minister of Internal Affairs Panche Toshkovski welcomed the efforts of the OSCE Mission to raise public awareness about the gap that “still exists between men and women in the security professions, and the commitments undertaken to overcome this problem.”

“The struggle to empower female police officers continues. Our colleagues lead that fight precisely through continuous development and improvement of their knowledge in order to make women in the police force more visible, and in particular through the OSCE Mission-supported Gender Mentoring Programme,” said Minister Toshkovski. “The programme has trained more than 150 police officers in various professional skills, thereby raising awareness for the issue of gender diversity in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and of the equal involvement of women in the police service.”

The Director of OSCE/ODIHR, Matteo Mecacci, said that the security sector can only respond to diverse security needs of societies when it ensures gender equality within its own institutions through an inclusive working environment in which diversity is welcome.

“Law enforcement institutions must strive to become gender equality employers and this means fostering diversity in the workforce and making sure that all staff, regardless of their gender, enjoy the same opportunities and benefits, and are meaningfully included in the work of the institutions themselves. However, despite the growing number of female officers, present in public security institutions, women remain vastly underrepresented in this sector, in particular at the senior level,” said Mecacci.

The participants, including representatives from North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Kosovo, demonstrated a strong commitment to continuing the progress toward gender equality in law enforcement, recognizing the importance of collaboration, training, and institutional support.

Italian and French envoys are set to hold the fate of the EU corporate due diligence law (CSDDD) in their hands on Friday (8 March), when representatives from the bloc’s 27 member states vote on a new, heavily diluted version of the draft legislation.

Déjà une première victoire pour le Bénin dans ces 13es Jeux Africains à Accra au Ghana. Elle est signée Oswald Fano-dosh au Badminton.

Les 13es Jeux Africains ont démarré ce jeudi 07 Mars 2024 pour le Bénin. Au Badminton, le jeune Béninois Oswald Fano-dosh a dominé dans un match de dingue, le Ghanéen Aaron Tamakloe par 2-0 (21-07 ;21-16).

Belle entrée pour le Bénin en attendant les autres disciplines.

J.S

Ce jeudi 07 Mars 2024, le Ministre des Sports du était au contact des responsables des fédérations sportives du Bénin au Palais des Congrès de Cotonou. Occasion pour Benoît Dato de revenir sur la décision prise en conseil des ministres mercredi sous l'égide du chef de l'Etat, Patrice Talon.

Ce mercredi, le gouvernement Talon a décidé en conseil des ministres, la prise en charge de la préparation et de la participation des équipes nationales du Bénin, toutes disciplines confondues, aux compétitions sportives internationales majeures. Une très bonne nouvelle pour le développement des sports au Bénin.

De ce fait, une enveloppe de 3.186.320.230 FCFA a été remise au titre de l'année 2024. En parallèle, le Ministère des Sports mettra à la disposition de ces équipes nationales, des tee-shirts et des survêtements pour mieux valoriser notre pays. Face aux responsables des sports ce jeudi, Benoît Dato, Ministre des Sports au Bénin a laissé entendre l'ultime objectif derrière cette décision du gouvernement.

"Faire du Bénin une nation sportive reste notre crédo. Nous démarrons résolument la professionnalisation de nos équipes", a déclaré Benoît Dato.

J.S

Un homme se retrouve en prison après avoir accepté de représenter son ami devant le Procureur spécial près la Cour de Répression des Infractions Economiques et du Terrorisme (CRIET) dans un litige domanial.

Un homme d'une quarantaine d'années reçoit une procuration de son ami, présumé propriétaire d'une parcelle à Tori-Bossito, pour représenter celui-ci devant la Cour de Répression des Infractions Economiques et du Terrorisme (CRIET) dans un litige domanial.

Le mandataire a été malheureusement placé sous mandat de dépôt à l'issue de l'audition à la CRIET.

Le mandant est, un effet, un faux propriétaire.

L'homme poursuivi pour « complicité de stellionat », s'est défendu, lundi 4 mars 2024, en face des vrais propriétaires du domaine querellé.

Son ami lui aurait dit qu'il ne se sentait pas bien effectuer le déplacement sur Porto-Novo où se trouve la CRIET. C'est ainsi que la procuration lui a été délivrée après des formalités au Commissariat et au Tribunal de Ouidah.

Le prévenu dit ignorer où se trouve son ami qui lui a délivré la procuration. Il dit ne pas connaître le domicile de son mandant, son ancien ami au collège.

Le mandant se nommerait KIimpin Samuel, selon le mandataire.

Pour les présumés propriétaires du domaine querellé, trois sœurs, Klimpin Samuel est le nom du défendeur dans le litige. Elles ajoutent avoir adressé plusieurs convocations au faux propriétaire Klimpin Samuel. Mais celui-ci n'a jamais répondu.

La CRIET a ordonné au parquet de vérifier l'identité du sieur Klimpin Samuel dans la base de données de l'Agence Nationale d'Identification des Personnes (ANIP).
Il a été également ordonné la poursuite des enquêtes.

Le dossier est renvoyé au 15 avril 2024.
M. M.

A la suite du Préfet de Gaya venu à Malanville mardi dernier, une délégation du Niger sera à Malanville ce jeudi 7 mars 2024.

Une délégation du Niger sera reçue au poste de contôle justaposé de Malanville, précédemment abandonné par les douanes nigériennes.
La visite est prévue pour ce jeudi 7 mars 2024, a indiqué le maire Gado Guidami de Malanville sur Bip radio. Elle s'inscrit dans le cadre de la réouverture des frontières du côté du Niger, selon le maire.
En dehors du trafic fluvial, les échanges commerciaux entre le Niger et le Bénin n'ont pas repris malgré l'ouverture de la frontière du côté du Bénin avec la levée des sanctions de la CEDEAO. Des centaines de camions sont bloqués à la frontière avec le Niger.
M. M.

Die Einbeziehung weiterer Tierhaltungsbetriebe in die EU-Vorschriften zur Begrenzung von Industrieemissionen steht auf der Kippe. Mitte-Rechts-Abgeordnete könnten die Verabschiedung des Gesetzes bei der Schlussabstimmung im Europäischen Parlament am kommenden Dienstag (12. März) blockieren.

20 individus poursuivis pour des faits de cybercriminalité, d'escroquerie et d'arnaque en ligne ont été placés sous mandat de dépôt, mercredi 6 mars 2024.

Vingt-huit cybercriminels présumés ont été présentés à la Cour de Répression des Infractions Economiques et du Terrorisme (CRIET), mercredi 6 mars 2024.
A l'issue de leur audition, 20 des prévenus ont été déposés à la prison civile d'Akpro-Missérété.

Les personnes reconnues coupables de cybercriminalité peuvent être condamnées de 02 ans à 20 ans d'emprisonnement fermes et à des peines pécuniaires, selon les lois en vigueur au Bénin
M. M.

EDF est en lice pour obtenir le contrat de construction d’un nouveau réacteur nucléaire pour la centrale de Dukovany, en République tchèque. Toutefois, la candidature de l’énergéticien français est conditionnée à la bonne gestion financière et temporelle.

People in Francis Ngannou's hometown in Cameroon, Batie, are confident their man can beat Anthony Joshua when the two fight in Saudi Arabia.

France’s request for the EU's Ukraine war fund to include a 'buy-European'-clause when countries purchase armament together keeps complicating member states’ efforts to find an agreement on the file before the next EU summit on 21-22 March.

Takhmina Haidarova, Tajik advocate for the rights of women living with HIV.

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Mar 7 2024 (IPS)

Born and raised in a rural area in a traditional Tajik family, Takhmina Haidarova managed to finish high school with excellent grades and wanted to go to university.

“[But] it was compulsory for my family to give higher education to boys, and girls were trained to be housewives,” she says. Her dream of higher education was instead replaced by an arranged marriage to a cousin.

“I was strongly against this wedding, but my father decided for me and married me to him. I hadn’t even seen him before the wedding,” she tells IPS.

She became pregnant soon after the wedding, but her husband, who had worked in Russia before he wed her, left to return to his work there two months into the pregnancy. She gave birth to a daughter, who, however, died after falling ill a year later.

Haidarova was referred to doctors, who ran tests and discovered she had HIV.

“When I told my husband about it, it turned out he had known he had HIV for a long time and had hidden it from me,” she says.

Not long after, her husband returned to Tajikistan. He was seriously ill and was admitted to the hospital. When he died soon after, both his and Haidarova’s families found out they both had the disease, and the stigma and discrimination she has faced for many years since then began.

“None of my relatives communicated with me; they all avoided meeting with me,” she tells IPS. “Society in general refuses to recognize people with HIV,” she says.

But Haidarova decided to take a stand against it.

“When I found out I was HIV positive, my life changed dramatically. I lost my family support, my home, my health, and my sense of peace. It was very difficult and painful. But I decided that I would not let this virus define my life or the lives of other women.

“My husband died, and I started to work at an NGO while at the same time pursuing my higher education. Right from the start, I was open about my HIV status and never hid it,” she says.

“I started helping women with HIV because of my own experience of living with the virus. I know how difficult it is to deal with this diagnosis, especially when resources and support are limited,” she adds.

Today, Haidarova is a prominent advocate for the rights of women living with HIV (WLHIV) in Tajikistan, heading the Tajik Network of Women Living with HIV, based in the capital, Dushanbe. The organisation conducts information campaigns, organizes group sessions, and provides psychological and other support services to WLHIV.

“Starting an organization to support women with HIV was a natural step for me. Together with other women, we started to fight for our rights, for access to quality health care, for public education about HIV, and for support for those in the same situation. My goal is to make life easier for women and girls with HIV,” she says.

So far, she says, the work of her organization and others is making some progress. Through years of determined lobbying and cooperation with the government, official policy on HIV/AIDS has moved towards a greater recognition of the need to ensure rights for people living with HIV (PLHIV)—this is specifically set out in the country’s National HIV/AIDS Plan.

One of the most obvious signs of this, HIV advocates say, is a recent ruling by the Supreme Court.

Article 125 of Tajikistan’s Criminal Code currently criminalizes HIV transmission and exposure, carrying a two-year prison sentence, which rises to up to five years for transmission by someone aware of their status, and as much as ten years when committed against multiple people or a minor. Prosecutions can be brought against PLHIV on the basis of just a potential threat of HIV transmission. In some cases, this can be simply the fact that someone is HIV positive.

Women living with HIV make up 70 percent of all convictions under Article 125, according to UNAIDS.

“WLHIV are more often prosecuted [under Article 125]. As a rule, they do not have money for a lawyer [to defend themselves against the charge],” Larisa Alexandrova, an expert on HIV and human rights at the Centre for Human Rights, told IPS.

However, at the end of December last year, the Supreme Court issued a ruling on Article 125 under which the judicial system should in the future take into account other factors apart from simply HIV status, such as whether someone is on antiretroviral treatment and has an undetectable viral load, condom use, and if both parties are fully aware of the other’s HIV status.

Haidarova is optimistic that the ruling will bring positive change and believes it is an important first step towards decriminalizing the disease, which should help WLHIV.

But as some HIV activists in Tajikistan told IPS, what is written on law books is one thing, and what actually happens in practice is another.

“There are laws on paper that guarantee human rights equality for people in marginalized communities, including women. But the public, the police and judiciary, and even wider society break these laws on a regular basis,” one HIV activist who works with marginalized communities in Tajikistan told IPS.

People living with HIV, especially women, routinely report discrimination in the healthcare sector. Haidarova says she is no stranger to such experiences.

“In 2019, doctors told me the baby I was carrying was dead, and I urgently needed to terminate the pregnancy, but the doctors at the polyclinic kept me in the hallway for two hours and eventually said they would not perform the procedure because I had HIV and they wanted to refer me to another facility. I eventually managed to call a doctor who knew me, and she came and performed the procedure herself.

“Then, when I gave birth to a child last year, when it was time for delivery, I came to the maternity hospital, and they took me from the general maternity ward to the isolation ward. None of the doctors would come to me, and I had to call a doctor I knew who was on vacation at the time and explain the situation. She came to deliver the baby herself.  We live in the 21st century, when medicine is so advanced, but despite all this, women’s rights are violated at vulnerable moments when they are powerless,” she said.

Takhmina Haidarova is hopeful that changes to the law that criminalize HIV exposure and transmission in Tajikistan will ensure women living with HIV are not unfairly targeted.

Meanwhile, in wider society, issues around stereotypes and prejudices about gender-based violence (GBV), in part related to religious beliefs among the majority Muslim population, deepen stigma and discrimination, she says, warning that these are having a dangerous impact on the spread of the disease.

“People who are at risk and in need of HIV information, counseling, and testing face barriers to accessing appropriate health care and services. Many of them fear discrimination and negative attitudes from doctors and other health care providers, so they prefer to go without the help they need,” she says.

Law enforcement is another area where WLHIV faces disproportionate discrimination. Activists say that many women living with HIV are victims of GBV but fear reporting the assault to the police or will often withdraw an allegation not just out of fear of finding themselves without economic support—the overwhelming majority of women in Tajikistan are economically dependent on their husbands—but also because of concerns that their HIV status may be disclosed.

Activists say that in some cases, when police attend incidents of GBV and find the woman involved is living with HIV, they will look to take action against her under Article 125 rather than investigate the assault.

The discrimination and stigma women and others living with HIV face is deterring them from accessing prevention, testing, and treatment services and impacting efforts to tackle the disease, activists say.

Tajikistan has over 15,000 people living with HIV, but the number of new HIV infections has increased by 20% over the past 10 years, and the percentage of new HIV cases among women has risen from 31% in 2011 to 36% in 2022, according to UNAIDS.

Haidarova says the government is committed to strengthening rights for people living with HIV, but that more needs to be done to educate people about it and protect vulnerable groups from discrimination.

As she is keen to stress, her own experience shows that stigma and discrimination around HIV can be overcome.

“My story is a painful one, but  everything is slowly getting better for me now. I started a family of love—my husband is HIV negative, and we have two beautiful, healthy children.

“I proved to my family that people with HIV can live a full life, be happy, start a family, and give birth to healthy children. When they found out I wasn’t dead and that everything was fine with me, they quietly began to communicate with me and invite me to their events. It took some time, but they understood that while HIV is scary, you can live with it,” she says.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Excerpt:

This feature is part of a series to mark International Women’s Day, March 8.

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2024 - EP

Le tribunal de première instance de première classe de Cotonou a rendu son verdict, mercredi 06 mars 2024, dans l'affaire de diffamation qui oppose l'artiste Gbèzé à dame Juliette Gbaguidi. Le tribunal a condamné l'artiste de la musique traditionnelle à une peine de 12 mois de prison ferme, et une amende de 50 millions de francs CFA.

L'artiste Gbèzé du rythme Tchinkounmè fixé sur son sort dans l'affaire diffamation qui l'oppose à Juliette Gbaguidi, opératrice économique. Après plusieurs mois de bataille juridique, le tribunal a rendu son verdict ce mercredi 06 mars 2024. Il écope d'une peine de 12 mois de prison, et 50 millions de francs CFA d'amende.
Dans ce dossier, l'artiste Metokan est aussi condamné à une peine de 12 mois de prison, et 500.000 francs CFA comme amende. Ce dernier aurait relayé les injures proférées à l'endroit de la victime.
A l'audience de ce mercredi, le roi du Tchinkounmè s'est fait représenté par ses conseils. Ces derniers entendent faire appel de la décision du tribunal.
Gbèzè à travers l'un de ses chansons aurait proféré des injures à l'endroit de dame Juliette Gbaguidi, la traitant de "prostituée".

F. A. A.

En Slovénie, les prisons sont surpeuplées depuis longtemps, mais ces dernières années, la situation est devenue intenable, pour les détenus comme pour les personnels. En cause, l'arrestation de centaines de supposés passeurs de migrants et de réfugiés.

- Le fil de l'Info / Migrants Balkans, The Slovenia Times, Slovénie, Défense, police et justice