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L’UE lance mercredi (24 janvier) à Anvers (Belgique), principal point d’entrée de la cocaïne sur le continent, une « Alliance des ports » pour harmoniser leurs mesures de sécurité contre le trafic de drogue et combattre leur infiltration par les réseaux criminels.

Am Mittwoch und Donnerstag (24./25. Januar) beginnt der "strategische Dialog" der Europäischen Kommission zwischen politischen Entscheidungsträgern, Bauern und Interessenvertretern der Landwirtschaft. Nach Ansicht der EU-Landwirtschaftsminister kommt dieser zu spät.

Many unemployed youth in Zimbabwe are taking to gambling to support themselves. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS

By Jeffrey Moyo
HARARE, Jan 24 2024 (IPS)

Twenty years after completing high school in Zimbabwe, 38-year-old Tinago Mukono still has not found employment, and in order to survive, he has switched to betting, turning it into a form of employment.

Every day throughout the week, Mukono leaves his home to join many others like him in betting clubs strewn across Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, with the hope of making it.

With Zimbabwe’s economy underperforming over the past two decades since the government seized white-owned commercial farms, unemployment has stood out as the country’s worst burden.

According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), over 90 percent of Zimbabweans are jobless.

Such are many, like Mukono, who has desperately found betting to be the panacea.

“I wake up every day to come bet here in town. I do soccer betting, and sometimes I win, but sometimes I also lose, but I keep trying,” Mukono told IPS.

He (Mukono) spoke recently from inside a soccer shop, typically a local betting hall, where other men like him sat with their eyes glued to television and computer screens displaying soccer games, horse races, and dog races.

Littering the floor with betting receipts, many, such as Mukono, closely studied television and computer screens displaying payout dividends and other information gamblers like him hoped would help them bet victoriously.

Yet in the past, betting never used to be popular in this southern African nation, but as economic hardships grew, affecting many like Mukono, betting has become the way to go.

In the past, where it occurred in Zimbabwe, betting was often limited to the state lottery, horse betting, and casinos.

Now, whether they win or lose as they bet, with no survival options, many, like Mukono, find themselves hooked on the vice, which local police have gone on record moving in to quell, with claims that some of the betting clubs are illegal and behind a spate of robberies and money laundering in the country.

Of late, betting clubs have seen a rise in the number of patrons who frequent these places each day from morning until late as people try out their luck, battling for redemption from mounting economic hardships.

Mukono, like many other people involved in betting, said that without a job for years on end, betting for him has turned into a profession.

“I might not be reporting to someone, but for me, this is some form of job because at times I earn money, which feeds my family,” said Mukono.

Rashweat Mukundu, researcher with the International Media Support (IMS), said, “I think there are significantly reduced means or ways upon which young people, especially the youth and young male adults, can survive in Zimbabwe because of the high rate of unemployment and lack of economic opportunities, and so betting and gambling have become a way of survival.”

“So, you see the increasing number of betting houses; you see the increasing numbers of young people who go out to bet. This is a clear indication that the economic fundamentals are off the rails and many people are having to look for ways to survive outside of what you would normally expect such people to be doing,” Mukundu told IPS.

However, economists like Prosper Chitambara see otherwise.

Chitambara, who is the chief economist with the Labor and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ), said: “There are some people who are more predisposed to risk-taking through gambling or betting activities, but mental health conditions and even substance abuse are key drivers of gambling, and of course mental health is also a function of the state of the economy.”

With countrywide economic hardships coupled with unemployment, many, like Mukono, have taken to sports betting in order to raise money for survival.

In fact, across Zimbabwe, local authority halls that used to team with recreational activities have now been converted into betting clubs where gambling thrives, with many, like Mukono, frequenting them in their desperate quest to earn a living.

Meanwhile, there are no stringent rules governing Zimbabwe’s gambling sector, with betting still viewed as a pastime rather than an economic activity.

But with many Zimbabweans like Mukono now taking up betting as employment, betting club employees have a word of advice.

“Honestly, one cannot substitute betting with employment. Surely, it should not be something individuals should opt for to rely on for their economic needs,” Derick Maungwe, one of the staffers at a local betting club in central Harare, told IPS.

But owing to joblessness, said Maungwe, it has become some form of employment for many Zimbabweans.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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On 30 January, the nine applicants to host the EU’s future watchdog on fighting money-laundering and terrorist financing will present their candidacies in a public hearing.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

On 30 January, the nine applicants to host the EU’s future watchdog on fighting money-laundering and terrorist financing will present their candidacies in a public hearing.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

On 30 January, the nine applicants to host the EU’s future watchdog on fighting money-laundering and terrorist financing will present their candidacies in a public hearing.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

On 30 January, the nine applicants to host the EU’s future watchdog on fighting money-laundering and terrorist financing will present their candidacies in a public hearing.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Elections across the globe this year will be a "prime target" for countries looking to spread disinformation and undermine democracy, such as Russia, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell warned on Tuesday (23 January).

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Children and youth are particularly vulnerable to getting drawn into criminal and corrupt activities. Practitioners and institutions can play a crucial role in the early identification and prevention of delinquent behavior among young people. To foster their knowledge and expertise on this topic, the OSCE, in co-operation with youth crime prevention initiative Kurve Kriegen under the Ministry of Interior of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, gathered law enforcement representatives from Albania and Tajikistan for a joint study visit to Düsseldorf to exchange best practices.

The study visit enabled practitioners to learn how to leverage collaboration between government agencies, schools and social services to prevent at-risk youth from becoming involved in criminal and corrupt activities. Participants also strengthened their knowledge of effective approaches to promoting a culture of lawfulness and integrity among young people from an early age.

"Kurve Kriegen's experience once again showed us that crime prevention among youth people is most effective when addressed at an early age through multi-stakeholder engagement” said Klaudia Hasanllari, Director of the National Youth Crime Prevention Center in Albania. “Integrating the methods learned through this study visit into the youth crime prevention work in Albania is an ambitious plan we aim to implement," she said.

Dilshod Barotiyon, a representative of the Drug Control Agency under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, said: “Through this study visit we learned that fostering a culture of lawfulness among youth requires the adoption of a co-ordinated set of measures and actions by multiple government bodies, social workers and educational institutions”.

“According to our research, one multiple offender causes up to 1.7 million euro in social follow-up costs by the age of 25, which makes the issue of preventing youth engagement in crime from an early age extremely important and relevant” said Christopher Ursuleack, Criminologist at the Kurve Kriegen initiative. “We are thus honored to be able to share our best practices on juvenile delinquency prevention with our colleagues from Albania and Tajikistan to address this issue.”

As a follow-up to the study visit, the representatives will discuss the possibility of a partial replication of the Kurve Kriegen model in Albania and Tajikistan to strengthen early identification and prevent at-risk youth from becoming involved in illicit activities.

The study visit was held in the framework of the OSCE-wide multi-year project “Enhancing youth crime and drug use prevention through education on legality and awareness campaigns addressing threats of organized crime and corruption”, implemented by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department and the OSCE Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities. The project is funded by Germany and Italy, with additional support from Andorra, Finland and Poland.

Die deutsche Entwicklungshilfe steht auf dem Prüfstand. Experte Klingebiel hält die aktuelle Debatte für falsch. Entwicklungspolitik sei ein ganz wichtiges Instrument, um internationale Agenden mitgestalten zu können.

Die deutsche Entwicklungshilfe steht auf dem Prüfstand. Experte Klingebiel hält die aktuelle Debatte für falsch. Entwicklungspolitik sei ein ganz wichtiges Instrument, um internationale Agenden mitgestalten zu können.

Die deutsche Entwicklungshilfe steht auf dem Prüfstand. Experte Klingebiel hält die aktuelle Debatte für falsch. Entwicklungspolitik sei ein ganz wichtiges Instrument, um internationale Agenden mitgestalten zu können.

Delta-Sport Handelskontor v EUIPO - Lego
Intellectual and industrial property
Intellectual property: the General Court of the European Union upholds the validity of the protection of the Lego toy brick

Delta-Sport Handelskontor kontra EUIPO - Lego
Szellemi és ipari tulajdon
Intellectual property: the General Court of the European Union upholds the validity of the protection of the Lego toy brick

The story got off to a rather good start almost a year ago. On March 8th 2023, Macron said he was in favour of enshrining the right to abortion in constitutional law, making France the first country in the EU to do so. 

La Commission européenne a publié une proposition visant à revoir les délais de mise en conformité des entreprises avec la loi sur les dispositifs médicaux de diagnostic in vitro, afin de garantir leur disponibilité et d’éviter les pénuries.

Noah Clothing v EUIPO - Noah (NOAH)
Intellectual and industrial property
The General Court confirms that the figurative sign NOAH may remain registered as an EU trade mark for ‘polo shirts’ and ‘sweaters’

Noah Clothing kontra EUIPO - Noah (NOAH)
Szellemi és ipari tulajdon
The General Court confirms that the figurative sign NOAH may remain registered as an EU trade mark for ‘polo shirts’ and ‘sweaters’

Dans le cadre de la lutte contre le paludisme, le Bénin a réceptionné lundi 15 janvier 2024, 215.900 doses de vaccins RTS'S. L'arrivée de ces premières doses de vaccins antipaludique selon l'Agence des États-Unis pour le Développement International (USAID), marque une avancée significative dans la lutte mondiale contre le paludisme.

Le gouvernement américain par l'intermédiaire de l'Agence des États-Unis pour le Développement International accompagne la lutte mondiale contre le paludisme. Et ce, à travers le financement et soutien des organisations à la tête de l'initiative, notamment Gavi, l'Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS) et l'UNICEF. Cette coopération internationale, associée au leadership et à l'implication étroite du ministère de la santé du Bénin selon une publication de l'USAID, constitue « un modèle de collaboration efficace en matière de santé mondiale ».
La réception des 215.900 doses de vaccins RTS'S par le Bénin selon l'agence du gouvernement américain, marque une avancée significative dans la lutte mondiale contre le paludisme. Il s'agit d'après l'USAID, d'un « exemple parfait de ce qui peut être réalisé lorsque les forces locales et mondiales s'unissent ». « La collaboration entre le gouvernement américain, les organisations internationales et le Ministère de la Santé du Bénin n'est pas seulement une campagne de santé, c'est un exemple de coopération internationale pour un monde sans paludisme », a souligné l'USAID.

Les perspectives en 2024 avec l'initiative du Président des États-Unis Contre le Paludisme
« A partir de l'exercice 2024, l'Initiative du Président des États-Unis Contre le Paludisme (PMI) renforcera les efforts de coopération grâce à l'assistance technique, en intégrant davantage les interventions soutenues par l'USAID ». L'agence du gouvernement américain après l'avoir annoncée, a souligné qu'il s'agit notamment de fournir des conseils et un appui au personnel de santé dans le cadre de l'administration du vaccin et d'élaborer de nouvelles stratégies de Changement Social et de Comportement (SBC) afin d'encourager l'adoption du vaccin par les parents.
« L'UNICEF, avec le financement de Gavi, assure l'achat du vaccin contre le paludisme, garantissant ainsi un approvisionnement stable et continu. L'implication complémentaire de PMI vise stratégiquement à maximiser l'utilisation du vaccin, à créer une synergie avec d'autres mesures de contrôle du paludisme et à s'assurer que ces efforts s'alignent sur les objectifs stratégiques du Ministère de la Santé du Bénin », lit-on dans la publication de l'USAID.
En réceptionnant les 215.900 doses lundi 15 janvier dernier, le ministre de la santé, Benjamin HOUNKPATIN avait à ses côtés le coordonnateur résident du Système des Nations Unies, Salvator NIYONZIMA, la représentante résidente de l'UNICEF au Bénin, du représentant de l'OMS, et du directeur général de l'Agence nationale des soins de santé primaires.

F. A. A.

Climate Justice Fellowship. Graphic: Wilson Mgobhozi

By IPS Correspondent
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 24 2024 (IPS)

IPS Noram and its UN Bureau is offering an exceptional opportunity for two journalists to develop their understanding of climate change justice.

The fellowship will run from April to September 2024 and will include a six-module capacity-building course on understanding climate finance, using data and visuals for storytelling, using artificial intelligence (AI) for reporting, researching, and telling compelling complex stories for a broad audience.

Candidates will be expected to produce six features during the fellowship that use the lessons learned during capacity building.

Fellows who complete the course and their features will have the opportunity to attend a major climate conference, where they will be able to hone their skills and build their knowledge and contacts.

Each fellow will receive a stipend for the duration of the programme.

Preference will be given to candidates who report on rural communities and geographic areas seldom covered by the mainstream. We are also looking for candidates who haven’t had the opportunity to attend a major climate conference. Candidates should have at least two years’ experience and be proficient in English (although English doesn’t have to be their mother tongue).

Please send your CV, two samples of your work, and motivation to this email address:
ipsfellowship60@gmail.com

 

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