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580708 Communication and Media Relations Section

To mark the International Day for the Prevention of and Fight against all Forms of Transnational Organized Crime on 15 November, the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department (TNTD) held a webinar to discuss the role of women in organized criminal groups. The webinar brought together over 50 participants including policymakers, criminal justice practitioners, academia and civil society.   

OSCE research shows that women’s agency in organized crime is rarely recognized by criminal justice practitioners across the OSCE area, resulting in women being able to act with impunity within criminal networks and being underrepresented in – or absent from – prevention, exit and witness protection initiatives.  

Drawing on experience and good practices from the OSCE region, discussions focused on how gender-sensitive approaches are essential to recognize and address the different roles played by women and men in transnational organized crime.

“A cultural shift and a strong commitment to gender mainstreaming is needed to promote more targeted, systematic and impactful criminal justice responses to organized crime”, said Ambassador Alena Kupchyna, Co-ordinator of OSCE Activities to Address Transnational Threats, in her opening remarks. “The OSCE is proud to support its participating States to strengthen institutional and civil society capacities to implement gender-sensitive organized crime prevention, exit and witness protection initiatives,” she added.

Speakers highlighted that when prevention and exit initiatives are not gender-sensitive, they often fail to shield women and girls from becoming involved in criminal activity and reduce their opportunities to leave criminal groups. They also underlined the importance of engaging women as actors in their own right in prevention and exit programmes, and not just as the partners or family members of male organized crime members.

Implementing gender-sensitive approaches to prevent and fight organized crime is a cross-cutting priority of the OSCE’s overall strategy to address organized crime, which prioritizes better understanding the phenomenon through research, addressing illicit financial flows and confiscating criminal assets and strengthening prevention to foster resilience.

Eine Ärztin stellt Mails, SMS und Telefonate in Rechnung, obwohl die kaum einen medizinischen Inhalt hatten. Bis sich der Patient beschwert.

580702 Communication and Media Relations Section

The OSCE Troika convened the second Annual Meeting of the Expert Network on the OSCE on 11 and 12 November. The Network was launched in November 2023 in Skopje by the OSCE 2023 Chairpersonship of North Macedonia and former Secretary General Helga Schmid. The Network gathers experts, academics and think tanks from various participating States and aims to serve as a point of consultation and dialogue on the three dimensions of the OSCE.

Former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Member of Parliament of Finland Pekka Haavisto opened the Expert Network Event with a keynote speech on the topic Perspectives on European Security past, present and future, underlining the continued relevance of the OSCE acquis and their relevance for the future.

“The idea of comprehensive security is more important than ever. To address the security challenges of today, a whole of society response is needed,” Haavisto said.

The two-day event provided a platform for experts, officials and policy planners for substantial policy dialogue on trends and scenarios from across the OSCE region, focusing on lessons from the past and preparing for the future.

Discussions focused on a broad range of topics, including the importance of OSCE field operations’ work with local communities and civil society, the role of the Mediterranean region in European security, and the relevance and efficacy of OSCE’s different tools in addressing different stages of the conflict cycle.

During the concluding panel, representatives of the delegations of Finland, Malta and North Macedonia, representing the OSCE Troika, reflected on the challenges faced by the OSCE today and possible paths to address them.

Conclusions and recommendations from the event will be provided to OSCE participating States. They will also inform the work of the Expert Network on the OSCE in the upcoming year.

The OSCE Troika was established at the Helsinki Summit in 1992 to bring continuity to the Organization's leadership. It is a format of co-operation between the present, previous and incoming Chairpersonships.

Ihr Verlobter Mike Heiter musste Leyla Lahouar ins Spital bringen. Der Reality-Star klagte über starke Schmerzen im Unterleib und Rücken. Trotz dreistündiger Untersuchung konnte keine klare Diagnose gestellt werden. Die 28-Jährige muss nun einen Spezialisten aufsuchen.

Viele neue Elektroautos locken mit grossen Reichweiten. Meistens sind diese aber deutlich höher angegeben, als sie sich im Alltag erreichen lassen. Blick klärt auf, wieso beim Stromverbrauch Theorie und Alltagspraxis nicht übereinstimmen.

Die Stadt Luzern hat Massnahmen erarbeitet, um ihr Reisebusregime weiterzuentwickeln. Mit der Einführung einer Haltegebühr und einem Reservationssystem will sie den Reisebusverkehr besser lenken und die Belastung der Innenstadt reduzieren.

580696

From 12 to 14 November, the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA) organized a study visit to Italy’s Guardia di Finanza (GdF) and the Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority for 21 Moldovan law enforcement and criminal justice practitioners.

This study visit is a continuation of the training course organized on 4 and 5 July in Chisinau, and aims to enhance the investigative capabilities of practitioners and provide an opportunity to learn from Italy’s good practices in this area.

The activity encompassed visits to the General Command of the GdF, as well as its specialized units such as the Central Investigation Service on Organized Crime (SCICO) and the Special Anti-Corruption Directorate, where participants had the opportunity to learn about GdF’s tools, software and practices in corruption investigations. During the visit to the National Anti-Corruption Authority, participants learned about the institution’s competencies, Italy’s Anti-Corruption Plan and the public procurement monitoring system. Throughout the study visit, a strong focus was placed on inter-agency and international co-operation.

“Italy is an ideal setting for learning good practices and effective methods in investigating corruption due to its extensive experience in this area,” said one of the study visit participants from the Moldovan National Anti-Corruption Centre. “One of the main benefits of the visit is that participants had the chance to directly interact with Italian authorities and learn from them,” she added.

The study visit was implemented in partnership with the Guardia di Finanza Liaison Officer in Vienna, within the framework of the OSCE extra-budgetary project “Supporting anti-corruption efforts of the Government of Moldova”, funded by France, Germany, Italy and Romania.

Euronews: Kim Dzsongun elrendelte öngyilkos drónok tömeges gyártását a phenjani állami média jelentése szerint. A KCNA hírügynökség közölte: a Koreai Munkapárt főtitkára megtekintett egy dróntesztet csütörtökön, és azt hangsúlyozta, hogy fel kell gyorsítani az újonnan kifejlesztett katonai drónok gyártását.

A child wades through water on her way to school in Kurigram district, northern Bangladesh, during floods in August 2016. Credit: UNICEF

By Joyce Chimbi
BAKU, Nov 15 2024 (IPS)

Directly destroying schools and learning materials, climate shocks are increasingly taking away the right to education. A staggering 400 million students globally experienced school closures from extreme weather since 2022. As COP29 negotiations deepen, defining a sustainable financial path to learning for vulnerable children, particularly those caught up in crises and conflict, is critical and urgent.

Concerns are rife that as weather events significantly disrupt continuous learning, opportunities for lifelong learning and earning opportunities will shrink as affected children might never find their way back into the education system. Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the first global fund dedicated to education in emergencies, says COP29 is an unmissable opportunity to chart a financial path to education for climate-affected children.

Graham Lang, Education Cannot Wait’s Deputy Director

“Unfortunately, less than 1 percent of all climate-related finance at the moment is going towards education. We have a mandate to elevate the profile of education in emergencies and protracted crises in the COP29 dialogue, as it’s critical that this aspect of financing is strongly amplified. The prevailing lack of financing and climate-related interventions designed for education in emergencies and protracted crises will only derail climate action,” Graham Lang, ECW’s Deputy Director, told IPS.

A one-time investment of around USD 18 per child can mitigate the impact from climate shocks and better safeguard the children from the climate carnage. Lang said it is urgent that climate funds expedite and simplify their approval and disbursement processes to increase funding for adaptation and mitigation projects focusing on sectors that enhance resilience and co-benefits for vulnerable communities, such as education, especially in humanitarian settings.

The nexus between education and climate is undeniable. Extreme weather events are hitting education the hardest in low-income countries, with 18 school days lost annually on average, compared to 2.4 days in wealthier nations. The magnitude of the climate crisis is such that a 10-year-old in 2024 will experience three times more floods, five times more droughts, and 36 times more heatwaves over their lifetime compared to a 10-year-old in 1970.

Fatuma (15) waters her goats in Puntland, Somalia. Credit: UNICEF

Dianah Nelson, ECW’s Chief of Education, spoke to IPS about how underinvesting in education creates a knowledge gap in green skills and that this is a missed opportunity in the context of using education to accelerate the efficient and effective implementation of climate action. And raise a generation of young learners on the frontlines of climate action.

While children and young people are the most impacted by climate change, they are also enthusiastic about engaging in climate action. Still, existing education systems are not equipped to adequately facilitate access to knowledge, value, attitudes towards a change in behavior, and innovations required to accelerate sustainable climate action. Financing will raise education to meet the climate challenge.

The demand for green skills—the knowledge, abilities, values, and attitudes needed to live in, develop, and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society—is already outpacing supply in many low- and middle-income countries, with research showing that nearly 73 percent of young people across eight countries mistakenly believe that they cannot get a green job without Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) skills. Meanwhile, green skills are being demanded at nearly all skill levels and sectors across low- and middle-income countries.

Posters hang on the wall inside a UNICEF-supported learning centre that has been forced to close due to flooding in Sunamganj, northeastern Bangladesh.
Credit: UNICEF

Nelson stressed that “education is a unique sector that can help reach not just schools, teachers, and learners but surrounding communities, and this helps reduce the cost of climate action while improving the attainment of positive and life-transformative outcomes. At COP29, we have a real opportunity to make a difference by financing education to reach all children, everywhere.”

ECW is advocating for simpler funding and fund disbursement processes as they are the only lifelong for climate-impacted children in vulnerable, high-risk countries. Meanwhile, Lang calls for a comprehensive, research-backed loss and damage finance gap report to give an accurate account of the current education financial needs and gaps.

Nelson emphasized that climate-related financing for education helps reach affected children while also averting additional challenges that come with school closures. Stressing that “schools can be utilized as essential climate action hubs for information sharing on early warning systems. Research is telling us that when children are engaged and involved in climate action, they have the highest impact on their families and communities. 

Within this context, Lang says extending financial support would help build climate-resilient education infrastructure while also training learners to be positive agents of change. On the most desirable COP29 education outcome, he says the COP29 Baku deal must break the historical silence that shrouds education in climate settings and more in critical COP negotiations.

“We want the conference declaration document to explicitly reference education and even go a step further to refer to education in humanitarian settings. This would give the neglected sector a much-needed boost and help reach learners disproportionately affected by climate and left furthest behind the education system with an opportunity to shape their futures,” Lang emphasized.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Millionen Menschen weltweit leiden an Diabetes. Es ist heute eine der am besten studierten Stoffwechselerkrankungen. Zum Weltdiabetestag zeigen wir die neusten Behandlungsmethoden, was sie kosten und was von der Krankenkasse übernommen wird.

The enduring challenge for the military has been to prepare for potential deployment in future scenarios, equipped with the right capabilities and strategies. This involves envisioning and testing different solutions, while engaging industry, academia, and research centres.

Earlier this year, the European Defence Agency (EDA) launched the Autonomous Systems Community of Interests (ASCI) to do just that. It has attracted over 750 members from across the warfare domains. Building on the EDA Action Plan for Autonomous Systems, the community held its first conference in Brussels from 13 to 14 November 2024.

The aim was not only to delve into the technological challenges and threat landscapes but also to emphasise the need for ethical guidelines and standardisation. The event underscored that integrating autonomous systems into European defence is as challenging as it is essential, highlighting an area where Member States collaboration will be crucial to success. 

“The Autonomous System Community of Interests is a cross-directorate effort at EDA, reflecting the need for diverse and complementary perspectives and know-how” André Denk, EDA’s Deputy Chief Executive, told the conference. “The end goal is to ensure Member States’ armed forces are equipped with highly autonomous, effective, and reliable systems as critical assets on the future battlefield” he said. 

The EDA Action Plan for autonomous systems underpins these efforts. The plan aims to improve the performance of individual unmanned systems, develop and enhance autonomous systems to work together, and enable manned-unmanned teaming across domains. It is important to note that EDA and EU armed forces are not developing fully autonomous lethal systems. 

Ukraine’s experiences in recent conflicts offer insights into the role of autonomous systems in modern warfare. Their contributions show how autonomous systems can enhance operational precision, flexibility, and risk mitigation. ASCI’s mission centres on three key priorities: recognizing autonomy’s indispensable role in defence, establishing ethical and regulatory standards, and enhancing collaboration across Europe. 

“ASCI stands as a collaborative force, linking civilian and military efforts and fostering essential partnerships. ASCI is not just a network; it is a community with a shared purpose” said Nathalie Guichard, EDA’s Research and Technology Director. “The creation of ASCI has never been more essential. Autonomous systems are reshaping defence strategies and our approach to global security challenges.” 

President Donald Trump addresses the General Assembly’s 75th sessions back in September 2020. Credit: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 15 2024 (IPS)

US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House on January 20 next year may be another calamity for the United Nations—particularly if the second term turns out to be a re-run of his first presidency (2017-2021).

Trump’s past track record included the US withdrawal from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); threats against member states voting for anti-Israeli resolutions and slashing funds to a 72-year-old UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Trump also pulled out of the 2016 Paris climate change agreement describing climate change as “a hoax;” threatened to “totally destroy” a UN member state, North Korea; subjected the UN’s annual budget to a $285 million reduction for 2018-2019, and made attempts to wreck the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement.

Trump triggered a global backlash when he singled out both Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries” eliciting protests from the 55-member African Union (AU). Trump also came under fire for his insulting statements that “all Haitians have AIDS” and Nigerians who visit the US “would never go back to their huts.”

And now, Trump has promised to withdraw from the Paris climate treaty – a second time around.

Will a second Trump presidency be an equally disastrous sequel to the first? As Karl Marx once observed: “History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce”.

“When a significant historical event occurs with serious consequences, it’s initially perceived as a tragedy, but if the same type of event happens again later, it can seem almost comical or absurd because people haven’t learned from the past mistakes”.

Is Trump capable of learning from his past political blunders?

Last week, Trump picked House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York to be his next ambassador to the United Nations. She is described as a hard-liner and a strong pro-Israeli stalwart.

In the UN, she said, Americans see a corrupt, defunct, and paralyzed institution more beholden to bureaucracy, process, and diplomatic niceties than the founding principles of peace, security, and international cooperation laid out in its charter.

“We must strive for a U.N. in which no one nation is expected to foot the bill but receive no accountability or transparency in return, in which no despot or dictator can sit in judgment of others while deflecting attention away from their own human rights abuses, and in which no organization corrupted by the likes of the Chinese Communist Party can dictate sweeping conventions and international standards across its membership.”

Dr James E. Jennings, President of Conscience International and Executive Director of US Academics for Peace told IPS the United States is approaching a period of renewed political turmoil at home combined with a jingoist policy abroad, clearly a dangerous combination.

Destabilizing moves threatened by the new Trump Administration based on MAGA rhetoric, he said, includes drastically cutting support for the Ukraine war, confronting Iran in a bellicose manner, and greatly weakening the United Nations and its agencies, including opposing even the merest lifeline to Palestine.

“It is particularly galling that the next Republican Congress seems willing–even enthusiastic–to follow Israel’s lead in cutting off all aid to UNRWA under today’s dire conditions in Gaza, with devastating consequences for human life and survival. Palestinian Children will die from the first day–and the second day–and the day after that, and so on day after day with no end in sight”.

It is a sad fact that most Americans, including many politicians, are ignorant of world geography and history, and therefore of the real-world consequences of turning a blind eye to human needs globally, he said.

“At this point only peace activism everywhere can make a difference, including importantly, Israeli peace activist organizations. One of them has an appropriate title–yesh gvul–“There is a Limit!” Activists everywhere must stand up. There is a limit!,” declared Dr Jennings.

Asked if Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is prepared for potential funding cuts that could come with the new Trump administration, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: “I don’t want to pre-empt whatever decision may be made by the next (US) administration”.

“I would say that over the last few years the Secretary-General, I think, has been very frugal in managing the money because we’ve been over the last few years living in a liquidity crisis which has forced us to be very responsible how money is spent. The Secretary-General will work with the next administration”.

Asked about the US-UN relations under the first Trump presidency, Dujarric said: “What I can tell you is under the administration of President Trump four years ago, the Secretary-General had very good relations with the president.”

The fact that they had different opinions about a number of issues was clear to all, he said. “I think the Secretary-General stated his opinions. The US administration had its policies. It did not stop the Secretary-General from engaging with the United States government, just as all of the previous Secretary-Generals have”.

Dr Purnima Mane, former Deputy Executive Director (Programme) and UN Assistant-Secretary-General (ASG) at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), told IPS it is truly sobering to reflect on the impact of the US presidential elections on the UN.

“There is serious concern that there will be a repetition of what transpired during 2017-2021, when the US, acknowledged till then, as a strong champion of the UN entered a difficult phase in its relations with the UN”.

Through this period, the US displayed caution, lack of confidence in and sometimes hostility about the UN’s workings. It withdrew from global agreements like the 2016 Paris climate change agreement and organizations it had supported like UNESCO, threatened certain member states, and cut overall US support to the UN.

Those were difficult years to say the least in terms of US-UN relations. In the last four years the US has shown renewed engagement with the UN but the world today is even more divided and in dire need for nations to work together to reinstate global order and bring economic and social equity to those who have consistently suffered as a result of the chaos we are seeing today, said Dr. Mane, a former President and CEO of Pathfinder International.

With many countries affected by political instability, civil unrest, and wars and with the negative impact of climate change even more palpable, Dr Mane pointed out, it seems redundant to state that the world continues to need an even stronger UN to bring the countries together for an impetus towards global stability and development.

The United States, she noted, definitely plays a critical role in making this happen. If funding cuts return, the US pulls out of more agreements and any of the 5 permanent member States of the Security Council promote their own agendas at the cost of global goals, the chaos that will follow is unimaginable.

“In some cases, other member states and foundations will hopefully augment their own support and take on greater leadership but in the current economic and political climate the world over, there is no guarantee of sustained and sizeable support or leadership”.

And in the interim, many more lives are likely to be lost, development globally will definitely diminish with the SDGs seriously threatened, and hard-won efforts and investments will be wasted. People all over the world including the US do not deserve this, she added.

Martin S. Edwards, Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University, New Jersey, told IPS there are two challenges for the UN in dealing with President Trump, and there are no good solutions for either of them.

There were optimists at the start of his presidency that just thought about efficiency: the President likes making deals, and there’s no better venue for making deals than the UN. So, some argued that the UN would benefit under Trump.

But that view ran into two problems: First, this is a presidency that does not value multilateralism a great deal, so there’s not much for the UN to work with the White House on.

Without a recognition of common interests, he argued, any international organization loses its punch. Second, and equally important, the Trump administration’s focus on unraveling the Obama-Biden legacy means that it will squander trust with allies, since the US is no longer viewed as a country that keeps its word.

“So, the President is not going to ask much of the UN, and the members are not going to ask much of the US. This is certainly not a stance that will benefit either party in the long term, and the funding issue is certain to come back up once the budget process unfolds in the House,” said Edwards.

Elaborating further, Dr Mane said: “Hopefully we will see this recognition from the US administration but it is too early to tell”.

“Though sadly history often repeats itself – and none of the presidential campaign rhetoric so far has been heartening in that direction – we might be pleasantly surprised to find that with global persuasion and pressure, and on reflection and consideration of what the risks are to the world including to the US, good sense will prevail”.

Surely, she said, the US will want to continue to be seen as a nation that plays a leadership role globally and desire to sustain and augment its own development. Hopefully this will help the US to play its part in fostering the UN as an institution that ensures and enhances global and national development – not seeing one as taking away from the other.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Russia-Africa Summit, October 2019.

By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW, Nov 15 2024 (IPS)

At the first ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum in the southern coastal city of Sochi, seeking to deepen political and business ties with African countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin in his message and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in his powerful speech underlined Russia’s security support to fight terrorism and extremism across Africa.

As Russia has expressed readiness to provide security it signed documents on military cooperation with African countries, according to media reports emerging from the first Russia-Africa ministerial conference held on 9-10 November 2024.

Setting long-term security alliances

In his message, Vladimir Putin reaffirmed the continuity in providing comprehensive assistance to African partners across a wide range of sectors. This includes supporting sustainable development, combating terrorism and extremism in Africa.

On his side, Lavrov also stressed the determination to intensify cooperation in the fight against terrorism and address other new security challenges in Africa, according to a statement on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.

“We confirm readiness to establish a permanent Russian-African dialogue mechanism at the highest level, which will contribute to building peace, stability and security, as well as coordinating efforts to combat terrorism and extremism, address environmental problems, as well as issues related to food and information security,” the document posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website said.

Russia’s military assistance will be in exchange for full access to raw materials and exploiting natural resources, training military specialists and supply of military equipment and weaponry. Russia’s relations with Africa have been strengthening in multifaceted directions over the past few years. Its influence has grown too significantly as authorities demonstrated steps to help Africa struggle against western dominance especially in the emerging multipolarity architecture in this present world.

It is not a hidden fact that Russia earns revenue by increasing exports, including military equipment and weaponry to Africa. It exports grains, oil and gas. And therefore, several agreements signed would allow Russia to have a full access to exploring natural resources in exchange for its military assistance, as these African countries face financial difficulties. Russia has signed bilateral military-technical cooperation agreements with more than 20 African countries.

Challenges arising from security alliances

Given the persistent complex nature of conflicts in Africa and within the local conditions, the African Union Security Commission, Regional Organizations and related specialized security agencies, after exhaustively review and discussions during high meeting, offered strong recommendations.

In the past, African leaders, for example, AUC Moussa Faki Mahamat, South African Cyril Ramaphosa, Rwandan Paul Kagame shared the same position with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, that dealing with existing conflicts and disputes on the continent, it is necessary to mobilize collective efforts to resolve them and “must be confined to this continent and quarantined from the contamination of non-African interference.”

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and other leaders, at the 36th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) held in Addis Ababa, further highlighted their opinions and perspectives which have been related to the backyard by the Francophones. Developments in these conflict-infested countries have negatively been affected, with millions of people displaced and ultimately pushed into abject poverty.

Until today, Africa’s peace-building processes have remarkably been complicated by external forces, largely imposing their aspirations to exploit natural resources and, to a greater extent, influencing internal policies which shape the future directions in those countries. In the long-run, Africa’s illusive dream of unity makes the future uncertain.

Defeating terrorism through multilateral cooperation

Leading discussions at the United Nations Security Council on challenges posed by increasing terrorism cum extremism and mechanism to eradicate the scourge across Africa, Mozambican Filipe Jacinto Nyusi unreservedly shared his country’s unique experiences, progressive approach and success story with the gathering in New York.

Citing the 2022 Global Terrorism Index, Nyusi reported that some 48 per cent of terrorism-related deaths occurred in Africa, while the Sahel is the “new epicentre” of terrorist attacks. He highlighted the fact African countries, the AU and regional organizations on the continent – such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the West African bloc ECOWAS, and its East African counterpart, IGAD – have accumulated years of experience in conflict resolution.

For example, the regional security force, the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM), has achieved remarkable success in fighting terrorists in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

Nyusi, very outspoken, shared valuable experiences about the use of well-constituted regional military force for enforcing peace and security in Mozambique. Creating regional military forces to fight threats of terrorism will absolutely not require bartering the entire gold or diamond mines (natural resources) for the purchase of military equipment from external countries. Filipe Nyusi’s sentiments were about Russia’s security partnership with Africa, especially French-speaking African countries.

Russia’s military diplomacy

The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), a policy think tank, has published a special report on Russia-Africa. The report titled – Russia’s Private Military Diplomacy in Africa: High Risk, Low Reward, Limited Impact – says that Russia’s renewed interest in Africa is driven by its quest for global power status. Few expect Russia’s security engagement to bring peace and development to countries with which it has security partnerships.

While Moscow’s opportunistic use of private military diplomacy has allowed it to gain a strategic foothold in partner countries successfully, the lack of transparency in interactions, the limited scope of impact and the high financial and diplomatic costs exposes the limitations of the partnership in addressing the peace and development challenges of African host countries, the report says.

Overcoming the multidimensional problems, especially extremism and terrorism, facing Libya, Sudan, Somali, Mali, and the Central African Republic (CAR) will require comprehensive peace and development strategies that include conflict resolution and peacebuilding, state-building, security sector reform, and profound political reforms to improve governance and the rule of law – not to mention sound economic planning critical for attracting foreign direct investment needed to spur economic growth.

AU Agenda 2063 and continental security

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the entire international community have expressed collective concerns about any use of private mercenary forces, instead strongly suggested the use of well-constituted regional forces approved by regional blocs or organizations, and the nation’s respective legislative bodies and approval by the executive organs as a means of addressing conflicts in Africa.

During the 36th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU), under the chairmanship of Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat, held in Addis Ababa, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, interestingly used the phrase – “African solutions to African problems” – seven times during his speech delivered on February 18.

By emphasizing local balanced or combined solutions, regional organizations become valuable players and their active involvement will steadily enhance continental legitimacy and the dynamics of traditional governance.

Within the context of growing complexities of world’s geopolitical changes, Abiy Ahmed offered objective suggestions including the fact that addressing existing conflicts and disputes with commitment and in practical terms on the continent, it is absolutely necessary to mobilize collective efforts to resolve them and, most importantly, it “must be confined to the continent and quarantined from the contamination of non-African interference.”

The African Union is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Its vision is focused on an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.

It has designed a continental development programme, referred to as the AU Agenda 2063, which is Africa’s development blueprint to achieve inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development over a 50-year period.

Kester Kenn Klomegah focuses on current geopolitical changes, foreign relations and economic development-related questions in Africa with external countries. Most of his well-resourced articles are reprinted in several reputable foreign media.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Ein Kalb ist am Freitagmorgen über die Zürcher Europabrücke gelaufen. Das Tier war zuvor ausgebüxt. Die Polizei musste ausrücken.

Ein Kalb ist am Freitagmorgen über die Zürcher Europabrücke gelaufen. Das Tier war zuvor ausgebüxt. Die Polizei musste ausrücken.

Fenyegetőzött az egyik pozsonyi egyetem hallgatója (21) a közösségi hálón. November elején történt az eset, a diák azt írta, le fog lőni valakit. A rendőrség büntetőeljárást indított, és vádemelési javaslatot indítványozott az eset kapcsán.

Für den offiziellen Betrieb 2026 beginnt Dubai jetzt mit dem Bau sogenannter Vertiports - Start- und Landeplätzen für Flugtaxis. Die elektrisch betriebenen Flieger sollen neben einem besonders schnellen Transport auch noch leiser sein als normale Helikopter.

Rumänien hebt ab 2025 den Mindestlohn auf 4.050 Lei (etwa 800 Euro) an, verkündete Premierminister Marcel Ciolacu. Präsident Klaus Iohannis bestätigte am Mittwoch (13. November) die Umsetzung des europäischen Mindestlohngesetzes.

Der slowakische Innenminister Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas-SD) steht nach dem Tod eines Häftlings, der Fälle von Polizeibrutalität aufgedeckt hat, unter Druck. Die Opposition fordert Aufklärung und seinen Rücktritt.

Wie geht es den Schweizer Firmen? Was läuft an der Wall Street? Und wie entwickelt sich der Goldpreis? Im Liveticker halten wir dich über die neusten Entwicklungen an den Märkten auf dem Laufenden.