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Council calls for a reform of the international financial architecture for development

Education is a humanitarian lifeline for the world’s most vulnerable children. Our investment in their education today is an investment in global security, economic stability and continued growth in the 21st century.

By Yasmine Sherif
NEW YORK, May 26 2025 (IPS-Partners)

The challenges facing many parts of the African continent today are vast and immense. From the surge in violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to all-out-war in Sudan, years of progress are being obliterated by bombs, killings and other grave violations of international law.

The single best investment we can make in addressing these multiplying humanitarian crises is an investment in the vast potential and talents of Africa’s younger generations. By investing in their education, we empower them to prevent conflicts, end extreme poverty and ensure economic development, peace and stability. Without investing in education as part of this broader vision, none of these imperatives will be materialized.

The returns on investment are significant. As noted by the World Bank, foundational learning has the potential to double the GDP per capita in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050.

Responding to the education funding gap

Many traditional donor countries have dramatically reduced humanitarian aid in the past year, with recent analysis from UNESCO revealing a concerning drop of 14% in global aid to education. Yet, we all want to see a stable and prosperous Africa – a continent that deserves no less.

Still, Africa is falling even further behind. Estimates from UNESCO indicate that, worldwide, there is a US$100 billion funding gap to reach the goal for universal education as outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with US$70 billion of this gap found in sub-Saharan Africa.

Learning poverty is a concerning global trend. Nowhere is this more pressing than across Africa. Around four out of five African children cannot read or understand a simple text by age 10, according to UNESCO, and many struggle with basic numeracy skills.

Compounding challenges like conflict, climate change and forced displacement are derailing development gains and impeding access to life-saving education in humanitarian crises – an investment that is indispensable to achieve peace and economic prosperity. According to the recent global estimates study by Education Cannot Wait (ECW), about half of the world’s 234 million crisis-impacted school-aged children reside in sub-Saharan Africa.

An entire generation is being left behind. “Although 75 million more African children are enrolled in school today compared to 2015, the number of out-of-school children has increased by 13.2 million to over 100 million during the same period,” according to the 2025 Transforming Learning and Skills Development in Africa report.

You cannot have sustainable economic growth without stability. And you cannot achieve stability without education. Africa is a continent on the move, a continent of forced displacement as a consequence of armed and violent conflicts, as well as climate change.

“In 2020, 21 million Africans were living in another African country. Since 1990, the number of African migrants living outside of the region has more than doubled, with the growth in Europe most pronounced. In 2020, most African-born migrants living outside the region were residing in Europe (11 million), Asia (nearly 5 million) and North America (around 3 million),” according to the World Migration Report.

Our collective failure to respond to this pressing education crisis will have dire global consequences.

The situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Just look at the terrifying situation unravelling in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This region has been plagued by violence for decades, but it’s gotten much, much worse in recent months.

In all, there are an estimated 3.5 million forcibly displaced children in DRC today. Millions risk unimaginable violations of their human rights, including killing, maiming, abduction and forced recruitment into armed groups. There are also unconscionable accounts of sexual violence against girls. In eastern DRC, a child is reported raped every half an hour, according to UNICEF.

How can we tolerate the magnitude and depth of young girls and boys being systematically raped and killed? “More than 79 million girls and women – over 1 in 5 – across sub-Saharan Africa have experienced rape or sexual assault before turning 18,” according to UNICEF. Let’s put that number in perspective. That’s more than the total population of Australia and Spain combined.

For the children living in the midst of this chaos and fear, the options are limited. For girls, it’s a future as a child bride, continued poverty and early pregnancies. For boys, it might look like forced recruitment into terrorist organizations and other armed groups, forced labour or migration. For the world, this means growing forced displacement and migration, deeper and more widespread insecurity across the Global South, unstable markets, unstable populations and unstable futures.

The consequences of the war in Sudan

The situation in Sudan is soul-shattering and must end now. Recent estimates indicate that 30 million people require humanitarian assistance, including 16 million children. More than 12 million people have been displaced inside and outside Sudan since April 2023, straining education systems, budgets and capacity in neighbouring countries.

In all, the conflict and continuing challenges – including forced displacement, climate change, poverty and other factors – have left about 16.5 million children out of school in Sudan.

Education is the solution

As the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and its strategic partners are making a value proposition to increase humanitarian funding for education in Africa and beyond. In doing so, we contribute to joint programming on education, hence the broader goal of peace, stability and economic development.

There is a strong economic argument to be made. Africa is the youngest, fastest growing continent on earth – 6 out of 10 people are under the age of 25.

Within all that youth and energy lies opportunity. According to the World Bank, there is a 10% increase in hourly earnings for every extra year of schooling.

At the same time, taken at a macro-economic level, the opportunity costs are unprecedented. “This generation of students now risks losing a combined total of US$21 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value, or the equivalent of 17% of today’s global GDP – a sharp rise from the 2021 estimate of a US$17 trillion loss.”

The returns on investment in sub-Saharan Africa may be even more substantial, with some analyses indicating that every US$1 invested in tripling pre-primary education enrolment can generate up to US$33 in returns.

A lasting legacy

Education – as a transformative, immediate, life-saving and long-term investment –breaks cycles of poverty, displacement and conflict. Only then can we achieve peace, stability and economic development.

Deep inside us, we all agree that we can do better as a global community. We all know, instinctively, that the world would be a better place if we reduced global military spending – topping US$2.7 trillion – and instead invested in education, health, governance, infrastructure and livelihoods. We do know that we can be creative and turn vision into practical results. All it takes is investing just 0.02% (US$600 million) of this into education – and similar amounts into other sectors – which, together, provide the transformational power to build stability, spread peace and generate significant economic returns. This is not just logic. This is a legacy worth living.

 

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Excerpt:

Africa Day Statement by Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif

The US, Germany, France, and Britain had all lifted range restrictions on the weapons they delivered to Ukraine, the German chancellor said.

Chat GPT is one of the most widely used generative AI systems in the world, estimated to have nearly 400 million active weekly users. Credit: Sanket Mishra/Pexels

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, May 26 2025 (IPS)

While generative artificial intelligence (AI) has increased efficiency and output across numerous industries. However, labour organizations have expressed concern over AI’s ability to radically transform jobs around the world.

Generative AI has been designed to mimic human cognitive functions and has the ability to process large amounts of data at a time. Unlike job automation from previous decades, generative AI is able to facilitate decision-making processes, reshaping a variety of industries. Even jobs in creative fields, which were historically believed to be immune from automation, are now under direct threat from the emergence of generative AI tools.

On May 20, the International Labour Organization (ILO) released a comprehensive study which details the impacts that generative AI usage has on jobs worldwide. Expanding on figures from 2023’s edition, this year’s report uses “more refined” data collection tools for analyzing the impact of generative AI on employment shares, including both human studies and AI systems, covering nearly 30,000 tasks .

The report, titled Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure, seeks to analyze rates of job transformation worldwide as a result of generative AI integration and help policymakers prepare for risks in job security and economy. Additionally, ILO urges employers and industries to consider ways to use generative AI tools to maximize productivity and job satisfaction.

“By combining human insight, expert review, and generative AI models, we’ve created a replicable method that helps countries assess risk and respond with precision,” said ILO Senior Researcher and lead author of the study Pawel Gmyrek.

“It’s easy to get lost in the AI hype. What we need is clarity and context. This tool helps countries across the world assess potential exposure and prepare their labour markets for a fairer digital future,” said Janine Berg, the Senior Economist at the ILO.

A major objective of the 2025 report was to distinguish between job augmentation and automation. It states that human labour will likely be a part of job markets for the foreseeable future. Workers are far more likely to have their responsibilities changed as generative AI adopts their duties with higher rates of efficiency.

“Currently, the main risk from generative AI is not the ‘end of work’, but rather the rapid and uncontrolled transformation of certain occupations,” Gymrek tolf IPS. “…The real challenge is to manage this transformation in a way that ensures job quality and prevents a widening of social, gender, and income inequalities.”

However, this year’s edition states that roughly one in four workers worldwide are at risk of automation due to generative AI, marking a significant increase from the 2023 edition. Additionally, higher-income countries are estimated to be at a higher risk of widespread automation.

It has also been found that workers in clerical fields are most commonly exposed to automation. Many of the responsibilities of these jobs, such as filing paperwork, scheduling appointments, answering phone calls, and managing records, can be facilitated much more efficiently by AI systems. In fields where technology already plays a key role, such as media, software and finance, AI is also effecting change.

“While most jobs still need human input, how much a job changes also depends on how digital it already is. Software development, for example, is already closely tied to AI and digital tools, so it may evolve further with GenAI. But jobs like administrative support in small offices, where digital tools are used less often, could face bigger disruptions – either because individual tasks get replaced by GenAI, or because entirely new tools are introduced that automate the whole workflow,” said Gmyrek.

Other office jobs such as media developers and software specialists have been greatly impacted, showing higher averages in terms of automation. This has been attributed to the increase of functional capability that generative AI systems have developed in the past two years. AI systems have improved in terms of media processing power and decision-making, allowing them to handle a much broader range of tasks than ever before.

Despite this, the report shows that in clerical fields, there are certain responsibilities that can only be handled by humans. The report underscores that as technological advancements develop and impact global industries, new roles are expected to emerge.

On the other hand, it is believed that specialized positions such as jobs in maintenance, installation, repair, construction, food production, and personal care, face the lowest average risks of AI exposure. According to figures from the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Labor, & Economic Analysis Division (LEAD), occupations involving physical labor have much lower average exposure scores than clerical positions. Generative AI is less effective in industry-specific roles making the full extent of its impacts on these fields unknown.

According to the ILO report, nearly all countries are at equal risk of job augmentation from the rise of generative AI, indicating that the world has the ability to harness the increased efficiency from AI in a beneficial way that doesn’t harm workers. However, higher-income countries on average show the highest average rates of exposure to AI automation, with around 5.5 percent risk. Lower-income countries are only at a 0.4 percent risk.

Automation as a result of generative AI usage generally affects women at significantly higher rates than men. This gender disparity is attributed to the fact that women tend to work in high-exposure jobs more commonly than men. ILO estimates that high-exposure jobs compose approximately 9.6 percent of female jobs, compared to 3.5 percent among men.

Despite these disparities, it is imperative that policymakers and corporations around the world remain dedicated to facilitating a smooth and fair transition, one that harnesses the new advancements in efficiency and values human labour. Furthermore, ILO emphasizes the importance of social protections for workers as human labour is indispensable for situations that require specialized practice, ethical considerations, and creativity. They warn that without these considerations, and if efforts are not made for the workforce to evolve with generative AI and integrate new tasks, then even partial automation could lead to a decline in overall job demand in the fields with high exposure to AI automation.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Les agissements de Tel-Aviv à Gaza « ne peuvent plus être justifiés », estime le chancelier allemand. Des propos qui marquent un changement de ton pour l’Allemagne, l’un des plus fervents soutiens d’Israël en Europe.

The post Pour Friedrich Merz, les agissements d’Israël à Gaza « ne peuvent plus être justifiés » appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Plus de 270.000 candidats sont inscrits à l'examen du Certificat d'Études Primaires (CEP) session du 2 au 5 juin 2025.

La session de juin 2025 de l'examen du CEP démarre lundi prochain. Selon les statistiques, 271.890 candidats sont officiellement inscrits. Il est noté une hausse de 5% par rapport à l'année 2024. Les candidats sont répartis dans 805 centres de composition sur tout le territoire national. Parmi les candidats, il y a 131.660 filles, 21 malvoyants, 61 malentendants et 16 élèves IMOC (Infirmité Motrice d'Origine Cérébrale).
Pour les épreuves tirées au sort, les candidats seront évalués en Couture pour le compte de l'épreuve d'Education artistique (Ea) et en course de vitesse et grimper au titre de l'Education physique et sportive (Eps).

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Le Général de division aérienne Bertin Bada récemment promu au grade de Général de corps aérien portera officiellement ses nouveaux galons lors d'une cérémonie au camp militaire de Dessa, mardi 3 juin 2025.

Directeur de Cabinet militaire du Chef de l'État, le Général Bada franchit un nouveau cap dans sa carrière. En Conseil des ministres, mercredi 21 mai 2025, il a été promu au grade de Général de corps aérien. La cérémonie de son port de galons prévue pour le mardi 3 juin, symbolise non seulement sa montée en grade, mais aussi la reconnaissance d'un parcours exemplaire au sein des Forces armées béninoises.

Le Général Bertin Bada a occupé le poste de chef d'État-major des forces aériennes de 2014 à 2016. Il est au poste directeur du Cabinet militaire du président de la République depuis mai 2016.

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EU countries will join MEPs in urging the Commission to step up over Hungary's anti-LGBTQ laws, according to a draft declaration seen by Euractiv.

Avoir une belle écriture - ou être l'auteur d'horribles gribouillis - est lié à des facteurs tels que la génétique, l'apprentissage, l'éducation et la culture. En savoir plus sur les recherches qui ont évalué la façon dont nous utilisons nos mains pour écrire.

Ten days ago, the Commission President swore her inalienable support for the LGBTQ cause. Now she's turning her back on Hungary's suppression of Pride.

La République de Salvador réaffirme son soutien à l'intégrité territoriale du Royaume du Maroc et projette d'ouvrir un consulat à Laâyoune.

Le soutien du Salvador à l'intégrité territoriale du Royaume du Maroc a été réaffirmé par le vice-président salvadorien, Félix Ulloa, lors de sa rencontre à Quito, en Equateur, avec le ministre des Affaires étrangères, de la Coopération africaine et des Marocains résidant à l'étranger, Nasser Bourita, qui a représenté SM le Roi Mohammed VI à la cérémonie de l'investiture du président équatorien Daniel Noboa.

La rencontre entre MM. Ulloa et Bourita a permis aux deux parties de discuter de la possibilité d'ouvrir un consulat de la République du Salvador dans la ville de Laâyoune, considérée comme “étape clé” de la reconnaissance de la souveraineté marocaine sur cette région.

Les deux hautes personnalités n'ont pas manqué de souligner l'amitié solide unissant le Salvador et le Maroc, réitérant leur engagement à renforcer les liens diplomatiques et la coopération bilatérale.

Le vice-président du Salvador a exprimé la volonté de son pays d'approfondir la collaboration avec le Royaume du Maroc sur des questions d'intérêt commun et d'avancer ensemble pour réunir les conditions de bien-être pour les deux peuples et les deux Etats.

Le commissaire estime que les pays ne présentant pas de risque de déforestation devraient être exemptés de charges supplémentaires dans le cadre des règles anti-déforestation de l’UE.

The post Les règles de l’UE ne devraient pas peser sur les pays sans risque de déforestation, avertit le commissaire à l’Agriculture appeared first on Euractiv FR.

US-Präsident Donald Trump fordert, dass Europa mehr Flüssigerdgas aus den USA kauft. Möchte die EU dem nachkommen, muss es möglicherweise seine Versorgungswege umstellen oder seine Ziele für grüne Energie neu bewerten.

L’ordre économique mondial « est en train de se fracturer », a alerté lundi 26 mai la présidente de la Banque centrale européenne (BCE) Christine Lagarde, jugeant que cela pouvait néanmoins aussi favoriser l’euro face au dollar qui domine aujourd’hui.

The post L’euro, une alternative au dollar dans un monde fracturé, selon Christine Lagarde appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Une opération de sécurité menée ce week-end dans plusieurs quartiers de la capitale économique béninoise a permis à la Police républicaine d'interpeller une vingtaine d'individus dans plusieurs ghettos.

La police républicaine a démantelé plusieurs ghettos dans les 6ᵉ, 8ᵉ et 10ᵉ arrondissements de Cotonou. Selon Bip Radio, une vingtaine de personnes ont été interpellées lors de cette opération. Parmi ces délinquants, il y a plusieurs mineurs. Les tests effectués sur les individus interpellés révèlent des résultats positifs au cannabis.

Les ghettos démantelés servaient non seulement de lieux de consommation, mais également de points de regroupement pour diverses activités illicites. Ces divorcés sociaux seront présentés à la justice.

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Les travaux de la 4e édition du Forum international de l'intermédiation, du numérique et de l'innovation (FONI) se sont achevés, vendredi 23 mai 2025, avec la création de l'Alliance des acteurs du financement des PME.

Un cachet spécial à la 4e édition du FONI. Cette rencontre internationale qui réunit chaque année les acteurs de l'industrie bancaire et financière d'Afrique, a vu naître à Cotonou, l'Alliance des acteurs du financement des PME.

Le président d'AFRIK CREANCES, initiateur du FONI, a exprimé sa fierté et sa satisfaction au terme des deux jours d'échanges et de discussion entre les participants.
« La capitale économique du Bénin a été le pays qui a permis la naissance de la réflexion de cette alliance stratégique pour garantir un meilleur financement du secteur privé », a confié Blaise AHOUANTCHEDE. L'Alliance (guichet) mise en place d'après lui, regroupe tous les acteurs à savoir, les Partenaires techniques et financiers (PTF), les agences de développement, les structures d'accompagnement, et les Etats. Il a formulé à l'occasion, le vœu que cette alliance aille au-delà d'un simple pays, pour devenir un « guichet régional » autour duquel les différents acteurs pourront discuter pour plus d'efficacité dans la problématique de financement du secteur privé.

Fier des résultats de cette première édition à Cotonou, il assure pouvoir rendre compte aux autorités afin de bénéficier de leur soutien pour répondre aux besoins de financement des PME. « La demande est là et il faut l'adresser », a souligné le président d'AFRIK CREANCES, rassurant de l'appui de l'institution qu'il dirige à accompagner non seulement le développement des Etats, mais aussi trouver des solutions aux problèmes de la jeunesse. Et en cela, le FONI se positionne selon lui, comme « un hub » pour faciliter les échanges.

Blaise AHOUANTCHEDE a exprimé ses remerciements au chef de l'Etat et aux autorités à divers niveaux pour toutes les facilités offertes pour l'organisation du forum à Cotonou. Il a également exprimé ses remerciements aux participants, et aux populations, notamment les femmes entrepreneures qu'il faudra d'après lui, appuyer aider à trouver des solutions aux problèmes de financement.

« Financement du secteur privé et digitalisation des services financiers et publics pour une croissance durable en Afrique », c'est le thème principal du FONI 2025, ouvert jeudi 22 mai 2025 à Cotonou.

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Des enfants figurent parmi les victimes de cette attaque qui, selon Israël, visait un centre de commandement du Hamas.

The retreat of the US dollar could "open the door for the euro to play a greater international role".

Climate change impacts, are already placing a considerable strain on the Maldives' natural freshwater sources, like groundwater and rainwater. Credit: Shutterstock

By Robbie Newton
GENEVA, May 26 2025 (IPS)

Every year, thousands of couples choose to spend their honeymoon in the Maldives. Tucked in the Indian Ocean, this tropical atoll nation consistently ranks among the world’s most desirable destinations for newlyweds.

But beyond the crystal-clear waters and pristine, white-sand beaches, local communities are facing a far harsher reality: a growing water crisis driven by climate change. While tourists sip cocktails in overwater bungalows, some neighboring islands are literally running out of fresh water.

Tourism accounts for more than 20 percent of Maldives’ GDP and is likely to grow, with President Mohamed Muizzu recently visiting the United Kingdom to promote a new “Visit Maldives” campaign. But the boom in tourism belies the looming existential crisis facing this South Asian nation.

Climate-financing countries have an obligation under the Paris Agreement, the international treaty on climate change,  to provide “continuous and enhanced” financial support and technical assistance to small island nations, like the Maldives, that bear the brunt of a global climate crisis

Scattered across 1,192 islands and 26 atolls, the Maldives is the world’s lowest lying country. The majority of its islands are less than half a meter above sea-level and scientists warn that at the current rate of climate change, large swathes of the Maldives archipelago could become uninhabitable by 2050.

An even more immediate threat is the lack of access to clean, safe, and affordable water. Climate change impacts, such as saline intrusion, sea-level rise, and drought, are already placing a considerable strain on natural freshwater sources, like groundwater and rainwater.

While resort islands and urban centers – like the capital, Malé – benefit from desalination, imported bottled water, and more sophisticated water infrastructure, many remote islands face shortages as rainwater tanks are drying up and groundwater is becoming increasingly saline and contaminated.

The Maldives’ tourism secret to success could well be its 1978 “one island, one resort” policy, offering a unique sense of exclusivity and privacy to its 130 resort islands. However, that image sold to tourists is world’s away from the lived reality of many Maldivians. It has meant that the honeymooner or social media influencer can remain blissfully unaware of the water crisis that may be playing out on a neighboring non-resort island.

A recent Human Rights Watch report focusing on two islands affected by water shortages, Kanditheem and Nolhivaranfaru, found that despite government efforts to address water shortages, many marginalized communities still face significant barriers to accessing clean, safe, and affordable water.

On both islands, the Maldivian government recently initiated water projects, supported by climate funding, to introduce Integrated Water Resource Management systems, combining desalination, rainwater harvesting, and groundwater recharge to diversify the islands’ water sources.

While they look good on paper, these projects have suffered from systemic faults that have exacerbated inequalities in accessing water in the Maldives. Issues include inadequate consultations with affected communities, poor government monitoring, and elevated water bills for users. Islanders on Nolhivaranfaru said that many of the houses that were meant to be covered by the project lacked water connections for over two years after the project was initiated.

This caused islanders to continue relying on groundwater, even though they said it was “foul-smelling” and believed it to be contaminated. In Kanditheem, the water system, which should have been completed over two and half years ago, still lacks a functioning water testing lab despite it being a regulatory requirement.

Having historically relied on rainwater and groundwater, which were largely free, islanders are now forced to incur an additional financial burden – in a context where they’re already very stretched.

Agricultural workers are particularly affected. A farmer on Kanditheem said that if the groundwater becomes too saline, they won’t be able to afford to pay for desalinated water for irrigation and would lose their livelihoods.

The remote outer islands in the Maldives have higher poverty rates than the more populated islands like Malé and Addu. In addition, communities living on these islands are often not adequately consulted about key decision-making processes, including surrounding development projects on their own islands.

The result is that infrastructure projects like these often suffer from chronic shortcomings and risk widening existing inequities within the country, instead of narrowing them.

The climate crisis is not a distant reality to island communities in the Maldives – it’s an everyday struggle, which requires the support of the international community. Climate-financing countries have an obligation under the Paris Agreement, the international treaty on climate change,  to provide “continuous and enhanced” financial support and technical assistance to small island nations, like the Maldives, that bear the brunt of a global climate crisis.

High-income governments should also create the conditions globally for the Maldives and similarly situated countries to have the fiscal space to raise resources to fund climate adaptation measures like water projects.

At the same time, the Maldives government has an obligation under international and domestic law to provide access to water for all its people. To do this effectively, it should ensure that its climate adaptation efforts protect the rights of those most affected by the climate crisis, including by addressing systemic problems that have led to inequities in Maldivians’ access to water.

Robbie Newton is a senior Asia coordinator at Human Rights Watch.