European Union

À l'occasion de la Gaani 2025, le ministre de la Culture, Jean-Michel Abimbola, a annoncé l'élaboration prochaine d'un protocole destiné à donner une dimension internationale aux grands événements culturels du Bénin.

Au nom de la délégation gouvernementale, il a expliqué que l'édition 2025 de la Gaani, organisée pour la première fois dans le nouveau palais de Nikki, avait servi de test pour évaluer les installations et le dispositif mis en place par le comité local. « Cette édition devait nous permettre de roder la Gaani, afin que dès l'année prochaine, nous puissions lancer une véritable édition zéro dans ce nouveau cadre », a-t-il précisé.

Selon le ministre, ce protocole visera à renforcer la visibilité des fêtes identitaires, à l'image de celles déjà soutenues par l'État à Ouidah ou à Porto-Novo. L'objectif est de valoriser davantage ces patrimoines culturels uniques, tout en améliorant leur organisation pour le plaisir des Béninois et des visiteurs étrangers.

Une fausse publication circulant sur les réseaux sociaux prétend annoncer le lancement officiel des comptes du mouvement "RoW 2026". Le visuel, accompagné de liens vers plusieurs plateformes numériques, est signalé comme une fake news.

Codes visuels institutionnels, photo du candidat associé à des mentions officielles... Des comptes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok et même sur la plateforme Fryim sont listés, mais leur véracité n'a pas été confirmée.

La page n'est officiellement pas rattachée au candidat, selon des sources proches du Ministre d'Etat Romuald Wadagni désigné candidat de la mouvance à l'élection présidentielle de 2026.

Les représentants du mouvement "RoW 2026" n'ont pas encore réagi publiquement à cette diffusion frauduleuse.

L'incident rappelle l'importance de la vigilance face à la multiplication des faux comptes et messages en période préélectorale.

Credit: brutto film / shutterstock.com

By Anna Naupa
Sep 8 2025 (IPS)

 
Globally, there is a 0.36% deterioration in average levels of peacefulness, as more countries are increasing their levels of militarisation against the backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions, increasing conflict, and rising economic uncertainty.

But this statistic omits most Pacific island countries. In 2025, only three are ranked by the Global Peace Index (GPI): New Zealand in 3rd place, Australia in18th and Papua New Guinea ranking 116th out of 163 nations.

As regional dialogue about an ‘Ocean of Peace’ concept advances, a dedicated Pacific Peace Index—as suggested by Solomon Islands’ Professor Transform Aqorau at the July 2025 Pacific Regional and National Security Conference—might provide additional form to an evolving political dialogue amongst Pacific Islands Forum member states.

But, how is Pacific peace defined? How might our own Pacific measure of peacefulness complement existing efforts to safeguard peace and security in the region?

What is Pacific Peace?

Peace is more than the absence of conflict or violence; it is a global public good that enables people to live full, healthy and prosperous lives without fear.

“Peace must serve the people, not geopolitics, not elites in the region, not distant interests,” Professor Aqorau says, in articulating a vision for Pacific peace. Peace must also tackle broader factors affecting safety and wellbeing across the Pacific, particularly for women and vulnerable populations, says Fiji’s Shamima Ali.

Peace and development are two sides of the same coin. The Pacific 2050 Strategy for a Blue Pacific Continent places peace alongside harmony, security, social inclusion, and prosperity, as a key element for attaining free, healthy, and productive lives for Pacific peoples. Delivering Pacific peace, therefore, entails securing well-being; protecting people, place and environment; advancing development; and securing futures for present and future generations, the latter efforts entailing climate action and protection of sovereignty.

While global indices are variably critiqued for omissions of Pacific Islands data, unilateral development and indicator bias, poorly contextualized methodologies, or the significant resourcing required to produce Pacific datasets, indices can nonetheless usefully inform policy-makers.

What could a Pacific Peace Index measure?

The current starting point for measuring and monitoring peace in the region is found in the form of existing country commitments to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 (the ‘Peace Goal’).

The Pacific Roadmap for Sustainable Development has contextualised eight SDG 16 indicators for regional reporting that address experiences of violence, access to justice, civil registration and legal identity, transparency of public expenditure, and public access to information and views on participation in decision-making processes.

In 2022, a regional monitoring report led by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat found that limited data availability for SDG16 hampered measurement of progress in the Pacific. This is broadly reflective of global trends, where investment is needed in further data generation efforts and statistical capacity to measure SDG 16.

The report also found that the Pacific was regressing on advancing effective institutions, transparency, and accountability.

But are SDG16’s Pacific contextualised indicators sufficient to meet the expectations of the Boe Declaration on Regional Security and the Pacific 2050 Strategy’s Peace and Security pillar? Can this type of reporting serve as a potential proxy ‘Pacific Peace Index’?

While answers to these questions are both technical and political in nature, there are two things to keep in mind:

1) Peace has deep roots in Pacific social and cultural structures

Despite close alignment with regional strategies, the current SDG 16 contextualised indicators do not encapsulate the depth of a Pacific vision for peace.

Pacific Islands Countries’ policy commitments to aspects of peace are well-documented. Each year new initiatives are announced that respond to an expanded concept of security, ranging from traditional security cooperation to tackling gender-based violence, climate mitigation and humanitarian assistance or investing in democratic processes.

But, knowledge gaps remain about the contribution of locally driven peace initiatives to national and regional efforts, and how these contribute to overall Pacific well-being. Addressing these gaps allows for a more comprehensive telling of an aggregated Pacific narrative of peace, which could be factored into a Pacific Peace Index. For example, peace-building dialogues following the Bougainville crisis, Solomon Islands’ ethnic tensions, and series of Fiji coups have highlighted the important contributions of locally-driven approaches, including drawing on traditional dispute resolution.

2) Telling a story of purposeful peace

Yet, Pacific peace is more than a collection of discrete data points and time-bound security-related projects. Peace is an evolving process, it is future-oriented and a proactive, purposeful exercise.

Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Baron Waqa has stressed that peace must be “anchored in sovereignty, resilience, inclusion and regional solidarity.” Many Pacific scholars agree, arguing that there is no real peace without addressing longstanding issues of colonisation, militarisation, restricted sovereignty and justice, which continue to bear on many Pacific islanders.

To tell a regional story means connecting, for example, Tuvalu’s international statehood recognition, the recent landmark ICJ advisory opinion on climate change, the nuclear legacies in the region, political instability, elections, and well-being measures, to the region’s vision of peace. Combined, we can then begin to grasp all the elements that contribute to a cumulatively peaceful region.

So, where to from here?

Another tool is the Positive Peace Index which measures the ‘attitudes, institutions and structures that sustain and create peaceful societies’. It assesses socio-economic development, justice, good governance and effective institutions, inclusion, resilience and diplomacy. A Pacific Peace Index could adapt this to incorporate Pacific indigenous philosophies of peace and values of social cohesion, well-being and reconciliation that are absent from existing global indices, for example, and track the region’s journey, disaggregated by country.

Multi-country indices demand considerable capacity so a State of Pacific Peace assessment may instead offer a simpler option. This could entail a dedicated section in the existing Pacific Regional Security Outlook report produced by regional organisations. Alternatively, the region’s academic institutions (e.g. via Track 2 mechanisms) could be invited to assist. Investing in peace summits also provides the opportunity for ongoing regional peace dialogue.

The emphasis, however, must be on building, not duplicating, existing regional mechanisms.

The opportunity of a Pacific Peace Index would be in owning and telling a coherent peace narrative that: a) bridges security and development and, b) reflects how the peace interests and dignity of Pacific peoples are being upheld over time.

As political dialogue about a Pacific ‘Ocean of Peace’ evolves, Pacific peoples’ visions of peace must drive any framing and subsequent action. Professor Aqorau offers further wisdom: ” Our peace should not depend on choosing sides, but on asserting our needs, on our terms and on our collective aspirations.”

Related articles:
Peacebuilding: The Missing Peace in COP30 Climate Ambition

Climate Change in Pasifika Relational Itulagi

Anna Naupa is a ni-Vanuatu PhD candidate at the Australian National University.

This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished from the original with their permission.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Written by Branislav Staníček.

Parliament is set to discuss the situation in Serbia during the Plenary Session held in Strasbourg this week and current anti-government protests and the Serbian authorities’ violent response in particular. President Aleksandar Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has governed the country since 2012, with a heavy concentration of power, media control and a weak system of checks and balances. In December 2023, just 20 months after the previous elections, Serbia held snap parliamentary elections. The SNS won by 46.7 %, far ahead of the newly formed opposition coalition Serbia Against Violence (SPN) at 23.6 %. Nonetheless, anti-government protests erupted again in November 2024, following the collapse of the renovated Novi Sad railway station. These protests intensified during summer 2025, accompanied by violence and renewed calls for snap elections. Vučić’s second and final five-year presidential term ends in 2027, when parliamentary elections are also due.

The renovated canopy collapse at the railway station on 1 November 2024, in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, killed 16 people. Just two days before, the European Commission’s 2024 report on Serbia and its EU membership prospects warned that ‘Serbia has a tendency to circumvent its legislation in this area [of public procurement] through intergovernmental agreements and special laws’ (in Chapter 5 on ‘Public Procurement’). The reconstruction of the railway station in Novi Sad was part of a ‘capital state project’ – the construction of a high-speed railway from Belgrade to Budapest – and was based on a bilateral agreement between Serbia and China not subject to the country’s law on public procurement. Public outrage forced Serbia’s Prime Minister Miloš Vučević, Construction Minister Goran Vesić and the Mayor of Novi Sad to resign. Every day at 11:52 am – the moment the station roof collapsed – protesters halt traffic for 16 minutes of silence, to honour the 16 lives lost.

This climate of protests shifted in mid-2025. After nine months of peaceful demonstrations, tensions peaked on 28 June when a massive protest held on Belgrade’s Slavija Square – estimated at 140 000 participants – coincided with Serbia’s historic Vidovdan holiday. Police used violence against students and media representatives, resulting in four young protesters being hospitalised. On 4 July, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern about the human rights situation in Serbia and the excessive use of force to curb demonstrations; the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights similarly urged the Serbian authorities to exercise restraint. As of late August 2025, Vučić has hinted at compromise without fully yielding.

The European Parliament resolution of 8 February 2024 on the situation in Serbia following the December 2023 elections pressed for investigations into the reported irregularities. The most recent resolution, of 7 May 2025, on the 2023 and 2024 Commission reports on Serbia, supports European integration of the country while calling on Serbia to accelerate reforms on media freedom, judicial independence and fundamental rights in line with EU standards. It also notes that ‘limited progress has been made in the fight against corruption despite the adoption of a new anti-corruption strategy for 2024-2028’. On 14 May 2025, the European Parliament’s Serbia Delegation attended a meeting of the Subcommittee on Human Rights for an exchange of views on the human rights situation in Serbia in the context of the student-led protests.

Further reading

• Anti-government protests in Serbia, September 2025

Die EU-Handels- und Agrarkommissare Maroš Šefčovič und Christophe Hansen reisen diese Woche nach Neu-Delhi, um die Verhandlungen über ein Handelsabkommen mit Indien voranzutreiben – besonders der Agrarsektor sorgt für Hürden.

Le Programme Spécial d'Insertion de l'Emploi (PSIE) a ouvert, ce 08 septembre 2025, un appel à candidature au profit de plusieurs entreprises béninoises.

108 postes sont à pourvoir dans plusieurs entreprises béninoises via le Programme Spécial d'Insertion de l'Emploi (PSIE).

Les entreprises concernées opèrent dans des secteurs variés et recherchent des compétences diversifiées : technique, administratif, commercial, etc.

Les salaires nets proposés varient entre 100 000 et 250 000 FCFA, selon le poste, le niveau d'expérience et le secteur d'activité.

Les candidatures sont à déposer en ligne via le lien : https://cutt.ly/FVZDlF8

Alles deutet darauf hin, dass François Bayrou am Montagabend nicht mehr Premierminister Frankreichs sein wird. Präsident Emmanuel Macron steht damit vor schwierigen Entscheidungen – und Frankreich vor unruhigen Tagen.

Her far-right party faces mounting legal headaches, many of which strike at the heart of its financial and political machinery

Agriculture Commissioner Hansen told Euractiv that sectors such as rice and sugar could be excluded from the negotiations

Despite playing an essential role in the global supply chain of palm oil, and supporting regional and national economy, discussions on oil palm smallholders are limited in mainstream conversations.

Obwohl sie eine wesentliche Rolle in der globalen Lieferkette für Palmöl spielen und die regionale und nationale Wirtschaft unterstützen, werden Kleinbauern, die Ölpalmen anbauen, in den Mainstream-Diskussionen nur am Rande erwähnt.

The Polish Society of Surgeons proposed debating whether women should be surgeons; critics say it typifies misogyny in the profession

Dans le département des Collines, la mobilisation s'organise déjà autour de Romuald Wadagni, candidat de la mouvance présidentielle à la présidentielle de 2026.

À Glazoué, les leaders Idaasha ont réaffirmé leur soutien ce week-end, lors d'une rencontre au domicile du député Edmond Agoua, coordonnateur départemental de l'Union Progressiste le Renouveau (UP-R).
Conduits par plusieurs figures locales, dont Adahou Aron et Assongba Monlou, les responsables politiques des arrondissements ont assuré de leur engagement pour « renforcer l'ancrage du parti et garantir la victoire de Wadagni dans les Collines ».

Le député Edmond Agoua, qui s'impose comme l'un des relais clés de la mouvance dans le département, a salué cette confiance renouvelée. Il a promis de « défendre les intérêts des Idaasha et des Collines » dans les instances politiques.

À quelques mois du scrutin, les Collines apparaissent déjà comme un bastion stratégique pour la campagne à venir.
M. M.

Monday 8 September

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Monday 8 September

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Monday 8 September

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Monday 8 September

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Un homme ivre a trouvé la mort, dimanche 7 septembre 2025, dans un accident de la route à N'Dali.

Un homme originaire de Gogounou est mort dans un accident survenu, dimanche 7 septembre 2025, sur l'axe inter-États N'Dali–Malanville, peu après la sortie nord de N'Dali. La victime était propriétaire et conducteur du véhicule.

D'après plusieurs témoins, il avait pris la route en état d'ébriété après avoir quitté Nikki. Ses frères, qui l'accompagnaient, auraient tenté de l'empêcher de conduire. Face à son insistance, ils ont préféré descendre du véhicule à N'Dali.

Peu de temps après, non loin d'un hôtel, l'automobiliste a perdu le contrôle. Sa voiture a effectué plusieurs tonneaux avant de s'immobiliser.
M. M.

Le Bénin a exporté pour 11,4 milliards de FCFA de biens vers les pays de la CEDEAO au deuxième trimestre 2025. Les chiffres ont été publiés par l'Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie (INStaD).

Le Nigéria arrive en tête des partenaires commerciaux. Il absorbe 38,6% des exportations béninoises. Les principaux produits envoyés sont l'huile de soja (1,3 milliard FCFA), les motocycles réexportés (0,9 milliard FCFA) et les déchets ferreux (0,7 milliard FCFA).

Le Togo suit avec 27,4% de parts. Les articles en plastique dominent (1,0 milliard FCFA), devant le ciment hydraulique (0,5 milliard FCFA) et le fil machine en acier (0,2 milliard FCFA).

La Côte d'Ivoire complète le trio de tête avec 17,9% des exportations béninoises. Les tissus de coton écrus (1,5 milliard FCFA), les imprimés et les fils de coton y sont les plus demandés.

Selon l'Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie (INStaD), ces données proviennent des déclarations en douane et confirment le rôle clé du marché régional pour l'économie béninoise.
M. M.

L'archevêque de Cotonou, Mgr Roger Houngbédji, a dévoilé les nouvelles nominations de curés et vicaires pour l'année pastorale 2025-2026. Retrouvez ci-dessous la liste complète des affectations au sein de l'Église catholique au Bénin.