NewzIntel.com

Category: Africa

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Receives Call from Sri Lankan Deputy FM

    Source: Government of Qatar

    Doha, June 28, 2025

    HE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi received today a phone call from HE Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Arun Hemachandra.

    The call dealt with discussing cooperation relations between the two countries and ways to support and enhance them, and discussed a number of topics of common interest.

    During the call, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed his country’s solidarity with the State of Qatar following the attack launched by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How does Marburg virus spread between species? Young Ugandan scientist’s photos give important clues

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Alexander Richard Braczkowski, Research Fellow at the Centre for Planetary Health and Resilient Conservation Group, Griffith University

    In the shadows of Python Cave, Uganda, a leopard leaps from a guano mound – formed by bat excrement – and sinks its teeth into a bat. But this is no ordinary bat colony. The thousands of Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) found in this cave are known carriers of one of the world’s deadliest viruses: Marburg, a close cousin of Ebola.

    Over just four months, our cameras recorded 261 predator encounters: crowned eagles, Nile monitors, leopards, pythons and blue monkeys all caught feeding on, or scavenging from this virus-harbouring colony.

    And yet, this wasn’t the work of a global health agency or virology lab. The discovery came from a 25-year-old Ugandan undergraduate, Bosco Atukwatse, working with our small Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust Kyambura Lion Project team in Queen Elizabeth National Park. His only tools: a trail camera, curiosity and ecological instinct.

    I am a conservation scientist with over 17 years of experience in wildlife ecology, monitoring and human-wildlife conflict. I’m the co-founder of the Kyambura Lion Project, which made this discovery.

    For years, scientists studying how diseases spread from animals to humans have hypothesised that zoonotic diseases jump from a wildlife reservoir (like a bat) to an intermediate host (monkey) and potentially to us, humans.

    For past Marburg outbreaks in Uganda, two spillover pathways have been identified: the first, involves humans coming into contact with a fruit bat habitat (namely caves filled with bat guano). Indeed, fruit bats are thought to have infected two tourists at Python Cave in 2007 and 2008.

    The second pathway involves humans and animals eating the same fruit that bats have fed upon or made contact with. This second spillover pathway was identified by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists in 2023. They tracked bats from the cave entering cultivated gardens to feed.

    But Atukwatse and the team of young Ugandan scientists (Yahaya Ssemakula, Johnson Muhereza, Orin Cornille and Winfred Nsabimana) have potentially found another pathway: predation by at least 14 species.

    Such rich visual evidence of a viral interface – bats, predators and people – is virtually non-existent in the literature. Many theoretical depictions of this process exist, and there are isolated incidents of a monkey predating on a bat or wildlife feeding on bat guano, but Atukwatse’s discovery of this many different predators repeatedly feeding on a known Marburg virus reservoir is a first.

    His discovery highlights two uncomfortable truths:

    • many potential zoonotic interfaces remain undocumented – often right under our noses

    • the people most likely to detect them first are those living closest to wild frontiers.

    But the bigger message is this: global health institutions need to stop overlooking local scientists and start funding field-based detection systems across Africa and Asia.

    If we want to detect the next outbreak early, we should be empowering more Atukwatses, not waiting for the next lab test.

    A hunch pays off

    In early February 2025, Atukwatse and our small team of local scientists was expanding our long-term African leopard and spotted hyena monitoring grid into a new part of Queen Elizabeth National Park – the Kyambura Wildlife Reserve and Maramagambo forest.

    Atukwatse had heard from nearby guides that a large bat cave lay close to the survey grid. That kind of site, he reasoned, could be perfect leopard territory: a place to hunt, rest or avoid the heat.

    This is ecological attentiveness at its best – the field biology equivalent of a commodities trader spotting volatility in a geopolitical flashpoint.

    Atukwatse had his radar on and acted on instinct, setting five camera traps at the cave’s entrance and along the surrounding animal trails. Just one week later, he got what he hoped for: three separate clips of a leopard hunting bats in broad daylight. He left the cameras in place in protective casing. He checked them every 7–10 days.

    But that was just the beginning.

    The scale of the discovery

    When I first looked at Atukwatse’s videos, our joint excitement was around the leopard footage. We knew they were adaptable and could even eat small rodents , but no one had ever recorded them eating bats in Africa.

    As more clips came in, we realised something bigger was unfolding. Blue monkeys were seen grabbing bats mid-roost. A crowned eagle and a Nile monitor fought over two bat carcasses. A fish eagle – typically a piscivore, which is a carnivorous species that primarily eats fish – was filmed clutching bats in its talons.



    Read more:
    African wild dogs: DNA tests of their faeces reveal surprises about what they eat

    Over 304 trap-nights, Atukwatse’s traps recorded 261 independent predator events from at least 14 different species.

    Then came the second shock: over 400 human visitors – many of them tourists – were filmed approaching the cave mouth without any protective gear. Some stood just metres from a known Marburg virus reservoir. Importantly, the Uganda Wildlife Authority has built a sanctioned viewing platform about 35 metres from the cave. However, tourists broke park rules and walked within two metres of the cave mouth.

    It was only after I visited the cave myself to take stills of the team that we put this all together. Atukwatse had just found the first visual evidence, at a large scale in nature, of at least 14 predators feeding on a known wildlife virus reservoir harbouring one of Earth’s deadliest viruses.

    This wasn’t the result of million-dollar pathogen surveillance. It wasn’t even the core aim of our leopard survey. This happened because a young Ugandan field scientist followed his ecological gut.

    Why does the discovery matter?

    For decades, disease ecologists have known that major outbreaks often originate in wildlife – swine flu, avian flu and even SARS-CoV-2 all trace back to animal hosts. But what’s often missing is direct observation of spillover interfaces – the exact moments when a virus jumps from a bat, goose, or other animal into new species like humans, livestock or other wildlife.

    Atukwatse’s discovery may be the first large-scale visual record of such an interface in nature: a roost of Egyptian fruit bats known to harbour a deadly virus, actively predated upon by at least 14 species, with hundreds of humans visiting the same cave mouth unprotected.

    This may be a Rosetta Stone moment for spillover ecology – shifting our understanding from hypothetical models to a real, observable interface.

    These kinds of spillover sites exist in other places in nature: in a Chinese wet market where a civet meets a meat processor, or in a Gabonese village where a bat is butchered for bushmeat. The difference? Most of them go undocumented. Atukwatse just filmed one.

    Alexander Richard Braczkowski is the scientific director of the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust Kyambura Lion Project.

    – ref. How does Marburg virus spread between species? Young Ugandan scientist’s photos give important clues – https://theconversation.com/how-does-marburg-virus-spread-between-species-young-ugandan-scientists-photos-give-important-clues-259806

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How does Marburg virus spread between species? Young Ugandan scientist’s photos give important clues

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Alexander Richard Braczkowski, Research Fellow at the Centre for Planetary Health and Resilient Conservation Group, Griffith University

    In the shadows of Python Cave, Uganda, a leopard leaps from a guano mound – formed by bat excrement – and sinks its teeth into a bat. But this is no ordinary bat colony. The thousands of Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) found in this cave are known carriers of one of the world’s deadliest viruses: Marburg, a close cousin of Ebola.

    Over just four months, our cameras recorded 261 predator encounters: crowned eagles, Nile monitors, leopards, pythons and blue monkeys all caught feeding on, or scavenging from this virus-harbouring colony.

    And yet, this wasn’t the work of a global health agency or virology lab. The discovery came from a 25-year-old Ugandan undergraduate, Bosco Atukwatse, working with our small Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust Kyambura Lion Project team in Queen Elizabeth National Park. His only tools: a trail camera, curiosity and ecological instinct.

    I am a conservation scientist with over 17 years of experience in wildlife ecology, monitoring and human-wildlife conflict. I’m the co-founder of the Kyambura Lion Project, which made this discovery.

    For years, scientists studying how diseases spread from animals to humans have hypothesised that zoonotic diseases jump from a wildlife reservoir (like a bat) to an intermediate host (monkey) and potentially to us, humans.

    For past Marburg outbreaks in Uganda, two spillover pathways have been identified: the first, involves humans coming into contact with a fruit bat habitat (namely caves filled with bat guano). Indeed, fruit bats are thought to have infected two tourists at Python Cave in 2007 and 2008.

    The second pathway involves humans and animals eating the same fruit that bats have fed upon or made contact with. This second spillover pathway was identified by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists in 2023. They tracked bats from the cave entering cultivated gardens to feed.

    But Atukwatse and the team of young Ugandan scientists (Yahaya Ssemakula, Johnson Muhereza, Orin Cornille and Winfred Nsabimana) have potentially found another pathway: predation by at least 14 species.

    Such rich visual evidence of a viral interface – bats, predators and people – is virtually non-existent in the literature. Many theoretical depictions of this process exist, and there are isolated incidents of a monkey predating on a bat or wildlife feeding on bat guano, but Atukwatse’s discovery of this many different predators repeatedly feeding on a known Marburg virus reservoir is a first.

    His discovery highlights two uncomfortable truths:

    • many potential zoonotic interfaces remain undocumented – often right under our noses

    • the people most likely to detect them first are those living closest to wild frontiers.

    But the bigger message is this: global health institutions need to stop overlooking local scientists and start funding field-based detection systems across Africa and Asia.

    If we want to detect the next outbreak early, we should be empowering more Atukwatses, not waiting for the next lab test.

    A hunch pays off

    In early February 2025, Atukwatse and our small team of local scientists was expanding our long-term African leopard and spotted hyena monitoring grid into a new part of Queen Elizabeth National Park – the Kyambura Wildlife Reserve and Maramagambo forest.

    Atukwatse had heard from nearby guides that a large bat cave lay close to the survey grid. That kind of site, he reasoned, could be perfect leopard territory: a place to hunt, rest or avoid the heat.

    This is ecological attentiveness at its best – the field biology equivalent of a commodities trader spotting volatility in a geopolitical flashpoint.

    Atukwatse had his radar on and acted on instinct, setting five camera traps at the cave’s entrance and along the surrounding animal trails. Just one week later, he got what he hoped for: three separate clips of a leopard hunting bats in broad daylight. He left the cameras in place in protective casing. He checked them every 7–10 days.

    But that was just the beginning.

    The scale of the discovery

    When I first looked at Atukwatse’s videos, our joint excitement was around the leopard footage. We knew they were adaptable and could even eat small rodents , but no one had ever recorded them eating bats in Africa.

    As more clips came in, we realised something bigger was unfolding. Blue monkeys were seen grabbing bats mid-roost. A crowned eagle and a Nile monitor fought over two bat carcasses. A fish eagle – typically a piscivore, which is a carnivorous species that primarily eats fish – was filmed clutching bats in its talons.



    Read more:
    African wild dogs: DNA tests of their faeces reveal surprises about what they eat

    Over 304 trap-nights, Atukwatse’s traps recorded 261 independent predator events from at least 14 different species.

    Then came the second shock: over 400 human visitors – many of them tourists – were filmed approaching the cave mouth without any protective gear. Some stood just metres from a known Marburg virus reservoir. Importantly, the Uganda Wildlife Authority has built a sanctioned viewing platform about 35 metres from the cave. However, tourists broke park rules and walked within two metres of the cave mouth.

    It was only after I visited the cave myself to take stills of the team that we put this all together. Atukwatse had just found the first visual evidence, at a large scale in nature, of at least 14 predators feeding on a known wildlife virus reservoir harbouring one of Earth’s deadliest viruses.

    This wasn’t the result of million-dollar pathogen surveillance. It wasn’t even the core aim of our leopard survey. This happened because a young Ugandan field scientist followed his ecological gut.

    Why does the discovery matter?

    For decades, disease ecologists have known that major outbreaks often originate in wildlife – swine flu, avian flu and even SARS-CoV-2 all trace back to animal hosts. But what’s often missing is direct observation of spillover interfaces – the exact moments when a virus jumps from a bat, goose, or other animal into new species like humans, livestock or other wildlife.

    Atukwatse’s discovery may be the first large-scale visual record of such an interface in nature: a roost of Egyptian fruit bats known to harbour a deadly virus, actively predated upon by at least 14 species, with hundreds of humans visiting the same cave mouth unprotected.

    This may be a Rosetta Stone moment for spillover ecology – shifting our understanding from hypothetical models to a real, observable interface.

    These kinds of spillover sites exist in other places in nature: in a Chinese wet market where a civet meets a meat processor, or in a Gabonese village where a bat is butchered for bushmeat. The difference? Most of them go undocumented. Atukwatse just filmed one.

    Alexander Richard Braczkowski is the scientific director of the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust Kyambura Lion Project.

    – ref. How does Marburg virus spread between species? Young Ugandan scientist’s photos give important clues – https://theconversation.com/how-does-marburg-virus-spread-between-species-young-ugandan-scientists-photos-give-important-clues-259806

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Sudan: “Security conditions remain dire” – Briefing to the Security Council | United Nations

    Source: United Nations (video statements)

    Security Council briefing by Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee , Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs – Department of Peace Operations, on Sudan and South Sudan.

    UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Pobee said that the security conditions in Sudan remain dire.

    Briefing the Security Council today (27 Jun) Pobee said, “Security conditions remain dire, marked by shifting frontlines, increased and often indiscriminate aerial assaults by both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, and continuous attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals.”

    She continued, “The warring parties appear unrelenting in their resolve to pursue military objectives. The fighting shows no signs of abating. In recent weeks, the focus of the conflict has shifted once more to the Darfur and Kordofan regions. The Kordofans are increasingly emerging as an epicenter of fighting.”

    She highlighted, “We are particularly worried about the growing use of advanced weaponry, including long range drones. This has expanded hostilities into previously stable areas of the country. Aerial attacks in populated areas have already caused significant civilian casualties and mass displacement.”

    She concluded, “It is time to take concrete steps to end the senseless suffering of the Sudanese people. Too many lives have been lost, too much trauma has been inflicted, and the risk of regional conflagration is too great, to allow this conflict to fester any longer. I call on the wider international community to work together, for our multilateral partners to join hands, and for the Council to lead the way in resolving the conflict in Sudan.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-eGv-xlVng

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: How does Marburg virus spread between species? Young Ugandan scientist’s photos give important clues

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Alexander Richard Braczkowski, Research Fellow at the Centre for Planetary Health and Resilient Conservation Group, Griffith University

    In the shadows of Python Cave, Uganda, a leopard leaps from a guano mound – formed by bat excrement – and sinks its teeth into a bat. But this is no ordinary bat colony. The thousands of Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) found in this cave are known carriers of one of the world’s deadliest viruses: Marburg, a close cousin of Ebola.

    Over just four months, our cameras recorded 261 predator encounters: crowned eagles, Nile monitors, leopards, pythons and blue monkeys all caught feeding on, or scavenging from this virus-harbouring colony.

    And yet, this wasn’t the work of a global health agency or virology lab. The discovery came from a 25-year-old Ugandan undergraduate, Bosco Atukwatse, working with our small Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust Kyambura Lion Project team in Queen Elizabeth National Park. His only tools: a trail camera, curiosity and ecological instinct.

    I am a conservation scientist with over 17 years of experience in wildlife ecology, monitoring and human-wildlife conflict. I’m the co-founder of the Kyambura Lion Project, which made this discovery.

    For years, scientists studying how diseases spread from animals to humans have hypothesised that zoonotic diseases jump from a wildlife reservoir (like a bat) to an intermediate host (monkey) and potentially to us, humans.

    For past Marburg outbreaks in Uganda, two spillover pathways have been identified: the first, involves humans coming into contact with a fruit bat habitat (namely caves filled with bat guano). Indeed, fruit bats are thought to have infected two tourists at Python Cave in 2007 and 2008.

    The second pathway involves humans and animals eating the same fruit that bats have fed upon or made contact with. This second spillover pathway was identified by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists in 2023. They tracked bats from the cave entering cultivated gardens to feed.

    But Atukwatse and the team of young Ugandan scientists (Yahaya Ssemakula, Johnson Muhereza, Orin Cornille and Winfred Nsabimana) have potentially found another pathway: predation by at least 14 species.

    Such rich visual evidence of a viral interface – bats, predators and people – is virtually non-existent in the literature. Many theoretical depictions of this process exist, and there are isolated incidents of a monkey predating on a bat or wildlife feeding on bat guano, but Atukwatse’s discovery of this many different predators repeatedly feeding on a known Marburg virus reservoir is a first.

    A leopard grabs a fruit bat at Uganda’s Python Cave. Bosco Atukwatse/Kyambura Lion Project

    His discovery highlights two uncomfortable truths:

    • many potential zoonotic interfaces remain undocumented – often right under our noses

    • the people most likely to detect them first are those living closest to wild frontiers.

    But the bigger message is this: global health institutions need to stop overlooking local scientists and start funding field-based detection systems across Africa and Asia.

    If we want to detect the next outbreak early, we should be empowering more Atukwatses, not waiting for the next lab test.

    A hunch pays off

    In early February 2025, Atukwatse and our small team of local scientists was expanding our long-term African leopard and spotted hyena monitoring grid into a new part of Queen Elizabeth National Park – the Kyambura Wildlife Reserve and Maramagambo forest.

    Atukwatse had heard from nearby guides that a large bat cave lay close to the survey grid. That kind of site, he reasoned, could be perfect leopard territory: a place to hunt, rest or avoid the heat.

    This is ecological attentiveness at its best – the field biology equivalent of a commodities trader spotting volatility in a geopolitical flashpoint.

    A blue monkey with bat in hand at Python Cave. Bosco Atukwatse/Kyambura Lion Project

    Atukwatse had his radar on and acted on instinct, setting five camera traps at the cave’s entrance and along the surrounding animal trails. Just one week later, he got what he hoped for: three separate clips of a leopard hunting bats in broad daylight. He left the cameras in place in protective casing. He checked them every 7–10 days.

    But that was just the beginning.

    The scale of the discovery

    When I first looked at Atukwatse’s videos, our joint excitement was around the leopard footage. We knew they were adaptable and could even eat small rodents , but no one had ever recorded them eating bats in Africa.

    As more clips came in, we realised something bigger was unfolding. Blue monkeys were seen grabbing bats mid-roost. A crowned eagle and a Nile monitor fought over two bat carcasses. A fish eagle – typically a piscivore, which is a carnivorous species that primarily eats fish – was filmed clutching bats in its talons.

    Read more: African wild dogs: DNA tests of their faeces reveal surprises about what they eat

    Over 304 trap-nights, Atukwatse’s traps recorded 261 independent predator events from at least 14 different species.

    Then came the second shock: over 400 human visitors – many of them tourists – were filmed approaching the cave mouth without any protective gear. Some stood just metres from a known Marburg virus reservoir. Importantly, the Uganda Wildlife Authority has built a sanctioned viewing platform about 35 metres from the cave. However, tourists broke park rules and walked within two metres of the cave mouth.

    Bosco Atukwatse.

    It was only after I visited the cave myself to take stills of the team that we put this all together. Atukwatse had just found the first visual evidence, at a large scale in nature, of at least 14 predators feeding on a known wildlife virus reservoir harbouring one of Earth’s deadliest viruses.

    This wasn’t the result of million-dollar pathogen surveillance. It wasn’t even the core aim of our leopard survey. This happened because a young Ugandan field scientist followed his ecological gut.

    Why does the discovery matter?

    For decades, disease ecologists have known that major outbreaks often originate in wildlife – swine flu, avian flu and even SARS-CoV-2 all trace back to animal hosts. But what’s often missing is direct observation of spillover interfaces – the exact moments when a virus jumps from a bat, goose, or other animal into new species like humans, livestock or other wildlife.

    Atukwatse’s discovery may be the first large-scale visual record of such an interface in nature: a roost of Egyptian fruit bats known to harbour a deadly virus, actively predated upon by at least 14 species, with hundreds of humans visiting the same cave mouth unprotected.

    This may be a Rosetta Stone moment for spillover ecology – shifting our understanding from hypothetical models to a real, observable interface.

    These kinds of spillover sites exist in other places in nature: in a Chinese wet market where a civet meets a meat processor, or in a Gabonese village where a bat is butchered for bushmeat. The difference? Most of them go undocumented. Atukwatse just filmed one.

    – How does Marburg virus spread between species? Young Ugandan scientist’s photos give important clues
    – https://theconversation.com/how-does-marburg-virus-spread-between-species-young-ugandan-scientists-photos-give-important-clues-259806

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Seychelles: Courtesy Call by Ambassador Jardine and Rear Admiral Mattis on Minister Radegonde


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    On Friday, 27 June 2025, H.E. Henry Jardine, United States Ambassador to Seychelles, and Rear Admiral Michael Mattis, Director of Strategic Effects at U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF), paid a courtesy call on Mr. Sylvestre Radegonde, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, at Maison Quéau de Quinssy.

    The meeting focused primarily on enhancing maritime and defence cooperation, particularly through the ongoing initiatives of NAVEUR–NAVAF. Discussions covered the challenges faced in patrolling Seychelles’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the potential for leveraging drone technology to assist in maritime surveillance efforts.

    Minister Radegonde commended NAVEUR–NAVAF for its leadership in promoting maritime security in the region and for its continued support in building the capacity of the Seychelles Defence Forces through joint exercises. Notably, he highlighted the successful 2025 edition of Cutlass Express, which was conducted earlier this year under the leadership of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).

    Minister Radegonde also expressed his appreciation for the United States’ participation in this year’s National Day Parade, underlining the strength of the bilateral relationship.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Republic of Seychelles.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Collaborative work between Seychelles and the European Union (EU) continues to bear fruit


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    The Head of the European Union Delegation for the Seychelles, H.E. Ambassador Oskar Benedikt paid a courtesy call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Minister Sylvestre Radegonde, on Friday 27th June 2025, at Maison Quéau de Quinssy.

    During their meeting, they discussed the cooperation between the European Union and Seychelles, particularly the status of the Port Victoria Rehabilitation and Extension Project and the implementation of the ‘European Solidarity Action Plan with Seychelles’, a Technical Cooperation Facility between the EU and Seychelles signed in 2024. They also touched on the progress of the ongoing negotiation to deepen and broaden the interim Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Eastern and Southern Africa configuration (the latter comprises of Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Zimbabwe).

    They further discussed the EU’s list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes and the efforts being done by the Government to ensure that Seychelles be removed from the list. The upcoming presidential and legislative elections was also discussed by Minister Radegonde and Ambassador Benedikt.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Republic of Seychelles.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Despite efforts towards a political solution, violence still rages in the east


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    As the Foreign Ministers of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) signed a draft peace agreement in Washington this Friday, tensions and violence continue to grip eastern DRC. 

    Since January, the region has seen a new escalation of violence as the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group launched an offensive in North and South Kivu provinces.

    While tensions persist in the DRC, both frontlines and negotiation positions are shifting, paving the way for peace, the Security Council heard this Friday.

    The path to lasting peace in the DRC requires “collective action,” said Bintou Keita, Head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, MONUSCO.

    “Priority must be given to dialogue over division, and national cohesion must be actively preserved,” she said.

    Yet, while diplomatic efforts focus on ways to address the current crisis, the situation in other regions within MONUSCO’s area of operations also demands urgent attention.

    Humanitarian situation

    With seven million people currently displaced across the country, 27.8 million people facing food insecurity and almost 1.4 million children in acute malnutrition, the humanitarian situation is dire. 

    The security crisis in the east of the country has worsened the humanitarian situation, yet due to funding cuts, MONUSCO does not have sufficient means to respond to it accordingly. 

    The suspension of funding from MONUSCO’s main donor, which covered 70 per cent of the humanitarian response in 2024, is “forcing humanitarian actors to focus solely on life-saving emergencies,” said Ms. Keita. 

    “We are at the end of July, and the humanitarian response plan is only 11 per cent funded,” she added. 

    Insecurity, sexual violence and abductions

    Violence in the east of the country continues to disproportionately affect women, boys, and girls, notably as rape and other forms of sexual violence are still being systematically used as weapons of war.

    Men and boys accused of links with opposing forces are at risk of abduction, while women and girls who have survived sexual violence face severely limited access to healthcare, as healthcare facilities are often targeted by attacks. 

    In 2025, over 290 schools were destroyed, with ongoing cycles of violence keeping 1.3 million children out of the education system in Ituri, in the east of the country.  

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN News.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Visit of Prime Minister to Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia (July 02 – 09)


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    Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will undertake a visit to Ghana from July 02-03, 2025. This will be Prime Minister’s first ever bilateral visit to Ghana. This Prime Ministerial visit from India to Ghana is taking place after three decades. During the visit, Prime Minister will hold talks with the President of Ghana to review the strong bilateral partnership and discuss further avenues to enhance it through economic, energy, and defence collaboration, and development cooperation partnership. This visit will reaffirm the shared commitment of the two countries to deepen bilateral ties and strengthen India’s engagement with the ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States] and the African Union.

    In the second leg of his visit, at the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, H.E. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister will pay an Official Visit to Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) from July 03 – 04, 2025. This will be his first visit to the country as Prime Minister and the first bilateral visit at the Prime Ministerial level to T&T since 1999. During the visit, Prime Minister will hold talks with the President of Trinidad & Tobago, H.E. Christine Carla Kangaloo, and Prime Minister H.E. Kamla Persad-Bissessar and discuss further strengthening of the India-Trinidad & Tobago relationship. Prime Minister is also expected to address a Joint Session of the Parliament of T&T. The visit of Prime Minister to T&T will impart fresh impetus to the deep-rooted and historical ties between the two countries.

    In the third leg of his visit, at the invitation of the President of Republic of Argentina, H.E. Mr. Javier Milei, Prime Minister will travel to Argentina on an Official Visit from July 04-05, 2025. Prime Minister is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with President Milei to review ongoing cooperation and discuss ways to further enhance India-Argentina partnership in key areas including defence, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, renewable energy, trade and investment, and people-to-people ties. The bilateral visit of Prime Minister will further deepen the multifaceted Strategic Partnership between India and Argentina.

    In the fourth leg of his visit, at the invitation of President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, H.E. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Prime Minister will travel to Brazil from July 5-8, 2025 to attend the 17th BRICS Summit 2025 followed by a State Visit. This will be Prime Minister’s fourth visit to Brazil. The 17th BRICS Leaders’ Summit will be held in Rio de Janeiro. During the Summit, Prime Minister will exchange views on key global issues including reform of global governance, peace and security, strengthening multilateralism, responsible use of artificial intelligence, climate action, global health, economic and financial matters. Prime Minister is also likely to hold several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Summit. For the State Visit to Brazil, Prime Minister will travel to Brasilia where he will hold bilateral discussions with President Lula on the broadening of the Strategic Partnership between the two countries in areas of mutual interest, including trade, defence, energy, space, technology, agriculture, health and people to people linkages.

    In the final leg of his visit, at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Namibia, H.E. Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Prime Minister will embark on a State Visit to Namibia on July 09, 2025. This will be the first visit of Prime Minister to Namibia, and the third ever Prime Ministerial visit from India to Namibia. During his visit, Prime Minister will hold bilateral talks with President Nandi-Ndaitwah. Prime Minister will also pay homage to the Founding Father and first President of Namibia, Late Dr. Sam Nujoma. He is also expected to deliver an address at the Parliament of Namibia. The visit of Prime Minister is a reiteration of India’s multi-faceted and deep-rooted historical ties with Namibia.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of External Affairs – Government of India.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: The King and Queen of Lesotho to Visit Japan


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    H.M. Letsie III, King of the Kingdom of Lesotho and H.M. Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso will pay a visit to Japan from June 29 to July 4.

    During their stay in Japan, Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress will participate the National Day Event of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, as official guest of the Government of Japan.

    The visit of Their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress is expected to further develop the bilateral relations between Japan and Lesotho.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Ukraine on the Peace Agreement Between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    Download logo

    We welcome the signing of the peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda.

    This important achievement for Africa and international security has been made possible thanks to the decisive role of the United States and personally President Donald Trump, as well as a number of countries and international organizations.

    In particular, we commend the constructive efforts of the Presidents of Angola and Kenya, the African Union, the East African Community, the Southern African Development Community, and the United Nations.

    The State of Qatar has made a significant contribution to advancing the peace settlement, especially by ensuring complementarity and coherence among various mediation initiatives.

    Ukraine highly values the effective mediation by the United States. We congratulate U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and American diplomacy on this achievement. The active involvement of the American side in the negotiation process played a decisive role in reaching and signing the peace agreement.

    We hope for the responsible efforts of both parties in implementing the peace agreement and in ensuring lasting peace and security in the Great Lakes region. This will create favourable conditions for strengthening the economic potential and social stability of the states in the region, improving their investment attractiveness, and deepening economic ties with other countries.

    Ukraine reaffirms its commitment to comprehensively intensify mutually beneficial cooperation with the countries of the region, including a readiness to contribute meaningfully to achieving their socio-economic development goals.

    We are confident that the United States can play a similarly decisive role in achieving a just peace and ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. This peace agreement demonstrates that it is possible to stop the killing and restore peace even under challenging circumstances, when the international community acts resolutely and the parties participate in the peace process in good faith.

    We emphasize that the foundation of the peaceful settlement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda is based on the fundamental principles of the UN Charter, including the mutual obligation of states to respect each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty within internationally recognized borders, to refrain from the threat or use of force, to avoid interference in internal affairs, and to facilitate the return of refugees and internally displaced persons.

    It is precisely these universally recognized principles of international law that underpin Ukraine’s proposals for ending the war in Europe and restoring a comprehensive, just, and sustainable peace for Ukraine.

    – on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: UN chief welcomes peace deal between DRC and Rwanda

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    UNITED NATIONS, June 28 (Xinhua) — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday welcomed the signing of a peace deal between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.

    “This agreement is an important step towards de-escalation, peace and stability in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region,” A. Guterres said in a statement.

    “I urge the parties to fully implement the commitments they made under the peace agreement and in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2773, including the cessation of hostilities and all other agreed measures,” said A. Guterres.

    He added that the UN remains fully committed to supporting the implementation of the agreement in close coordination with the African Union, as well as regional and international partners.

    A peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda was signed in Washington on Friday with the mediation of the United States. –0–

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Talks result in PNG and Bougainville signing ‘Melanesian Agreement’

    RNZ Pacific

    The leaders of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea have signed a deal that may bring the autonomous region’s quest for independence closer.

    Called “Melanesian Agreement”, the deal was developed earlier this month in 10 days of discussion at the New Zealand army base at Burnham, near Christchurch.

    Both governments have agreed that the national Parliament in PNG has a key role in the decision over the push for independence.

    They recognise that the Bougainville desire for independence is legitimate, as expressed in a 2019 independence referendum result, and that this is a unique situation in PNG.

    That is the agreement’s attempt to overcome pressure from other parts of PNG that are also talking about autonomy.

    The parties say they are committed to maintaining a close, peaceful and enduring relationship between PNG and Bougainville.

    Both sides said that to bring referendum results to the national Parliament both governments would develop a sessional order, which was a the temporary adjustment of Parliament’s rules.

    Bipartisan Parliamentary Committee
    They said that a Bipartisan Parliamentary Committee on Bougainville, which would provide information to MPs and the general public about the Bougainville conflict and resolution, is a vital body.

    The parties said they would explore the joint creation of a Melanesian framework with agreed timelines, for a pathway forwards, that may form part of the Joint Consultations Report presented to the 11th National Parliament.

    Once the Bipartisan Committee completes its work, the results of the referendum and the Joint Consultation Report would be taken to the Parliament.

    The parties said they would accept the decision of the national Parliament, in the first instance, regarding the referendum results, and then commit to further consultations if needed, and this would be in an agreed timeline.

    In the meantime, institutional strengthening and institutional building within Bougainville would continue.

    To ensure progress is made and political commitment is sustained, the monitoring of this Melanesian Agreement could include an international component, a Parliamentary component, and the Bipartisan Parliamentary Committee, all with UN support.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Talks result in PNG and Bougainville signing ‘Melanesian Agreement’

    RNZ Pacific

    The leaders of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea have signed a deal that may bring the autonomous region’s quest for independence closer.

    Called “Melanesian Agreement”, the deal was developed earlier this month in 10 days of discussion at the New Zealand army base at Burnham, near Christchurch.

    Both governments have agreed that the national Parliament in PNG has a key role in the decision over the push for independence.

    They recognise that the Bougainville desire for independence is legitimate, as expressed in a 2019 independence referendum result, and that this is a unique situation in PNG.

    That is the agreement’s attempt to overcome pressure from other parts of PNG that are also talking about autonomy.

    The parties say they are committed to maintaining a close, peaceful and enduring relationship between PNG and Bougainville.

    Both sides said that to bring referendum results to the national Parliament both governments would develop a sessional order, which was a the temporary adjustment of Parliament’s rules.

    Bipartisan Parliamentary Committee
    They said that a Bipartisan Parliamentary Committee on Bougainville, which would provide information to MPs and the general public about the Bougainville conflict and resolution, is a vital body.

    The parties said they would explore the joint creation of a Melanesian framework with agreed timelines, for a pathway forwards, that may form part of the Joint Consultations Report presented to the 11th National Parliament.

    Once the Bipartisan Committee completes its work, the results of the referendum and the Joint Consultation Report would be taken to the Parliament.

    The parties said they would accept the decision of the national Parliament, in the first instance, regarding the referendum results, and then commit to further consultations if needed, and this would be in an agreed timeline.

    In the meantime, institutional strengthening and institutional building within Bougainville would continue.

    To ensure progress is made and political commitment is sustained, the monitoring of this Melanesian Agreement could include an international component, a Parliamentary component, and the Bipartisan Parliamentary Committee, all with UN support.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • India emerges as global leader in child immunization: zero-dose rate halves in one year

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    India has recorded a significant milestone in its national immunization efforts, with the percentage of zero-dose children—those who have not received a single vaccine—falling from 0.11% in 2023 to 0.06% in 2024. The achievement has been acknowledged in the 2024 report by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), positioning India as a global leader in child health and immunization.

    The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in a statement issued on Saturday, attributed the progress to India’s robust Universal Immunization Programme (UIP), which provides free vaccines to 2.9 crore pregnant women and 2.6 crore infants annually. More than 1.3 crore immunization sessions are conducted across the country by healthcare workers, including ASHAs and ANMs, ensuring widespread vaccine outreach.

    This progress has drawn global recognition, with India being awarded the prestigious *Measles and Rubella Champion Award* by The Measles and Rubella Partnership in March 2024 at a ceremony held in Washington, D.C. The award recognizes India’s sustained commitment to eliminating vaccine-preventable diseases.

    In addition to reductions in zero-dose prevalence, India has also seen significant improvements in broader health outcomes. According to the United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (UN-MMEIG), India’s Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) declined to 80 per lakh live births in 2023—an 86% reduction since 1990, far outpacing the global decline of 48%. The country has also achieved a 78% decline in Under-Five Mortality Rate and a 70% decline in Neonatal Mortality Rate during the 1990–2023 period, compared to global reductions of 61% and 54%, respectively.

    India’s UIP has undergone considerable expansion in the past decade. From just six vaccines in 2013, the program now covers 12 vaccine-preventable diseases, including the addition of Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine (IPV), Rotavirus Vaccine, Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, and Measles-Rubella Vaccine, among others.

    The government’s intensified initiatives, such as *Mission Indradhanush*, have played a key role in reaching underserved populations. Since its launch in 2014—and with significant intensification in 2017—the campaign has vaccinated over 5.46 crore children and 1.32 crore pregnant women who were previously unreached or under-immunized.

    A targeted *Zero Dose Implementation Plan 2024* is currently underway in 143 districts across 11 states, addressing vaccine coverage gaps among migratory populations, urban slums, and regions with persistent vaccine hesitancy. India has also maintained its polio-free status since 2014 through sustained Pulse Polio campaigns, and regularly organizes Village Health and Nutrition Days (VHNDs) for community-based immunization efforts.

    Digital innovations like the *U-WIN platform* are being leveraged to track immunization data and prevent dropouts. Public engagement strategies—ranging from social media outreach to street plays—are being used to increase awareness and reduce vaccine hesitancy.

    Data from the WHO-UNICEF Estimates of National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC) 2023 report shows India outperforming global averages across all antigens. The country’s DTP-1 (Pentavalent-1) coverage stands at 93%, significantly higher than Nigeria’s 70%. The dropout rate between DTP-1 and DTP-3 has also decreased sharply from 7% in 2013 to just 2% in 2023. Measles vaccine coverage improved from 83% to 93% over the same period.

    The government emphasized that comparisons with other countries must consider India’s massive population base. While countries like Yemen (1.68%), Sudan (1.45%), and Nigeria (0.98%) continue to report high proportions of zero-dose children, India’s 0.06% rate, despite a far larger birth cohort, reflects substantial progress.

  • MIL-Evening Report: Eugene Doyle: Why Asia-Pacific should be cheering for Iran and not US bomb-based statecraft

    ANALYSIS: By Eugene Doyle

    Setting aside any thoughts I may have about theocratic rulers (whether they be in Tel Aviv or Tehran), I am personally glad that Iran was able to hold out against the US-Israeli attacks this month.

    The ceasefire, however, will only be a pause in the long-running campaign to destabilise, weaken and isolate Iran. Regime change or pariah status are both acceptable outcomes for the US-Israeli dyad.

    The good news for my region is that Iran’s resilience pushes back what could be a looming calamity: the US pivot to Asia and a heightened risk of a war on China.

    There are three major pillars to the Eurasian order that is going through a slow, painful and violent birth.  Iran is the weakest.  If Iran falls, war in our region — intended or unintended – becomes vastly more likely.

    Mainstream New Zealanders and Australians suffer from an understandable complacency: war is what happens to other, mainly darker people or Slavs.

    “Tomorrow”, people in this part of the world naively think, “will always be like yesterday”.

    That could change, particularly for the Australians, in the kind of unfamiliar flash-boom Israelis experienced this month following their attack on Iran. And here’s why.

    US chooses war to re-shape Middle East
     Back in 2001, as many will recall, retired General Wesley Clark, former Supreme Commander of NATO forces in Europe, was visiting buddies in the Pentagon. He learnt something he wasn’t supposed to: the Bush administration had made plans in the febrile post 9/11 environment to attack seven Muslim countries.

    In the firing line were: Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, the Assad regime in Syria, Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon, Gaddafi’s Libya, Somalia, Sudan and the biggest prize of all — the Islamic Republic of Iran.

    One would have to say that the project, pursued by successive presidents, both Democrat and Republican, has been a great success — if you discount the fact that a couple of million human beings, most of them civilians, many of them women and children, nearly all of them innocents, were slaughtered, starved to death or otherwise disposed of.

    With the exception of Iran, those countries have endured chaos and civil strife for long painful years.  A triumph of American bomb-based statecraft.

    Now — with Muammar Gaddafi raped and murdered (“We came, we saw, he died”, Hillary Clinton chuckled on camera the same day), Saddam Hussein hanged, Hezbollah decapitated, Assad in Moscow, the genocide in full swing in Palestine — the US and Israel were finally able to turn their guns — or, rather, bombs — on the great prize: Iran.

    Iran’s missiles have checked US-Israel for time being
     Things did not go to plan. Former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman pointed out this week that for the first time Israel got a taste of the medicine it likes to dispense to its neighbours.

    Iran’s missiles successfully turned the much-vaunted Iron Dome into an Iron Sieve and, perhaps momentarily, has achieved deterrence. If Iran falls, the US will be able to do what Barack Obama and Joe Biden only salivated over — a serious pivot to Asia.

    Could great power rivalry turn Asia-Pacific into powderkeg?
     For us in Asia-Pacific a major US pivot to Asia will mean soaring defence budgets to support militarisation, aggressive containment of China, provocative naval deployments, more sanctions, muscling smaller states, increased numbers of bases, new missile systems, info wars, threats and the ratcheting up rhetoric — all of which will bring us ever-closer to the powderkeg.

    Sounds utterly mad? Sounds devoid of rationality? Lacking commonsense? Welcome to our world — bellum Americanum — as we gormlessly march flame in hand towards the tinderbox. War is not written in the stars, we can change tack and rediscover diplomacy, restraint, and peaceful coexistence. Or is that too much to ask?

    Back in the days of George W Bush, radical American thinkers like Robert Kagan, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld created the Project for a New American Century and developed the policy, adopted by succeeding presidents, that promotes “the belief that America should seek to preserve and extend its position of global leadership by maintaining the preeminence of US military forces”.

    It reconfirmed the neoconservative American dogma that no power should be allowed to rise in any region to become a regional hegemon; anything and everything necessary should be done to ensure continued American primacy, including the resort to war.

    What has changed since those days are two crucial, epoch-making events: the re-emergence of Russia as a great power, albeit the weakest of the three, and the emergence of China as a genuine peer competitor to the USA. Professor  John Mearsheimer’s insights are well worth studying on this topic.

    The three pillars of multipolarity
     A new world order really is being born. As geopolitical thinkers like Professor Glenn Diesen point out, it will, if it is not killed in the cradle, replace the US unipolar world order that has existed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

    Many countries are involved in its birthing, including major players like India and Brazil and all the countries that are part of BRICS.  Three countries, however, are central to the project: Iran, Russia and, most importantly, China.  All three are in the crosshairs of the Western empire.

    If Iran, Russia and China survive as independent entities, they will partially fulfill Halford MacKinder’s early 20th century heartland theory that whoever dominates Eurasia will rule the world. I don’t think MacKinder, however, foresaw cooperative multipolarity on the Eurasian landmass — which is one of the goals of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) – as an option.

    That, increasingly, appears to be the most likely trajectory with multiple powerful states that will not accept domination, be that from China or the US.  That alone should give us cause for hope.

    Drunk on power since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US has launched war after war and brought us to the current abandonment of economic sanity (the sanctions-and-tariff global pandemic) and diplomatic normalcy (kill any peace negotiators you see) — and an anything-goes foreign policy (including massive crimes against humanity).

    We have also reached — thanks in large part to these same policies — what a former US national security advisor warned must be avoided at all costs. Back in the 1990s, Zbigniew Brzezinski said, “The most dangerous scenario would be a grand coalition of China, Russia, and perhaps Iran.”

    Belligerent and devoid of sound strategy, the Biden and Trump administrations have achieved just that.

    Can Asia-Pacific avoid being dragged into an American war on China?
     Turning to our region, New Zealand and Australia’s governments cleave to yesterday: a white-dominated world led by the USA.  We have shown ourselves indifferent to massacres, ethnic cleansing and wars of aggression launched by our team.

    To avoid war — or a permanent fear of looming war — in our own backyards, we need to encourage sanity and diplomacy; we need to stay close to the US but step away from the military alliances they are forming, such as AUKUS which is aimed squarely at China.

    Above all, our defence and foreign affairs elites need to grow new neural pathways and start to think with vision and not place ourselves on the losing side of history. Independent foreign policy settings based around peace, defence not aggression, diplomacy not militarisation, would take us in the right direction.

    Personally I look forward to the day the US and its increasingly belligerent vassals are pushed back into the ranks of ordinary humanity. I fear the US far more than I do China.

    Despite the reflexive adherence to the US that our leaders are stuck on, we should not, if we value our lives and our cultures, allow ourselves to be part of this mad, doomed project.

    The US empire is heading into a blood-drenched sunset; their project will fail and the 500-year empire of the White West will end — starting and finishing with genocide.

    Every day I atheistically pray that leaders or a movement will emerge to guide our antipodean countries out of the clutches of a violent and increasingly incoherent USA.

    America is not our friend. China is not our enemy. Tomorrow gives birth to a world that we should look forward to and do the little we can to help shape.

    Eugene Doyle is a writer based in Wellington. He has written extensively on the Middle East, as well as peace and security issues in the Asia Pacific region. He contributes to Asia Pacific Report and Café Pacific, and hosts the public policy platform solidarity.co.nz

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: New wealth of top 1% surges by over $33.9 trillion since 2015 – enough to end poverty 22 times over, as Oxfam warns global development “abysmally off track” ahead of crunch talks

    Source: Oxfam –

    • Oxfam condemns “private finance takeover” of development efforts, as over 3.7 billion people remain in poverty ten years after the Sustainable Development Goals were agreed. 
       
    • New Oxfam analysis unveils “astronomical rise in private wealth”. Between 1995 and 2023, global private wealth grew by $342 trillion – 8 times more than public wealth.  
       
    • Oxfam analysis also shows governments are making the largest cuts to life-saving aid since aid records began. Aid cuts could cause 2.9 million more children and adults to die by 2030, from HIV/AIDS causes alone. 
    • Results of a new global survey show 9 out of 10 people support paying for public services and climate action through taxing the super-rich. 
    • Oxfam urges new strategic alliances to address inequality; urgently revitalize aid and tax the super-rich; and assert new “public-first” approach over private finance. 

    The world’s richest 1% increased their wealth by more than $33.9 trillion in real terms since 2015, reveals new Oxfam analysis ahead of the world’s largest development financing talks in a decade, in Seville, Spain. This is more than enough to eliminate annual poverty 22 times over at the World Bank’s highest poverty line of $8.30 a day. The wealth of just 3,000 billionaires has surged $6.5 trillion in real terms since 2015, and now comprises the equivalent of 14.6% of global GDP.

    Oxfam’s new briefing paper, “From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy”, launches today ahead of the June 30 fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, hosted by Spain and joined by over 190 countries.  

    Wealthy governments are making the largest cuts to life-saving development aid since aid records began in 1960. Oxfam analysis finds that G7 countries alone, who account for around three-quarters of all official aid, are cutting aid by 28% for 2026 compared to 2024. Whilst critical aid is cut, the debt crisis is bankrupting governments – 60% of low-income countries are at the edge of a debt crisis – with the poorest countries paying out far more to repay their rich creditors than they are able to spend on classrooms or clinics. Only 16% of the targets for the Global Goals are on track for 2030. 

    Oxfam’s new analysis examines the failures of a private investor-focused approach to funding development. A decade-long effort by major development actors to recast their mission as one of supporting powerful Global North financial actors has led in fact to a host of harms and at the same time only mobilized paltry sums. The analysis also looks at the role of private creditors, who now outpace bilateral lenders by five times and account for more than half the debt owed by low- and middle-income countries, in exacerbating the debt crisis with their refusal to negotiate and their punitive terms. 

    “Seville is the first major gathering of countries worldwide at a time that life-saving aid is being decimated, a trade war has started, and multilateralism being fractured – all in the backdrop of the second Trump administration. There is glaring evidence that global development is desperately failing because – as the last decade shows – the interests of a very wealthy few are put over those of everyone else,” said Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International. 

    What the World Bank described as a “billions to trillions” paradigm shift has been a boon for wealthy investors – the richest 1% own 43% of global assets – but now faces overwhelming evidence of failure, even according to former champions. Alarmingly, there is new momentum behind the idea of diverting the little aid that remains to private financial actors. 

    “Rich countries have put Wall Street in the driver’s seat of global development. It’s a global private finance takeover which has overrun the evidence-backed ways to tackle poverty through public investments and fair taxation. It is no wonder governments are abysmally off track, be it on fostering decent jobs, gender equality, or ending hunger. This much wealth concentration is choking efforts to end poverty”, said Behar. 

    New Oxfam analysis shows that between 1995 and 2023, global private wealth grew by $342 trillion – 8 times more than global public wealth, which grew by just $44 trillion. Global public wealth – as a share of total wealth – actually fell between 1995 and 2023.  

    Oxfam is urging governments to rally behind policy and political proposals that offer a change in course by tackling extreme inequality and transforming the development financing system:  

    • New strategic alliances against inequality. Governments must band together in new coalitions to oppose extreme inequality. Countries such as Brazil, South Africa and Spain are offering leadership to do so internationally. A new ‘Global Alliance Against Inequality’ supported by Germany, Norway, Sierra Leone and others sets an example for nations to back.  
    • Public-first approach – reject the Wall Street Consensus. Governments should reject private finance as the silver bullet to funding development. Instead, governments should invest in state-led development – to ensure universal high-quality healthcare, education and care services, and explore publicly-delivered goods in sectors from energy to transportation.  
    • Total rethink of development financing – tax the ultra-rich, revitalize aid, reform debt architecture, and move beyond GDP indicators. Global North donors must urgently reverse catastrophic cuts to lifesaving aid and meet the 0.7% ODA target as minimum. Governments must back efforts for a new UN debt convention, and support the UN tax convention, building on Brazil’s G20 effort to tax high-net-worth-individuals.   

    “Trillions of dollars exist to meet the global goals, but they’re locked away in private accounts of the ultra-wealthy. It’s time we rejected the Wall Street Consensus and instead put the public in the driving seat. Governments should heed widespread demands to tax the rich – and match it with a vision to build public goods from healthcare to energy. It’s a hopeful sign that some governments are banding together to fight inequality – more should follow their lead, starting in Seville”, said Behar. 

    Oxfam’s media briefing note, “From Private Profit to Public Power: Financing Development, Not Oligarchy” can be downloaded here.  

    Oxfam’s analysis of the historic cuts to development aid and their impact on the poorest can be found here. The modelling on HIV/AIDS deaths was published in the Lancet HIV. 

    The study that surveyed global opinion on taxing the super-rich was commissioned by Greenpeace and Oxfam International. The research was conducted by first party data company Dynata in May-June 2025, in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Kenya, Italy, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US. The survey had approximately 1200 respondents per country, with a margin of error of +-2.83%. Together, these countries represent close to half the world’s population. See the results here. 

    The cost of ending poverty is based on the annual cost of ending poverty in 2024 for one year, for the over 3.7 billion people living below the $8.30 a day poverty line, according to World Bank data. The increase in wealth of the 1% since 2015 would be more than enough to meet this cost 22 times over. Another way of expressing this is that the total amount is more than enough to completely end poverty for 22 years. This is only indicative, as the cost of ending poverty would likely fall over the next 22 years anyway as the numbers living in poverty reduce, and the value of the wealth would increase as it would not be spent all at once. But nevertheless this comparison indicates the extent to which more wealth, which is being greatly concentrated in the hands of a few, could be directed to ending poverty instead of further inflating the fortunes of the richest. For further information on the calculations see the media briefing paper. 

    Oxfam will be hosting a major high-level event together with Club de Madrid, at 7pm on July 1, 2025, in Seville, joined by high-level government representatives on the media briefing note. Journalists are invited to attend and will be prioritized for questions. Please register here. 

    Moreover, an official side event on inequality and tax reform will take place at 2.30pm on July 1, 2025, at the FIBES Exhibition Centre room 20 joined by high-level government representatives from Brazil, Spain and South Africa, international organizations and global experts. See note here. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s statement on the Signing of a Peace Agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda [scroll down for French]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

     
    Statement by the Secretary-General on the Signing of a Peace Agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda.
     
    I welcome the signing of a peace agreement on 27 June in Washington, D.C., by the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda, facilitated by the United States.
     
    This Agreement is a significant step towards de-escalation, peace and stability in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region. I commend the United States for its leadership in facilitating this process, in coordination with the State of Qatar and the African Union Mediator, his Excellency, Faure Gnassingbé of Togo. I acknowledge the contributions of the five co-facilitators designated by the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community.
     
    I urge the parties to honour in full the commitments they have undertaken in the Peace Agreement and pursuant to Security Council resolution 2773 (2025), including the cessation of hostilities and all other agreed measures.
     
    The United Nations, including through the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, remains fully committed to supporting the implementation of the agreement, in close coordination with the African Union, regional and international partners.

     
     
    ***

    Déclaration du Secrétaire général à l’occasion de la signature de l’Accord de paix entre la République démocratique du Congo et la République du Rwanda
     
    Je salue la signature le 27 juin à Washington, D.C., d’un accord de paix entre les gouvernements de la République démocratique du Congo et de la République du Rwanda, facilitée par les États-Unis.
    Cet accord constitue une étape importante vers la désescalade, la paix et la stabilité dans l’est de la République démocratique du Congo et dans la région des Grands Lacs. Je félicite les États-Unis pour leur rôle de chef de file dans la facilitation de ce processus, en coordination avec l’État du Qatar et le Médiateur de l’Union africaine, Son Excellence Faure Gnassingbé du Togo. Je salue les contributions des cinq co-facilitateurs désignés par la Communauté d’Afrique de l’Est et la Communauté de développement de l’Afrique australe.

    J’exhorte les parties à respecter pleinement les engagements qu’elles ont pris dans le cadre de l’Accord de paix et conformément à la résolution 2773 (2025) du Conseil de sécurité, y compris le cessez-le-feu et l’ensemble des autres mesures convenues.

    Les Nations Unies, y compris par l’intermédiaire de la Mission de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en République démocratique du Congo, restent pleinement engagées à soutenir la mise en œuvre de l’accord, en étroite coordination avec l’Union africaine, les partenaires régionaux et internationaux.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s statement on the Signing of a Peace Agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda [scroll down for French]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

     
    Statement by the Secretary-General on the Signing of a Peace Agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda.
     
    I welcome the signing of a peace agreement on 27 June in Washington, D.C., by the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda, facilitated by the United States.
     
    This Agreement is a significant step towards de-escalation, peace and stability in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region. I commend the United States for its leadership in facilitating this process, in coordination with the State of Qatar and the African Union Mediator, his Excellency, Faure Gnassingbé of Togo. I acknowledge the contributions of the five co-facilitators designated by the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community.
     
    I urge the parties to honour in full the commitments they have undertaken in the Peace Agreement and pursuant to Security Council resolution 2773 (2025), including the cessation of hostilities and all other agreed measures.
     
    The United Nations, including through the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, remains fully committed to supporting the implementation of the agreement, in close coordination with the African Union, regional and international partners.

     
     
    ***

    Déclaration du Secrétaire général à l’occasion de la signature de l’Accord de paix entre la République démocratique du Congo et la République du Rwanda
     
    Je salue la signature le 27 juin à Washington, D.C., d’un accord de paix entre les gouvernements de la République démocratique du Congo et de la République du Rwanda, facilitée par les États-Unis.
    Cet accord constitue une étape importante vers la désescalade, la paix et la stabilité dans l’est de la République démocratique du Congo et dans la région des Grands Lacs. Je félicite les États-Unis pour leur rôle de chef de file dans la facilitation de ce processus, en coordination avec l’État du Qatar et le Médiateur de l’Union africaine, Son Excellence Faure Gnassingbé du Togo. Je salue les contributions des cinq co-facilitateurs désignés par la Communauté d’Afrique de l’Est et la Communauté de développement de l’Afrique australe.

    J’exhorte les parties à respecter pleinement les engagements qu’elles ont pris dans le cadre de l’Accord de paix et conformément à la résolution 2773 (2025) du Conseil de sécurité, y compris le cessez-le-feu et l’ensemble des autres mesures convenues.

    Les Nations Unies, y compris par l’intermédiaire de la Mission de l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en République démocratique du Congo, restent pleinement engagées à soutenir la mise en œuvre de l’accord, en étroite coordination avec l’Union africaine, les partenaires régionaux et internationaux.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • PM Modi to embark on multi-nation visit to Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a significant multi-nation tour from July 2 to July 9,  visiting Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia to strengthen India’s bilateral ties and global partnerships.

    The tour begins in Ghana from July 2-3, marking the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the country in three decades. During his stay, PM Modi will engage in discussions with the President of Ghana to review and enhance the robust bilateral partnership, focusing on economic cooperation, energy, defense, and development initiatives. This visit underscores India’s commitment to deepening ties with Ghana, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the African Union.

    From Ghana, Prime Minister Modi will travel to Trinidad & Tobago from July 3-4, at the invitation of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. This marks his first visit to the country as Prime Minister and the first such bilateral visit since 1999. In Trinidad & Tobago, he will hold talks with President Christine Carla Kangaloo and Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar to further strengthen historical and deep-rooted ties. Additionally, he is expected to address a Joint Session of the Parliament of Trinidad & Tobago, giving fresh impetus to India’s relationship with the Caribbean nation.

    The third leg of the tour takes Prime Minister Modi to Argentina from July 4-5, at the invitation of President H.E. Javier Milei. The visit aims to deepen the multifaceted Strategic Partnership between India and Argentina through discussions on defense, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, renewable energy, trade, investment, and people-to-people connections.

    From Argentina, the Prime Minister will proceed to Brazil from July 5-8 to attend the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro and undertake a State Visit. During the Summit, he will exchange views on critical global issues, including global governance reform, peace and security, multilateralism, responsible artificial intelligence use, climate action, global health, and economic matters. Several bilateral meetings are also anticipated on the sidelines. In Brasilia, PM Modi will hold discussions with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to expand the Strategic Partnership in areas such as trade, defense, energy, space, technology, agriculture, health, and cultural linkages.

    The final stop of the tour is Namibia on July 9, at the invitation of President Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. This visit, the third by an Indian Prime Minister to Namibia, will include bilateral talks with President Nandi-Ndaitwah and a tribute to Namibia’s Founding Father, Late Dr. Sam Nujoma. Prime Minister Modi is also expected to address the Namibian Parliament, reinforcing India’s deep historical ties with the nation.

  • PM Modi to embark on multi-nation visit to Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a significant multi-nation tour from July 2 to July 9,  visiting Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia to strengthen India’s bilateral ties and global partnerships.

    The tour begins in Ghana from July 2-3, marking the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the country in three decades. During his stay, PM Modi will engage in discussions with the President of Ghana to review and enhance the robust bilateral partnership, focusing on economic cooperation, energy, defense, and development initiatives. This visit underscores India’s commitment to deepening ties with Ghana, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the African Union.

    From Ghana, Prime Minister Modi will travel to Trinidad & Tobago from July 3-4, at the invitation of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. This marks his first visit to the country as Prime Minister and the first such bilateral visit since 1999. In Trinidad & Tobago, he will hold talks with President Christine Carla Kangaloo and Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar to further strengthen historical and deep-rooted ties. Additionally, he is expected to address a Joint Session of the Parliament of Trinidad & Tobago, giving fresh impetus to India’s relationship with the Caribbean nation.

    The third leg of the tour takes Prime Minister Modi to Argentina from July 4-5, at the invitation of President H.E. Javier Milei. The visit aims to deepen the multifaceted Strategic Partnership between India and Argentina through discussions on defense, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, renewable energy, trade, investment, and people-to-people connections.

    From Argentina, the Prime Minister will proceed to Brazil from July 5-8 to attend the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro and undertake a State Visit. During the Summit, he will exchange views on critical global issues, including global governance reform, peace and security, multilateralism, responsible artificial intelligence use, climate action, global health, and economic matters. Several bilateral meetings are also anticipated on the sidelines. In Brasilia, PM Modi will hold discussions with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to expand the Strategic Partnership in areas such as trade, defense, energy, space, technology, agriculture, health, and cultural linkages.

    The final stop of the tour is Namibia on July 9, at the invitation of President Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. This visit, the third by an Indian Prime Minister to Namibia, will include bilateral talks with President Nandi-Ndaitwah and a tribute to Namibia’s Founding Father, Late Dr. Sam Nujoma. Prime Minister Modi is also expected to address the Namibian Parliament, reinforcing India’s deep historical ties with the nation.

  • PM Modi to embark on multi-nation visit to Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a significant multi-nation tour from July 2 to July 9,  visiting Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia to strengthen India’s bilateral ties and global partnerships.

    The tour begins in Ghana from July 2-3, marking the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the country in three decades. During his stay, PM Modi will engage in discussions with the President of Ghana to review and enhance the robust bilateral partnership, focusing on economic cooperation, energy, defense, and development initiatives. This visit underscores India’s commitment to deepening ties with Ghana, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the African Union.

    From Ghana, Prime Minister Modi will travel to Trinidad & Tobago from July 3-4, at the invitation of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. This marks his first visit to the country as Prime Minister and the first such bilateral visit since 1999. In Trinidad & Tobago, he will hold talks with President Christine Carla Kangaloo and Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar to further strengthen historical and deep-rooted ties. Additionally, he is expected to address a Joint Session of the Parliament of Trinidad & Tobago, giving fresh impetus to India’s relationship with the Caribbean nation.

    The third leg of the tour takes Prime Minister Modi to Argentina from July 4-5, at the invitation of President H.E. Javier Milei. The visit aims to deepen the multifaceted Strategic Partnership between India and Argentina through discussions on defense, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, renewable energy, trade, investment, and people-to-people connections.

    From Argentina, the Prime Minister will proceed to Brazil from July 5-8 to attend the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro and undertake a State Visit. During the Summit, he will exchange views on critical global issues, including global governance reform, peace and security, multilateralism, responsible artificial intelligence use, climate action, global health, and economic matters. Several bilateral meetings are also anticipated on the sidelines. In Brasilia, PM Modi will hold discussions with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to expand the Strategic Partnership in areas such as trade, defense, energy, space, technology, agriculture, health, and cultural linkages.

    The final stop of the tour is Namibia on July 9, at the invitation of President Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. This visit, the third by an Indian Prime Minister to Namibia, will include bilateral talks with President Nandi-Ndaitwah and a tribute to Namibia’s Founding Father, Late Dr. Sam Nujoma. Prime Minister Modi is also expected to address the Namibian Parliament, reinforcing India’s deep historical ties with the nation.

  • PM Modi to embark on multi-nation visit to Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a significant multi-nation tour from July 2 to July 9,  visiting Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia to strengthen India’s bilateral ties and global partnerships.

    The tour begins in Ghana from July 2-3, marking the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the country in three decades. During his stay, PM Modi will engage in discussions with the President of Ghana to review and enhance the robust bilateral partnership, focusing on economic cooperation, energy, defense, and development initiatives. This visit underscores India’s commitment to deepening ties with Ghana, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the African Union.

    From Ghana, Prime Minister Modi will travel to Trinidad & Tobago from July 3-4, at the invitation of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. This marks his first visit to the country as Prime Minister and the first such bilateral visit since 1999. In Trinidad & Tobago, he will hold talks with President Christine Carla Kangaloo and Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar to further strengthen historical and deep-rooted ties. Additionally, he is expected to address a Joint Session of the Parliament of Trinidad & Tobago, giving fresh impetus to India’s relationship with the Caribbean nation.

    The third leg of the tour takes Prime Minister Modi to Argentina from July 4-5, at the invitation of President H.E. Javier Milei. The visit aims to deepen the multifaceted Strategic Partnership between India and Argentina through discussions on defense, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, renewable energy, trade, investment, and people-to-people connections.

    From Argentina, the Prime Minister will proceed to Brazil from July 5-8 to attend the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro and undertake a State Visit. During the Summit, he will exchange views on critical global issues, including global governance reform, peace and security, multilateralism, responsible artificial intelligence use, climate action, global health, and economic matters. Several bilateral meetings are also anticipated on the sidelines. In Brasilia, PM Modi will hold discussions with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to expand the Strategic Partnership in areas such as trade, defense, energy, space, technology, agriculture, health, and cultural linkages.

    The final stop of the tour is Namibia on July 9, at the invitation of President Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. This visit, the third by an Indian Prime Minister to Namibia, will include bilateral talks with President Nandi-Ndaitwah and a tribute to Namibia’s Founding Father, Late Dr. Sam Nujoma. Prime Minister Modi is also expected to address the Namibian Parliament, reinforcing India’s deep historical ties with the nation.

  • MIL-OSI Video: DRC Crisis: A Plea for Humanity | United Nations

    Source: United Nations (video statements)

    Tom Fletcher, the UN’s humanitarian chief and Emergency Relief Coordinator, pleads for support amid crisis and funding shortfalls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as he wraps up a visit to the eastern regions.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzzp82HlARc

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s Xinjiang opens first direct cargo flight to Africa

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    The first direct air cargo route from northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to Africa was launched on Friday as a Boeing 777 freighter departed from Urumqi, the regional capital, for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

    The new link, operated by Ethiopian Airlines, will see two to three weekly flights. It promises to seamlessly integrate Xinjiang’s exporters into African and global logistics networks, while bringing premium African goods such as beef, lamb, specialty coffee, and horticultural products directly to Chinese consumers.

    Customs authorities have implemented streamlined procedures, including direct sorting and distribution upon arrival, to enhance logistics efficiency.

    “The route is expected to attract more enterprises across the supply chain, foster related industries, and create new jobs,” said Liu Jingyi, an official with the airport customs in Urumqi.

    The route will provide robust logistics support for trade between China and Africa, paving the way for deeper and broader cooperation, said Dereje Derero Dimenso, who is in charge of the cargo and logistics services at Ethiopian Airlines.

    This route marks the eighth international cargo route launched from Urumqi this year, following new connections to cities including Istanbul and Islamabad. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senators Coons, Shaheen, Booker Statement on the Ministerial Signing of the Peace Deal Between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), released the following statement on the peace deal brokered by the United States and witnessed by the Secretary of State Marco Rubio between the Foreign Ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda: 
    “A peace deal between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda is a vital step towards bringing an end to over 30 years of conflict in eastern DRC. We recognize the representatives from the DRC, Rwanda, and the United States, who, since the signing of a Declaration of Principles on April 25, 2025, have worked tirelessly to solidify the parameters of this agreement to build the foundation for stability and prosperity in the region.     
    “While signing an agreement is important, implementation will be essential, and we urge both parties and all international partners to ensure its enforcement.  This includes swiftly increasing access to life-saving humanitarian assistance for people in need throughout eastern DRC, where over 4 million people are internally displaced and more than 100,000 have fled to neighboring countries since January 1, 2025.  Furthermore, as the deal hinges on respect for territorial integrity, Rwandan troops must withdraw from eastern DRC and stop support for the M23. The government of the DRC must end their support for militias such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and ensure their complete disarmament and reintegration. At the time of signing, we must recognize that conflict continues in eastern DRC and that women and children bear the brunt of the violence. Mechanisms for justice and accountability are essential to address the root causes of violence and create an operable environment for peace. 
    “We also look forward to engaging with the Administration on plans for U.S. bilateral economic investment agreements with the DRC and Rwanda, including understanding how these will improve transparency, resource governance, and the well-being and prosperity of local communities. 
    “We are keenly watching how today’s agreement shapes the future of eastern DRC. This is where the hard work begins, and following through on each component of the deal will be essential to its success.” 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: IMF Executive Board Concludes the 2025 Article IV Consultation and Completes the Fifth Review Under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement, and Second Review Under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility Arrangement with Tanzania

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    June 27, 2025

    • The IMF Executive Board today concluded the 2025 Article IV Consultation and completed the fifth review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement and the second review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangement with Tanzania, allowing for an immediate disbursement of about US$ 448.4 million (SDR 326.47 million) under both the ECF and the RSF.
    • Economic conditions have continued to improve, with robust growth and macro-financial stability. Real GDP growth was 5.5 percent in CY24 and is projected to reach 6.0 percent in CY25 and 6½ percent over the medium-term, contingent on decisive reform implementation.
    • Tanzania’s economic reform program supported by the ECF arrangement remained broadly on track. The authorities are committed to implementing reforms to preserve macro-financial stability, promote sustainable and inclusive growth, advance structural reforms, and address risks and challenges from climate change, supported by the ECF and RSF arrangements.

    Washington, DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded today the 2025 Article IV Consultation[1] with Tanzania and completed the fifth review of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement and the second review of the Resilience and Sustainability Framework (RSF) arrangement. The authorities have consented to the publication of the Staff Report prepared for this consultation.[2] Completion of the fifth ECF review allows for the immediate disbursement of about US$ 155.7 million (28.5 percent of quota, SDR 113.37 million), bringing Tanzania’s total access under the ECF arrangement to about US$ 908.3 million. Completion of the second RSF review allows for the immediate disbursement of about US$ 292.7 million (53.5 percent of quota, SDR 213.1 million), bringing Tanzania’s total access under the RSF arrangement to about US$ 345.4 million.

    The 40-month ECF Arrangement with Tanzania for a total access of about US$ 1,046.4 million at the time of program approval (200 percent of quota, SDR 795.58 million) was initially approved in July 2022, and was extended by 6 months in June 2024. The arrangement aims to support economic recovery, preserve macro-financial stability, and promote sustainable and inclusive growth. The 23-month RSF arrangement with Tanzania, approved in June 2024 (150 percent of quota), supports the authorities’ reforms to reduce prospective balance of payments risks and enhance economic resilience to climate change.

    Tanzania’s economic reform program under the ECF arrangement remained on track. All end-December 2024 quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets were met, and two end-December 2024 structural benchmarks were completed on time. Two of the three end-March SBs were implemented with delay, but the Secured Transaction Act has not been implemented and is reset to end-February 2026. All five reform measures (RMs) for this review were implemented despite challenges in meeting indicative timelines.

    Economic activity continued to gain momentum, with real GDP growth reaching 5.5 percent in CY24. Headline inflation remained stable at 3.2 percent (year-on-year) in April 2025, below the central bank’s target, while a neutral or mildly stimulative monetary policy was maintained and exchange rate flexibility increased. The banking sector remains resilient, but pockets of vulnerability persist. The fiscal balance weakened markedly in the third quarter of FY25, prompting the authorities to delay lower priority spending in the fourth quarter. The current account deficit narrowed further to 2.6 percent of GDP in CY24, from 3.8 percent in CY23, underpinned by strong export performance.

    The medium-term outlook is favorable, contingent on sustained reform implementation, particularly to strengthen the business environment and support a more dynamic private sector. However, risks to the outlook are tilted to the downside, and challenges to meet SDG targets and reduce poverty are daunting, especially considering that the population is expected to double by 2050.

    Following the Executive Board discussion, Mr. Okamura, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, issued the following statement:

    “Tanzania’s reform program supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) remains broadly on track. Amid downside risks to the economic outlook and daunting challenges to reduce poverty, the authorities’ strong commitment to reform implementation, as well as continued engagement and capacity support by development partners, are critical.

    “The authorities’ plan to resume growth-friendly fiscal consolidation in FY25/26 is welcome and will require steadfast implementation of revenue measures and strict cash management and commitment controls to ensure that spending is consistent with revenue outturns. Implementing contingency measures would also be essential to compensate for any budget over-run in FY24/25. In the medium term, decisive implementation of fiscal reforms including the new medium-term revenue strategy and public financial management reforms will be important to meet development needs while maintaining debt sustainability.

    “Continued efforts are needed to fully operationalize the new interest rate-based monetary policy framework. Monetary operations could be strengthened by improving liquidity forecasting capacity and operation of standing facilities and addressing segmentation and counterparty credit risk in the interbank cash market. The recent increase in exchange rate flexibility is welcome and should continue to be a key pillar of the new monetary policy framework. Ongoing efforts to upgrade financial supervision will help enhance financial stability and deepening.

    “Amid strong demographic pressures, achieving resilient and inclusive long-term growth requires accelerated human capital development through increased and more efficient public spending on education and health. At the same time, structural reforms in the areas of public sector governance, business regulation, and access to finance, as well as climate change-related reforms, are critical to foster private sector development and job creation, enhance economic resilience and reduce prospective balance of payments risks.”

    Executive Board Assessment[3]

    Executive Directors agreed with the thrust of the staff appraisal. They welcomed Tanzania’s continued robust growth, subdued inflation, and improved external balance. While they agreed that the medium-term outlook is favorable, they noted downside risks, including from an uncertain external environment, declining aid flows, and potential delays in reform implementation. They emphasized that the authorities’ commitment to reforms under the ECF and RSF programs will be critical to safeguard macro financial stability and achieve more resilient and inclusive long-term growth. Continued engagement and capacity development support by the Fund and other international partners also remain essential.

    Directors welcomed the authorities’ commitment to resume growth friendly fiscal consolidation in FY25/26. They concurred that stepped-up efforts to enhance domestic revenue mobilization in line with the recently approved medium term revenue strategy, and to strengthen public financial and investment management, will be critical to create space for priority development needs and safeguard debt sustainability. They called for prudent budget execution in an election year and enforcement of commitment controls to control spending. They welcomed the continued progress in reducing domestic arrears.

    Directors agreed that a neutral or mildly stimulative monetary policy stance remains appropriate at this juncture but encouraged the authorities to stand ready to adjust this stance if inflation pressures emerge. They called for continued efforts to improve monetary policy effectiveness, including strengthening monetary and liquidity management operations, policy communication, and central bank independence. They underscored the importance of greater exchange rate flexibility for cushioning the economy against external shocks and encouraged the removal of legacy exchange rate restrictions and Multiple Currency Practices. They welcomed the recent adoption of Basel II & III supervisory and regulatory standards and encouraged the authorities to continue upgrading the financial supervision framework and closely monitoring risks.

    Directors called for accelerated structural reforms to promote sustainable private sector led growth and job creation. They urged the authorities to improve the efficiency of tax administration, ease the regulatory burden, promote access to finance, close gender gaps, and upgrade infrastructure. They also highlighted the pressing need to increase human capital through increased and more efficient public spending on education and health, as well as on social safety nets. Directors commended the authorities’ efforts to strengthen the AML/CFT framework and encouraged them to formalize risk-based AML/CFT supervision in the real estate sector. They welcomed the progress made in strengthening climate resilience through the RSF supported reforms.

    It is expected that the next Article IV consultation with Tanzania will be held in accordance with the Executive Board decision on consultation cycles for members with Fund arrangements.

    Tanzania: Selected Economic Indicators

    2022/23

    2023/24

    2024/25

    Act.

    Est.

    Proj.

    Output

    Real GDP growth (%) 1

    4.9

    5.3

    5.7

    Calendar year real GDP growth (%) 2

    5.1

    5.5

    6.0

    Prices

    Inflation – average (%)

    4.6

    3.1

    3.3

    Central government finances

    Revenue (% GDP) 3

    15.0

    15.5

    16.3

    Expenditure (% GDP)

    19.3

    18.6

    19.7

    Fiscal balance (% GDP)

    -4.3

    -3.2

    -3.4

    Public debt (% GDP)

    45.9

    49.2

    48.5

    Money and credit

    Broad money (% change)

    18.8

    10.9

    11.1

    Credit to private sector (% change)

    22.2

    16.1

    12.5

    3-month Treasury bill interest rate (%)

    6.5

    6.8

    …

    Balance of payments

    Current account (% GDP)

    -6.6

    -3.5

    -2.6

    FDI (% GDP)

    2.0

    2.1

    2.1

    Reserves (in months of imports)

    4.0

    3.8

    3.8

    External public debt (% GDP)

    29.7

    32.9

    32.8

    Exchange rate

    REER (% change)

    3.3

    -10.3

    …

    Sources: Tanzanian authorities and IMF staff estimates and projections.

    1 All data refer to fiscal years (July-June).

    2 Fiscal year 2022/23 corresponds to calendar year 2023.

    3 Includes grants.

    [1] Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. Staff hold separate annual discussions with the regional institutions responsible for common policies in four currency unions—the Euro Area, the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, the Central African Economic and Monetary Union, and the West African Economic and Monetary Union. For each of the currency unions, staff teams visit the regional institutions responsible for common policies in the currency union, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the currency union’s economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis of discussion by the Executive Board. Both staff’s discussions with the regional institutions and the Board discussion of the annual staff report will be considered an integral part of the Article IV consultation with each member.

    [2] Under the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, publication of documents that pertain to member countries is voluntary and requires the member consent. The staff report will be shortly published on the https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/TZA page.

    [3] At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country’s authorities. An explanation of any qualifiers used in summings up can be found here: http://www.IMF.org/external/np/sec/misc/qualifiers.htm.

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Kwabena Akuamoah-Boateng

    Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/06/27/pr25225-tanzania-imf-concl-2025-aiv-consultation-comp-5th-rev-ecf-arr-2nd-rev-rsf-arrangement

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: St. Louis County Woman Admits Aiding $1 Million Romance Fraud

    Source: US FBI

    ST. LOUIS – A woman on Thursday admitted aiding an online Nigerian fraud conspiracy that cost victims an estimated $1 million.

    Shirley Waller, 43, of St. Louis County, Missouri,  also admitted committing two other frauds. Waller pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and use of an assumed name to commit mail fraud.

    Waller admitted aiding scammers who tricked their victims out of what the government estimates is $1,068,834. Investigators were initially alerted by a 71-year-old St. Louis County woman who mailed $35,000 to Waller’s home as part of a romance scam. The shipment of cash was tracked on its journey 164 times in less than 24 hours by several IP addresses in Nigeria. Investigators then determined that more than 70 Express Mail packages had been delivered to Waller’s home during a 60-day period ending Nov. 1, 2023. In a court-approved search of Waller’s home on Jan. 12, 2024, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service found two guns and a series of Express Mail packages sent to variations of Waller’s name. The packages of cash had been sent by older adults targeted in online fraud schemes. Waller would then forward a portion of the money to Nigeria via cryptocurrency transactions and other electronic means. Postal authorities seized parcels containing $41,650 that were being delivered to Waller’s home and packages containing $17,500 in her safe.

    Waller admitted fraudulently applying for a Paycheck Protection Program loan of $19,235 on April 10, 2021, by falsely claiming she ran a business in Michigan. She received the loan but used the money to travel to Ghana, Germany and Jamaica. Waller also submitted another fraudulent loan application for a St. Louis resale shop, concealing the existence of the first loan and falsifying her business income. She did not receive that loan.

    Waller also admitted fraudulently obtaining a $196,000 mortgage loan by lying about her marital status, income and job and by submitting counterfeit tax documents and bank statements.

    Waller is scheduled to be sentenced on September 29. Each count carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine. In March, she was sentenced to 15 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

    The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Town and Country Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: LaLota Votes to Condemn Antisemitic Terror Attack in Boulder

    Source: US Representative Nick LaLota (NY-01)

    Washington, D.C. — Congressman Nick LaLota (Suffolk County-NY) released the following statement after voting in favor of H.Res. 488, a bipartisan resolution condemning the June 1, 2025, antisemitic terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado.

    “Ours is a nation founded on religious freedom and tolerance. Any attack motivated by religious hatred, especially one that injures peaceful demonstrators and an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor, must be condemned in the strongest terms possible,” said Rep. LaLota. “I proudly supported this resolution because what happened in Boulder was a premeditated act of antisemitic terrorism that has no place in America. We must be clear-eyed about the threats we face and stand united against antisemitism and hate in all its forms. This resolution makes clear that violence against any faith community will not be ignored or excused.”

    To read the full text of the resolution, click HERE. 

    Background:

    Following a horrific antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado, the House passed H.Res. 488 with bipartisan support to formally condemn the violence and reaffirm a commitment to combating antisemitism. On June 1, 2025, an Egyptian national who had overstayed his visa threw Molotov cocktails into a crowd of peaceful demonstrators at a “Run for Their Lives” solidarity walk—injuring 14 people, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor. Shouting “Free Palestine” and “End Zionists,” the attacker used homemade firebombs in a premeditated act that federal officials are investigating as terrorism and a hate crime. The resolution denounces the attack, honors the victims, and calls for continued vigilance against politically motivated violence.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Piero Cipollone: The quest for cheaper and faster cross-border payments: regional and global solutions

    Source: European Central Bank

    Speech by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the BIS Annual General Meeting

    Basel, 27 June 2025

    Cross-border retail payments are the subject of increasing attention. This is for two main reasons.

    First, they play a growing role in the world economy, as international transaction volumes have been increasing at a faster pace than GDP growth. However, despite some improvements in recent years, many payment corridors remain poorly served, which results in slow transaction times and high costs and ultimately hinders economic growth and social cohesion. Moreover, this inefficiency undermines the benefits of globalisation, as the economic gains from lower trade barriers are diverted into rents within cross-border payment markets, rather than benefiting the businesses and households that make use of them.

    Second, new risks are emerging. Geopolitical tensions, for instance, could lead to further fragmentation of global payment systems. Moreover, the expansion of stablecoins could introduce several additional challenges, including currency substitution risks and over-reliance on a limited number of dominant private issuers.

    This is not a situation we can accept passively. We need continuous efforts to enhance cross-border payments, in line with the G20 Roadmap.[1] And central banks, given their role in ensuring the smooth functioning of payment systems, have a major role to play. Significant work has already been undertaken at international level, notably by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB).

    Today, I would like to share our experience with cross-border payments from a regional perspective, emphasising how regional payment infrastructures can be part of the solution. I will then discuss our vision for advancing cross-border payments at the global level.

    The case for enhancing cross-border retail payments

    Let me begin by underscoring the costs and risks of inaction.

    Over the past few decades, the world has witnessed a surge in cross-border payments, driven by the globalisation of trade, capital and migration flows. According to some estimates, the value of cross-border retail payments could grow from close to USD 200 trillion last year to USD 320 trillion by 2032.[2]

    Yet, the average cost of international retail payments remains high. For nearly one-quarter of global payment corridors, costs exceed 3%. And in too many cases, they are slow – one-third of retail cross-border payments took more than one business day to be settled in 2024.[3]

    Worryingly, there are signs that progress is stalling. The FSB’s 2024 progress report revealed no improvements in costs and noted a deterioration in both costs and speed compared with 2023.[4]

    Geopolitical tensions further compound these challenges, as they risk fragmenting global payment systems and undermining the rules-based international order. This could challenge established correspondent banking networks and lead to greater complexity, higher costs and, in a worst-case scenario, the splintering of the global payment system into multiple, non-communicating blocs.

    This raises three pressing issues.

    First, high costs and slow transaction times are hampering economic integration and growth, with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) bearing the brunt. For SMEs operating on tight margins, exorbitant fees discourage them from participating in cross-border trade.

    Second, the world’s most vulnerable groups – such as migrant workers sending remittances home – shoulder a disproportionate share of these costs. In many regions, sending money internationally remains prohibitively expensive. For example, the average costs of remittances to sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia stand at 7.7% and 6.2% respectively.[5] As it stands, the global Sustainable Development Goal target of lowering remittance costs to 3% remains a distant goal. The impact that reducing these fees would have on financial inclusion and well-being cannot be overstated.

    Third, inefficiencies in cross-border payments have created a gap that alternative players, particularly in the crypto-asset space, are eager to fill. However, many of these solutions come with significant risks. Unbacked crypto-assets, for instance, are highly volatile and speculative in nature, creating risks for unsuspecting households and businesses and lending themselves to illicit activities.[6]

    Furthermore, stablecoins come with their own set of challenges, which the BIS described in detail in a special chapter of its Annual Economic Report published this week.[7] Stablecoins carry credit risk, making them susceptible to runs, and pose fragmentation risks due to the multitude of stablecoins being issued. Some of these could end up trading at a discount, undermining the singleness of money.[8] Moreover, because a small number of issuers currently dominate the market, this could also give rise to concentration risks. Lastly, a key concern is the prevalence of US dollar stablecoins, which currently account for 99% of the global stablecoin market.[9] These stablecoins provide an easy way to store value in dollars, considerably increasing the risk of currency substitution in the form of “digital dollarisation”.[10] This phenomenon could have destabilising effects, particularly on emerging markets and less developed economies by impairing the effectiveness of domestic monetary policy. It may also increase the risk of capital flight in response to adverse economic shocks.

    Enhancing cross-border retail payments at the regional and global level

    To address inefficiencies in cross-border payments, we must offer an alternative that connects various parts of the global payments system and delivers tangible benefits in terms of speed and cost. At the same time, this solution must respect the integrity, sovereignty and stability of all countries involved.

    At the ECB, we are pursuing this on two levels – regional and global.

    Regional cross-border payments: the European experience

    At the regional level, Europe serves as a compelling example of what an interconnected payments landscape might look like.

    Of course, this has been facilitated by the creation of a single European market and the establishment of a monetary union. One of the key reasons for creating the euro was to support trade and investment by facilitating cross-border transactions. And the launch of our single currency offered a first solution to pay throughout the euro area – in the form of euro cash.

    The logical next step was to develop European instruments for electronic euro payments. The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) emerged from close cooperation between the public and private sector to harmonise electronic euro transactions. As a result, individuals and businesses can make payments across the euro area at very low costs using credit transfers or direct debit.

    The success of SEPA led to its expansion beyond the euro area and even beyond the European Union. Today, customers in 41 European countries can make euro payments quickly, safely and efficiently via credit transfer and direct debit, just as they would for domestic transactions.

    We have also developed the TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) service, which enables the settlement of instant payments across the euro area. Instant payments are further supported by a payment scheme – the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme – that provides harmonised rules, standards and protocols. Moreover, EU legislation has made it mandatory for banks to allow their customers to send and receive instant payment at low cost.

    A key feature of TIPS is that it’s a multi-currency platform. Taking advantage of this, Sweden and Denmark are using TIPS to facilitate fast payments in their respective currencies.[11] Norway will do the same as of 2028.[12] Furthermore, we are implementing a cross-currency settlement service that will allow instant payments initiated in one TIPS currency to be settled in another. Initially, this service will support cross-currency payments between the euro area, Sweden and Denmark.[13]

    Within Europe, we are also supporting the Western Balkans in developing a regional fast payment system.[14] As a service provider for TIPS, the Banca d’Italia is collaborating with the central banks of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Montenegro to develop an instant, multi-currency payment system based on TIPS software. North Macedonia may join the initiative at a later stage.[15] The new platform will facilitate instant payments both within each participating country and across borders.

    Going global: interlinking fast payment systems

    This shows the potential for strengthening regional integration in payments. However, let me be clear: regional integration must not come at the expense of global connectivity. It should not be used as a means to sever ties with global payment networks.

    Our approach is that regional and global integration can go hand in hand through the interlinking of fast payment systems across regions and countries. Today, over 100 jurisdictions worldwide have implemented their own fast payment systems.[16] Interlinking these systems has the potential to address inefficiencies and build lasting connections that are rooted in trade openness and balanced relationships between partners.

    This approach offers several advantages. It would reduce costs, increase the speed and transparency of cross-border payments and shorten transaction chains. It would also enable payment service providers to conduct transactions without having to use multiple payment systems or a long chain of correspondent banks. Moreover, it would ensure that the platform for connecting and converting currencies is managed as a public good, thus avoiding closed loops and discriminatory pricing. Accordingly, the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments has identified interlinking as a key strategy for enhancing cross-border payments.[17] In this respect, the excellent work the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) is carrying out on payee verification could make a significant difference.

    Last October, the ECB’s Governing Council decided to take concrete steps towards interlinking TIPS with other fast payment systems to improve cross-border payments globally.[18]

    We will implement a cross-currency settlement service for the exchange of cross-border payments between TIPS and other fast payment systems worldwide.[19] This will allow us to explore interlinking TIPS with fast payment systems that have a compatible scheme, are interested in being involved and fully comply with the standards set by the Financial Action Task Force for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

    In addition, we are exploring the possibility of creating bilateral and multilateral links with other fast payment systems.

    One possibility under consideration is connecting TIPS to a multilateral network of instant payment systems through Project Nexus, led by the BIS.[20] By joining Nexus, TIPS could serve as a hub for processing instant cross-border payments to and from the euro area and other countries that use TIPS.[21]

    We are also currently assessing the feasibility of creating a bilateral link between TIPS and India’s Unified Payments Interface[22], which handles the highest volume of instant payment transactions in the world[23].

    Interlinking fast payment systems has the potential to solve the shortcomings related to the messaging leg of cross-border transactions, by facilitating the message that the payer’s bank in country A sends to the payee’s bank in country B about the incoming transfer of funds. This would already go a long way towards improving the efficiency of cross-border payments.

    However, what interlinking does not fully resolve is the settlement leg, through which money moves from the payer’s to the payee’s account. This still requires a bank that has access to both payment systems that are interlinked, or a credit relationship between a bank in country A and a bank in country B. This is particularly challenging, given the increasing retrenchment of the correspondent banking model.

    In this context, we need to collectively exercise our creativity. I do not envisage a solution that could cover all possible corridors and use cases: there may be scope for tokenised forms of money, as well as a revival of the correspondent banking model, especially if we can reduce the associated risks.

    In the realm of sovereign money, jurisdictions could agree to use their respective central bank digital currencies as settlement assets. In this respect, the current draft legislation on the digital euro provides for an approach that respects the sovereignty of non-euro area countries and mitigates potential risks for them. It does so by opening the possibility for residents of a partner country to use the digital euro, subject to an agreement with that country, complemented by an arrangement between the ECB and the respective central bank.[24]

    Appropriate safeguards – such as individual holding limits for users – would ensure that the digital euro is used primarily as a means of payment and does not fuel currency substitution. Furthermore, the digital euro’s design would include multi-currency functionality, similar to that of TIPS. In practice, this means that non-euro area countries could use the digital euro infrastructure to offer their own digital currencies, thereby facilitating transactions across these currencies.

    Conclusion

    Let me conclude.

    We find ourselves at a pivotal moment for cross-border payments. If we want to make decisive progress and increase their efficiency, we need to work together to develop new solutions. We must, however, be aware of the risks that some of the alternatives on offer may pose.

    I would like to thank the BIS – and in particular the CPMI – for the active role they play in this area, not least by bringing us all together today, with representatives from A (Angola) to Z (Zambia). Each of us brings different needs and circumstances to the table. This raises two fundamental questions. What do we have in common? And what principles can guide our collective efforts?

    First, we must harness responsible innovation to solve persistent challenges while mitigating the risks I have noted today. Central banks – by ensuring the safety and integrity of payment systems – play an important role in this regard. And by interlinking fast payment systems and exploring the use of central bank digital currencies, we can address settlement inefficiencies while safeguarding monetary sovereignty and financial stability.

    Second, regional solutions can serve as a foundation for global progress. I have argued that regional payment integration can be an important part of the solution – provided it remains open to, and actively facilitates, interlinking at a global level. We firmly believe that this open, multi-currency interlinking approach can lay the groundwork for cheaper, faster and more transparent cross-border payments – without compromising the integrity, stability or sovereignty of the countries involved. By designing payment systems that are open, interoperable and multi-currency ready, we can ensure that regional initiatives contribute to global integration rather than fragmentation.

    Finally, collaboration is central to our collective success. Forums such as the CPMI community of practice, as well as today’s workshop, provide valuable opportunities for sharing knowledge and experiences. We will continue to find ways to work together to build resilient, inclusive and interconnected payment infrastructures that meet the needs of our people and economies. And we at the ECB remain committed to sharing our expertise and collaborating wherever we can add value.

    Thank you for your attention.

    MIL OSI Economics –