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Category: Agriculture

  • India has never faced fuel shortage, says Hardeep Puri

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India has never faced a shortage of petroleum products, even during the Covid pandemic or global conflicts, crediting the government’s foresight for ensuring uninterrupted supplies.

    “Whether it was the period of the global Covid pandemic or geopolitical tensions, there has never been a shortage of petroleum products in India. This has been possible due to the foresight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Puri said.

    Referring to the recent tensions in the Middle East, including the Israeli attack on Iran that disrupted shipping and threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Puri said India has gradually reduced its dependence on the critical passage.

    “Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, we have diversified our supplies in recent years, and a large share of our imports no longer passes through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

    India meets about 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports. A spike in global oil prices directly raises its import bill and fuels inflation, impacting economic growth. To cushion this, India has expanded its oil sources, ramping up imports from Russia and the US, and building strategic reserves.

    The minister said India now has 23 operational refineries with a combined capacity of 257 million metric tonnes per annum. He also highlighted the setting up of strategic petroleum reserves to ensure supply security during disruptions.

    The country’s storage capacity includes 2.25 million metric tonnes at Pudur, 1.33 MMT at Visakhapatnam, and 1.5 MMT at Mangalore.

    Puri also pointed to the government’s push for green fuels, noting that India has met its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol six years ahead of schedule. E20 petrol is now available at outlets of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum across the country.

    “This achievement not only cuts carbon emissions but also saves huge amounts of money. We have saved over Rs 1 lakh crore domestically and Rs 1.5 lakh crore in foreign exchange by reducing our import bill, and this money has gone to our farmers,” he said.

    — IANS

    July 7, 2025

  • India has never faced fuel shortage, says Hardeep Puri

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India has never faced a shortage of petroleum products, even during the Covid pandemic or global conflicts, crediting the government’s foresight for ensuring uninterrupted supplies.

    “Whether it was the period of the global Covid pandemic or geopolitical tensions, there has never been a shortage of petroleum products in India. This has been possible due to the foresight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Puri said.

    Referring to the recent tensions in the Middle East, including the Israeli attack on Iran that disrupted shipping and threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Puri said India has gradually reduced its dependence on the critical passage.

    “Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, we have diversified our supplies in recent years, and a large share of our imports no longer passes through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

    India meets about 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports. A spike in global oil prices directly raises its import bill and fuels inflation, impacting economic growth. To cushion this, India has expanded its oil sources, ramping up imports from Russia and the US, and building strategic reserves.

    The minister said India now has 23 operational refineries with a combined capacity of 257 million metric tonnes per annum. He also highlighted the setting up of strategic petroleum reserves to ensure supply security during disruptions.

    The country’s storage capacity includes 2.25 million metric tonnes at Pudur, 1.33 MMT at Visakhapatnam, and 1.5 MMT at Mangalore.

    Puri also pointed to the government’s push for green fuels, noting that India has met its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol six years ahead of schedule. E20 petrol is now available at outlets of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum across the country.

    “This achievement not only cuts carbon emissions but also saves huge amounts of money. We have saved over Rs 1 lakh crore domestically and Rs 1.5 lakh crore in foreign exchange by reducing our import bill, and this money has gone to our farmers,” he said.

    — IANS

    July 7, 2025

  • India has never faced fuel shortage, says Hardeep Puri

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India has never faced a shortage of petroleum products, even during the Covid pandemic or global conflicts, crediting the government’s foresight for ensuring uninterrupted supplies.

    “Whether it was the period of the global Covid pandemic or geopolitical tensions, there has never been a shortage of petroleum products in India. This has been possible due to the foresight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Puri said.

    Referring to the recent tensions in the Middle East, including the Israeli attack on Iran that disrupted shipping and threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Puri said India has gradually reduced its dependence on the critical passage.

    “Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, we have diversified our supplies in recent years, and a large share of our imports no longer passes through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

    India meets about 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports. A spike in global oil prices directly raises its import bill and fuels inflation, impacting economic growth. To cushion this, India has expanded its oil sources, ramping up imports from Russia and the US, and building strategic reserves.

    The minister said India now has 23 operational refineries with a combined capacity of 257 million metric tonnes per annum. He also highlighted the setting up of strategic petroleum reserves to ensure supply security during disruptions.

    The country’s storage capacity includes 2.25 million metric tonnes at Pudur, 1.33 MMT at Visakhapatnam, and 1.5 MMT at Mangalore.

    Puri also pointed to the government’s push for green fuels, noting that India has met its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol six years ahead of schedule. E20 petrol is now available at outlets of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum across the country.

    “This achievement not only cuts carbon emissions but also saves huge amounts of money. We have saved over Rs 1 lakh crore domestically and Rs 1.5 lakh crore in foreign exchange by reducing our import bill, and this money has gone to our farmers,” he said.

    — IANS

    July 7, 2025

  • India has never faced fuel shortage, says Hardeep Puri

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India has never faced a shortage of petroleum products, even during the Covid pandemic or global conflicts, crediting the government’s foresight for ensuring uninterrupted supplies.

    “Whether it was the period of the global Covid pandemic or geopolitical tensions, there has never been a shortage of petroleum products in India. This has been possible due to the foresight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Puri said.

    Referring to the recent tensions in the Middle East, including the Israeli attack on Iran that disrupted shipping and threatened closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Puri said India has gradually reduced its dependence on the critical passage.

    “Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, we have diversified our supplies in recent years, and a large share of our imports no longer passes through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

    India meets about 85 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports. A spike in global oil prices directly raises its import bill and fuels inflation, impacting economic growth. To cushion this, India has expanded its oil sources, ramping up imports from Russia and the US, and building strategic reserves.

    The minister said India now has 23 operational refineries with a combined capacity of 257 million metric tonnes per annum. He also highlighted the setting up of strategic petroleum reserves to ensure supply security during disruptions.

    The country’s storage capacity includes 2.25 million metric tonnes at Pudur, 1.33 MMT at Visakhapatnam, and 1.5 MMT at Mangalore.

    Puri also pointed to the government’s push for green fuels, noting that India has met its target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol six years ahead of schedule. E20 petrol is now available at outlets of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum across the country.

    “This achievement not only cuts carbon emissions but also saves huge amounts of money. We have saved over Rs 1 lakh crore domestically and Rs 1.5 lakh crore in foreign exchange by reducing our import bill, and this money has gone to our farmers,” he said.

    — IANS

    July 7, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: ‘Big’ legislative package shifts more of SNAP’s costs to states, saving federal dollars but causing fewer Americans to get help paying for food

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Tracy Roof, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

    People shop for food in Brooklyn in 2023 at a store that makes sure that its customers know it accepts SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps and EBT.
     Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    The legislative package that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, has several provisions that will shrink the safety net, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, long known as food stamps. SNAP spending will decline by an estimated US$186 billion through 2034 as a result of several changes Congress made to the program that today helps roughly 42 million people buy groceries – an almost 20% reduction.

    In my research on the history of food stamps, I’ve found that the program was meant to be widely available to most low-income people. The SNAP changes break that tradition in two ways.

    The Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 3 million people are likely to be dropped from the program and lose their benefits. This decline will occur in part because more people will face time limits if they don’t meet work requirements. Even those who meet the requirements may lose benefits because of difficulty submitting the necessary documents.

    And because states will soon have to take on more of the costs of the program, which totaled over $100 billion in 2024, they may eventually further restrict who gets help due to their own budgetary constraints.

    Summing up SNAP’s origins

    Inspired by the plight of unemployed coal miners whom John F. Kennedy met in Appalachia when he campaigned for the presidency in 1960, the early food stamps program was not limited to single parents with children, older people and people with disabilities, like many other safety net programs were at the time. It was supposed to help low-income people afford more and better food, regardless of their circumstances.

    In response to national attention in the late 1960s to widespread hunger and malnutrition in other areas of the country, such as among tenant farmers in the rural South, a limited food stamps program was expanded. It reached every part of the country by 1974.

    From the start, the states administered the program and covered some of its administrative costs and the federal government paid for the benefits in full. This arrangement encouraged states to enroll everyone who needed help without fearing the budgetary consequences.

    Who could qualify and how much help they could get were set by uniform national standards, so that even the residents of the poorest states would be able to afford a budget-conscious but nutritionally adequate diet.

    The federal government’s responsibility for the cost of benefits also allowed spending to automatically grow during economic downturns, when more people need assistance. These federal dollars helped families, retailers and local economies weather tough times.

    The changes to the SNAP program included in the legislative package that Congress approved by narrow margins and Trump signed into law, however, will make it harder for the program to serve its original goals.

    Restricting benefits

    Since the early 1970s, most so-called able-bodied adults who were not caring for a child or an adult with disabilities had to meet a work requirement to get food stamps. Welfare reform legislation in 1996 made that requirement stricter for such adults between the ages of 18 and 50 by imposing a three-month time limit if they didn’t log 20 hours or more of employment or another approved activity, such as verified volunteering.

    Budget legislation passed in 2023 expanded this rule to adults up to age 54. The 2025 law will further expand the time limit to adults up to age 64 and parents of children age 14 or over.

    States can currently get permission from the federal government to waive work requirements in areas with insufficient jobs or unemployment above the national average. This flexibility to waive work requirements will now be significantly limited and available only where at least 1 in 10 workers are unemployed.

    Concerned senators secured an exemption from the work requirements for most Native Americans and Native Alaskans, who are more likely to live in areas with limited job opportunities.

    A 2023 budget deal exempted veterans, the homeless and young adults exiting the foster care system from work requirements because they can experience special challenges getting jobs. The 2025 law does not exempt them.

    The new changes to SNAP policies will also deny benefits to many immigrants with authorization to be in the U.S., such as people granted political asylum or official refugee status. Immigrants without authorization to reside in the U.S. will continue to be ineligible for SNAP benefits.

    Tracking ‘error rates’

    Critics of food stamps have long argued that states lack incentives to carefully administer the program because the federal government is on the hook for the cost of benefits.

    In the 1970s, as the number of Americans on the food stamp rolls soared, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program, developed a system for assessing if states were accurately determining whether applicants were eligible for benefits and how much they could get.

    A state’s “payment error rate” estimates the share of benefits paid out that were more or less than an applicant was actually eligible for. The error rate was not then and is not today a measure of fraud. Typically, it just indicates the share of families who get a higher – or lower – amount of benefits than they are eligible for because of mistakes or confusion on the part of the applicant or the case worker who handles the application.

    Congress tried to penalize states with error rates over 5% in the 1980s but ultimately suspended the effort under state pressure. After years of political wrangling, the USDA started to consistently enforce financial penalties on states with high error rates in the mid-1990s.

    States responded by increasing their red tape. For example, they asked applicants to submit more documentation and made them go through more bureaucratic hoops, like having more frequent in-person interviews, to get – and continue receiving – SNAP benefits.

    These demands hit low-wage workers hardest because their applications were more prone to mistakes. Low-income workers often don’t have consistent work hours and their pay can vary from week to week and month to month. The number of families getting benefits fell steeply.

    The USDA tried to reverse this decline by offering states options to simplify the process for applying for and continuing to get SNAP benefits over the course of the presidencies of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Enrollment grew steadily.

    Penalizing high rates

    Since 2008, states with error rates over 6% have had to develop a detailed plan to lower them.

    Despite this requirement, the national average error rate jumped from 7.4% before the pandemic, to a record high of 11.7% in 2023. Rates rose as states struggled with a surge of people applying for benefits, a shortage of staff in state welfare agencies and procedural changes.

    Republican leaders in Congress have responded to that increase by calling for more accountability.

    Making states pay more

    The big legislative package will increase states’ expenses in two ways.

    It will reduce the federal government’s responsibility for half of the cost of administering the program to 25% beginning in the 2027 fiscal year.

    And some states will have to pay a share of benefit costs for the first time in the program’s history, depending on their payment error rates. Beginning in the 2028 fiscal year, states with an error rate between 6-8% would be responsible for 5% of the cost of benefits. Those with an error rate between 8-10% would have to pay 10%, and states with an error rate over 10% would have to pay 15%. The federal government would continue to pay all benefits in states with error rates below 6%.

    Republicans argue the changes will give states more “skin in the game” and ensure better administration of the program.

    While the national payment error rate fell from 11.68% in the 2023 fiscal year to 10.93% a year later, 42 states still had rates in excess of 6% in 2024. Twenty states plus the District of Columbia had rates of 10% or higher.

    At nearly 25%, Alaska has the highest payment error rate in the country. But Alaska won’t be in trouble right away. To ease passage in the Senate, where the vote of Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, was in doubt, a provision was added to the bill allowing several states with the highest error rates to avoid cost sharing for up to two years after it begins.

    Democrats argue this may encourage states to actually increase their error rates in the short term.

    The effect of the new law on the amount of help an eligible household gets is expected to be limited.

    About 600,000 individuals and families will lose an average of $100 a month in benefits because of a change in the way utility costs are treated. The law also prevents future administrations from increasing benefits beyond the cost of living, as the Biden Administration did.

    States cannot cut benefits below the national standards set in federal law.

    But the shift of costs to financially strapped states will force them to make tough choices. They will either have to cut back spending on other programs, increase taxes, discourage people from getting SNAP benefits or drop the program altogether.

    The changes will, in the end, make it even harder for Americans who can’t afford the bare necessities to get enough nutritious food to feed their families.

    Tracy Roof does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. ‘Big’ legislative package shifts more of SNAP’s costs to states, saving federal dollars but causing fewer Americans to get help paying for food – https://theconversation.com/big-legislative-package-shifts-more-of-snaps-costs-to-states-saving-federal-dollars-but-causing-fewer-americans-to-get-help-paying-for-food-260166

    MIL OSI Analysis –

    July 7, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: ‘Big’ legislative package shifts more of SNAP’s costs to states, saving federal dollars but causing fewer Americans to get help paying for food

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Tracy Roof, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

    People shop for food in Brooklyn in 2023 at a store that makes sure that its customers know it accepts SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps and EBT.
     Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    The legislative package that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, has several provisions that will shrink the safety net, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, long known as food stamps. SNAP spending will decline by an estimated US$186 billion through 2034 as a result of several changes Congress made to the program that today helps roughly 42 million people buy groceries – an almost 20% reduction.

    In my research on the history of food stamps, I’ve found that the program was meant to be widely available to most low-income people. The SNAP changes break that tradition in two ways.

    The Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 3 million people are likely to be dropped from the program and lose their benefits. This decline will occur in part because more people will face time limits if they don’t meet work requirements. Even those who meet the requirements may lose benefits because of difficulty submitting the necessary documents.

    And because states will soon have to take on more of the costs of the program, which totaled over $100 billion in 2024, they may eventually further restrict who gets help due to their own budgetary constraints.

    Summing up SNAP’s origins

    Inspired by the plight of unemployed coal miners whom John F. Kennedy met in Appalachia when he campaigned for the presidency in 1960, the early food stamps program was not limited to single parents with children, older people and people with disabilities, like many other safety net programs were at the time. It was supposed to help low-income people afford more and better food, regardless of their circumstances.

    In response to national attention in the late 1960s to widespread hunger and malnutrition in other areas of the country, such as among tenant farmers in the rural South, a limited food stamps program was expanded. It reached every part of the country by 1974.

    From the start, the states administered the program and covered some of its administrative costs and the federal government paid for the benefits in full. This arrangement encouraged states to enroll everyone who needed help without fearing the budgetary consequences.

    Who could qualify and how much help they could get were set by uniform national standards, so that even the residents of the poorest states would be able to afford a budget-conscious but nutritionally adequate diet.

    The federal government’s responsibility for the cost of benefits also allowed spending to automatically grow during economic downturns, when more people need assistance. These federal dollars helped families, retailers and local economies weather tough times.

    The changes to the SNAP program included in the legislative package that Congress approved by narrow margins and Trump signed into law, however, will make it harder for the program to serve its original goals.

    Restricting benefits

    Since the early 1970s, most so-called able-bodied adults who were not caring for a child or an adult with disabilities had to meet a work requirement to get food stamps. Welfare reform legislation in 1996 made that requirement stricter for such adults between the ages of 18 and 50 by imposing a three-month time limit if they didn’t log 20 hours or more of employment or another approved activity, such as verified volunteering.

    Budget legislation passed in 2023 expanded this rule to adults up to age 54. The 2025 law will further expand the time limit to adults up to age 64 and parents of children age 14 or over.

    States can currently get permission from the federal government to waive work requirements in areas with insufficient jobs or unemployment above the national average. This flexibility to waive work requirements will now be significantly limited and available only where at least 1 in 10 workers are unemployed.

    Concerned senators secured an exemption from the work requirements for most Native Americans and Native Alaskans, who are more likely to live in areas with limited job opportunities.

    A 2023 budget deal exempted veterans, the homeless and young adults exiting the foster care system from work requirements because they can experience special challenges getting jobs. The 2025 law does not exempt them.

    The new changes to SNAP policies will also deny benefits to many immigrants with authorization to be in the U.S., such as people granted political asylum or official refugee status. Immigrants without authorization to reside in the U.S. will continue to be ineligible for SNAP benefits.

    Tracking ‘error rates’

    Critics of food stamps have long argued that states lack incentives to carefully administer the program because the federal government is on the hook for the cost of benefits.

    In the 1970s, as the number of Americans on the food stamp rolls soared, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program, developed a system for assessing if states were accurately determining whether applicants were eligible for benefits and how much they could get.

    A state’s “payment error rate” estimates the share of benefits paid out that were more or less than an applicant was actually eligible for. The error rate was not then and is not today a measure of fraud. Typically, it just indicates the share of families who get a higher – or lower – amount of benefits than they are eligible for because of mistakes or confusion on the part of the applicant or the case worker who handles the application.

    Congress tried to penalize states with error rates over 5% in the 1980s but ultimately suspended the effort under state pressure. After years of political wrangling, the USDA started to consistently enforce financial penalties on states with high error rates in the mid-1990s.

    States responded by increasing their red tape. For example, they asked applicants to submit more documentation and made them go through more bureaucratic hoops, like having more frequent in-person interviews, to get – and continue receiving – SNAP benefits.

    These demands hit low-wage workers hardest because their applications were more prone to mistakes. Low-income workers often don’t have consistent work hours and their pay can vary from week to week and month to month. The number of families getting benefits fell steeply.

    The USDA tried to reverse this decline by offering states options to simplify the process for applying for and continuing to get SNAP benefits over the course of the presidencies of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Enrollment grew steadily.

    Penalizing high rates

    Since 2008, states with error rates over 6% have had to develop a detailed plan to lower them.

    Despite this requirement, the national average error rate jumped from 7.4% before the pandemic, to a record high of 11.7% in 2023. Rates rose as states struggled with a surge of people applying for benefits, a shortage of staff in state welfare agencies and procedural changes.

    Republican leaders in Congress have responded to that increase by calling for more accountability.

    Making states pay more

    The big legislative package will increase states’ expenses in two ways.

    It will reduce the federal government’s responsibility for half of the cost of administering the program to 25% beginning in the 2027 fiscal year.

    And some states will have to pay a share of benefit costs for the first time in the program’s history, depending on their payment error rates. Beginning in the 2028 fiscal year, states with an error rate between 6-8% would be responsible for 5% of the cost of benefits. Those with an error rate between 8-10% would have to pay 10%, and states with an error rate over 10% would have to pay 15%. The federal government would continue to pay all benefits in states with error rates below 6%.

    Republicans argue the changes will give states more “skin in the game” and ensure better administration of the program.

    While the national payment error rate fell from 11.68% in the 2023 fiscal year to 10.93% a year later, 42 states still had rates in excess of 6% in 2024. Twenty states plus the District of Columbia had rates of 10% or higher.

    At nearly 25%, Alaska has the highest payment error rate in the country. But Alaska won’t be in trouble right away. To ease passage in the Senate, where the vote of Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, was in doubt, a provision was added to the bill allowing several states with the highest error rates to avoid cost sharing for up to two years after it begins.

    Democrats argue this may encourage states to actually increase their error rates in the short term.

    The effect of the new law on the amount of help an eligible household gets is expected to be limited.

    About 600,000 individuals and families will lose an average of $100 a month in benefits because of a change in the way utility costs are treated. The law also prevents future administrations from increasing benefits beyond the cost of living, as the Biden Administration did.

    States cannot cut benefits below the national standards set in federal law.

    But the shift of costs to financially strapped states will force them to make tough choices. They will either have to cut back spending on other programs, increase taxes, discourage people from getting SNAP benefits or drop the program altogether.

    The changes will, in the end, make it even harder for Americans who can’t afford the bare necessities to get enough nutritious food to feed their families.

    Tracy Roof does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. ‘Big’ legislative package shifts more of SNAP’s costs to states, saving federal dollars but causing fewer Americans to get help paying for food – https://theconversation.com/big-legislative-package-shifts-more-of-snaps-costs-to-states-saving-federal-dollars-but-causing-fewer-americans-to-get-help-paying-for-food-260166

    MIL OSI Analysis –

    July 7, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: ‘Big’ legislative package shifts more of SNAP’s costs to states, saving federal dollars but causing fewer Americans to get help paying for food

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Tracy Roof, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

    People shop for food in Brooklyn in 2023 at a store that makes sure that its customers know it accepts SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps and EBT.
     Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    The legislative package that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, has several provisions that will shrink the safety net, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, long known as food stamps. SNAP spending will decline by an estimated US$186 billion through 2034 as a result of several changes Congress made to the program that today helps roughly 42 million people buy groceries – an almost 20% reduction.

    In my research on the history of food stamps, I’ve found that the program was meant to be widely available to most low-income people. The SNAP changes break that tradition in two ways.

    The Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 3 million people are likely to be dropped from the program and lose their benefits. This decline will occur in part because more people will face time limits if they don’t meet work requirements. Even those who meet the requirements may lose benefits because of difficulty submitting the necessary documents.

    And because states will soon have to take on more of the costs of the program, which totaled over $100 billion in 2024, they may eventually further restrict who gets help due to their own budgetary constraints.

    Summing up SNAP’s origins

    Inspired by the plight of unemployed coal miners whom John F. Kennedy met in Appalachia when he campaigned for the presidency in 1960, the early food stamps program was not limited to single parents with children, older people and people with disabilities, like many other safety net programs were at the time. It was supposed to help low-income people afford more and better food, regardless of their circumstances.

    In response to national attention in the late 1960s to widespread hunger and malnutrition in other areas of the country, such as among tenant farmers in the rural South, a limited food stamps program was expanded. It reached every part of the country by 1974.

    From the start, the states administered the program and covered some of its administrative costs and the federal government paid for the benefits in full. This arrangement encouraged states to enroll everyone who needed help without fearing the budgetary consequences.

    Who could qualify and how much help they could get were set by uniform national standards, so that even the residents of the poorest states would be able to afford a budget-conscious but nutritionally adequate diet.

    The federal government’s responsibility for the cost of benefits also allowed spending to automatically grow during economic downturns, when more people need assistance. These federal dollars helped families, retailers and local economies weather tough times.

    The changes to the SNAP program included in the legislative package that Congress approved by narrow margins and Trump signed into law, however, will make it harder for the program to serve its original goals.

    Restricting benefits

    Since the early 1970s, most so-called able-bodied adults who were not caring for a child or an adult with disabilities had to meet a work requirement to get food stamps. Welfare reform legislation in 1996 made that requirement stricter for such adults between the ages of 18 and 50 by imposing a three-month time limit if they didn’t log 20 hours or more of employment or another approved activity, such as verified volunteering.

    Budget legislation passed in 2023 expanded this rule to adults up to age 54. The 2025 law will further expand the time limit to adults up to age 64 and parents of children age 14 or over.

    States can currently get permission from the federal government to waive work requirements in areas with insufficient jobs or unemployment above the national average. This flexibility to waive work requirements will now be significantly limited and available only where at least 1 in 10 workers are unemployed.

    Concerned senators secured an exemption from the work requirements for most Native Americans and Native Alaskans, who are more likely to live in areas with limited job opportunities.

    A 2023 budget deal exempted veterans, the homeless and young adults exiting the foster care system from work requirements because they can experience special challenges getting jobs. The 2025 law does not exempt them.

    The new changes to SNAP policies will also deny benefits to many immigrants with authorization to be in the U.S., such as people granted political asylum or official refugee status. Immigrants without authorization to reside in the U.S. will continue to be ineligible for SNAP benefits.

    Tracking ‘error rates’

    Critics of food stamps have long argued that states lack incentives to carefully administer the program because the federal government is on the hook for the cost of benefits.

    In the 1970s, as the number of Americans on the food stamp rolls soared, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program, developed a system for assessing if states were accurately determining whether applicants were eligible for benefits and how much they could get.

    A state’s “payment error rate” estimates the share of benefits paid out that were more or less than an applicant was actually eligible for. The error rate was not then and is not today a measure of fraud. Typically, it just indicates the share of families who get a higher – or lower – amount of benefits than they are eligible for because of mistakes or confusion on the part of the applicant or the case worker who handles the application.

    Congress tried to penalize states with error rates over 5% in the 1980s but ultimately suspended the effort under state pressure. After years of political wrangling, the USDA started to consistently enforce financial penalties on states with high error rates in the mid-1990s.

    States responded by increasing their red tape. For example, they asked applicants to submit more documentation and made them go through more bureaucratic hoops, like having more frequent in-person interviews, to get – and continue receiving – SNAP benefits.

    These demands hit low-wage workers hardest because their applications were more prone to mistakes. Low-income workers often don’t have consistent work hours and their pay can vary from week to week and month to month. The number of families getting benefits fell steeply.

    The USDA tried to reverse this decline by offering states options to simplify the process for applying for and continuing to get SNAP benefits over the course of the presidencies of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Enrollment grew steadily.

    Penalizing high rates

    Since 2008, states with error rates over 6% have had to develop a detailed plan to lower them.

    Despite this requirement, the national average error rate jumped from 7.4% before the pandemic, to a record high of 11.7% in 2023. Rates rose as states struggled with a surge of people applying for benefits, a shortage of staff in state welfare agencies and procedural changes.

    Republican leaders in Congress have responded to that increase by calling for more accountability.

    Making states pay more

    The big legislative package will increase states’ expenses in two ways.

    It will reduce the federal government’s responsibility for half of the cost of administering the program to 25% beginning in the 2027 fiscal year.

    And some states will have to pay a share of benefit costs for the first time in the program’s history, depending on their payment error rates. Beginning in the 2028 fiscal year, states with an error rate between 6-8% would be responsible for 5% of the cost of benefits. Those with an error rate between 8-10% would have to pay 10%, and states with an error rate over 10% would have to pay 15%. The federal government would continue to pay all benefits in states with error rates below 6%.

    Republicans argue the changes will give states more “skin in the game” and ensure better administration of the program.

    While the national payment error rate fell from 11.68% in the 2023 fiscal year to 10.93% a year later, 42 states still had rates in excess of 6% in 2024. Twenty states plus the District of Columbia had rates of 10% or higher.

    At nearly 25%, Alaska has the highest payment error rate in the country. But Alaska won’t be in trouble right away. To ease passage in the Senate, where the vote of Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, was in doubt, a provision was added to the bill allowing several states with the highest error rates to avoid cost sharing for up to two years after it begins.

    Democrats argue this may encourage states to actually increase their error rates in the short term.

    The effect of the new law on the amount of help an eligible household gets is expected to be limited.

    About 600,000 individuals and families will lose an average of $100 a month in benefits because of a change in the way utility costs are treated. The law also prevents future administrations from increasing benefits beyond the cost of living, as the Biden Administration did.

    States cannot cut benefits below the national standards set in federal law.

    But the shift of costs to financially strapped states will force them to make tough choices. They will either have to cut back spending on other programs, increase taxes, discourage people from getting SNAP benefits or drop the program altogether.

    The changes will, in the end, make it even harder for Americans who can’t afford the bare necessities to get enough nutritious food to feed their families.

    Tracy Roof does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. ‘Big’ legislative package shifts more of SNAP’s costs to states, saving federal dollars but causing fewer Americans to get help paying for food – https://theconversation.com/big-legislative-package-shifts-more-of-snaps-costs-to-states-saving-federal-dollars-but-causing-fewer-americans-to-get-help-paying-for-food-260166

    MIL OSI Analysis –

    July 7, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Man charged with murder following death of 85-year-old in Lambeth

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A man has been charged with murder following a death of an 85-year-old man in Lambeth.

    Amithraz Balgobin, 36 (27.03.1989), of Woodbourne Avenue, Lambeth, was charged with murder and possession of Class A and Class B drugs on Sunday, 6 July. He was remanded in custody to appear at Bromley Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 7 July.

    On Friday, 4 July, officers were called at around 13:00hrs by the London Ambulance Service to an address in Churchmore Road, Streatham after an 85-year-old man was reported to have suffered serious injuries.

    Despite the best efforts of emergency services, the man was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem examination will take place in due course.

    A 36-year-old was arrested nearby and charged with the above.

    The victim’s next of kin have been made aware and are being supported by specialist officers.

    MIL Security OSI –

    July 6, 2025

  • MIL-OSI China: Unicorns, gazelles, little giants: Tech startups thrive in ‘fund jungle’

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

    In a high-stakes race to pursue next-generation technologies, Chinese startups specializing in artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and advanced manufacturing are gaining momentum through a novel but supportive financing model called the “fund jungle.”

    This ecosystem — a dense network of government-led investment funds, venture capital and corporate backing — is accelerating the rise of so-called “gazelle” firms, unicorns and niche “little giant” enterprises across east China’s Anhui Province and beyond.

    Leading the way is HiDream.ai, which rose to the forefront of global generative AI startups in just two years. With its cinematic-quality video generation technology, the fast-growing firm has attracted 10 million individual users and 40,000 corporate clients worldwide.

    Founder Mei Tao said that starting an AI company was like “venturing into an uncharted territory” where both the technology and the market are entirely new.

    Amid shifting international dynamics that led to a withdrawal of U.S. capital and a relative shortage of RMB venture funding, the company adopted a “move fast with small steps” strategy by demonstrating its value with limited capital to attract follow-up investment.

    The turnaround came last year, when it secured a sizable Series A round, with state-owned Hefei Industry Investment Group being the lead investor, joined by the Anhui artificial intelligence fund of funds and other institutional investors.

    Beyond financing, establishing base in Hefei, provincial capital of Anhui, has helped the company expand its applications in broadcasting, film and television, and tourism, while the local government is aiming to leverage the AI technologies to empower local industries.

    HiDream.ai had good reason to choose Hefei as its base. Anhui Province has set out plans to cultivate a cohort of rapidly growing gazelle companies and a new wave of unicorns, startups valued at over 1 billion U.S. dollars. The province has also pledged support for local “little giant” enterprises, which are specialized small and medium-sized firms that excel in niche markets, drive innovation, tackle frontier technologies, and help strengthen industrial chains.

    To empower these “fantastic beast” companies, Anhui has built a “fund jungle” led by state investors and joined by social capital. The cluster of funds aims to ensure sufficient funding for a tech company at all stages of its growth.

    As of last October, a total of 124 funds with nearly 50 billion yuan (about 7 billion U.S. dollars) in committed capital had been set up in the fund complex, investing in more than 400 projects. The province is home to 2,191 private funds, including 50 angel funds, 734 venture capital funds and 1,407 industrial investment funds.

    “Different industries and different stages of growth have distinct capital needs. A ‘fund jungle’ offers specialized funds for each phase, thus forming a comprehensive matrix that nurtures an industry across its entire lifecycle,” said Tang Zhiqiang, deputy dean of Anhui institute of industry and information technology.

    “This lush ecosystem of funds fuels companies’ growth through tailored financial empowerment,” he added.

    Funds, patience and ecosystem 

    Cowa Robot, based in the city of Wuhu in Anhui, is one of the beneficiaries of this funding ecosystem. The unicorn company’s self-driving vehicles, such as street-cleaning robots, have started operation in more than 50 Chinese cities.

    Lu Wenjun, the company’s vice general manager, said the Wuhu government has deep expertise in robotics and provides clear development pathways along with strong supportive policies. From establishing initial industry frameworks to continuously building the ecosystem, many firms have reaped the benefits.

    “Autonomous driving thrives on high-quality data to refine algorithms, and that data comes from real-world scenarios. Local governments provided critical support, from pilot programs to scaled deployment,” he added.

    Home to automaker Chery and 96 little giant firms, Wuhu is known for patiently nurturing emerging industries. In 2024, the share of R&D expenditures in Wuhu’s GDP reached 4.28 percent, far exceeding the nationwide average of 2.68 percent.

    The city has also set up a fund of 3 billion yuan to spur tech innovation and to solicit participation of social capital.

    Wanzhi District in the city has created a fund jungle totaling 11.1 billion yuan, which has invested in 58 projects and attracted an additional 3.57 billion yuan in non-local capital.

    Here, an industrial park consisting of nearly 200 general aviation companies, from propeller making to pilot training, has taken shape, poised to capitalize on the country’s trillion-yuan low-altitude economy boom.

    The industry can be traced back to 2013, when CETC Wuhu Diamond Aircraft Manufacture Co., Ltd. was founded here. The company is now a little giant firm that produces both manned aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), after 12 years of continuous investment in R&D and government support.

    General manager Tian Manlin stressed that low-altitude manufacturing is the core of the low-altitude economy, requiring relentless R&D and industry collaboration.

    A strong focus on R&D is a shared conviction among entrepreneurs in Anhui’s emerging industries. “R&D must never stop,” emphasized Mei Tao, adding that HiDream.ai continually integrates user feedback to refine its models daily.

    “AI demands top talent and heavy funding. A healthy financial ecosystem fuels innovation, helping more tech pioneers break through,” Mei said. 

    MIL OSI China News –

    July 6, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Remarks as prepared for delivery by Kim Anderson, NEA Executive Director, to the 104th Representative Assembly

    Source: US National Education Union

    Hello, NEA!

    To our 3 million members…

    7 thousand delegates…

    Board of Directors…

    Executive Committee…

    and our amazing NEA and affiliate staff… thank you for all you do each day to fight for the kids and families and communities we are so lucky to serve.

    I also want to give special recognition to my colleagues in our state affiliates: our state affiliate executive directors.

    Day in and day out you lead and manage with dedication and devotion to this organization.

    As executive directors, we partner with leaders elected by NEA members to advance a glorious mission, vision, and set of core values.

    And I must say that at the national level, we have a tireless leader of our extraordinary union… a fearless champion for students, educators, and the just and equitable public education system on which our nation’s future depends… President Becky Pringle.

    Delegates, you heard President Pringle the other day lay out many of the challenges we face in our country — a perilous moment for our democracy.  A crossroads between democracy and authoritarianism.

    You heard from Dr. Cowen about the throughline connecting those who are funding efforts to dismantle public education run with the same crowd trying to dismantle democracy.

    And you had the distinct honor of hearing from our dear friend and colleague, the General Secretary of Education International, about the anti-democratic challenges that our educator siblings face around the world.

    Delegates, I want to talk very tactically and clinically about the methodology being used.

    Because in order to Educate, Communicate, Litigate, Organize, Mobilize, Legislate and Elect, we have to understand the strategy we are up against.

    Our opponents have built their strategy on four C’s:

    Chaos

    Raise your hands if this sounds familiar:

    How many people find it nearly impossible to keep up with the onslaught of 166 Executive Orders (EO’s) signed to date and the resulting lawsuits that pop up in our news feeds almost daily?

    How many people have adopted a strategy to ration your news intake in order to protect your mental health?

    Yep. Project 2025 told us this Administration would flood the zone with countless rollbacks of policies designed to make us safer, healthier, more prosperous, and more free as a People.

    They want to spread the pro-democracy coalition wide and thin, dividing us up into narrow factions assuming we will fight only to protect the interests closest to us…spreading us too wide and too thin to mount a collective defense.

    Chaos theory is designed to weaken opposition to the regime in power.

    Control

    How many of you have been told to stop teaching what you know to be true?

    How many of you have had to take books off your shelves… or faced other forms of censorship?  

    In an effort to comply with the Administration’s Executive Order related to diversity, equity and inclusion, there were 381 books removed from the U.S. Naval Academy library, including Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and many other books reflecting the beautiful mosaic of authors in America.

    They removed books that studied the KKK and the history of lynching in America, and yet they left ON the shelf “Mein Kampf” by Adolph Hitler.

    Imagine that!

    This Administration has threatened to withhold federal funding from institutions that do not comply with its attempt to obliterate the free marketplace of ideas.

    They know that the mere threat alone will lead to people self-censoring — even before there is any edict requiring it.

    We’ve seen the mad rush in higher education institutions and corporations across the country to scrub the aspirational words of diversity, equity, and inclusion from their websites, and policies, and shutter programs that create safe spaces for freedom of thought and expression.

    This form of retaliatory control is designed to stifle dissent — a right so important, it was the first one enshrined in our Bill of Rights. As my daughter said to me last night, dissent is patriotic.

    Cruelty

    How many of you are working with students who fear their parents will be snatched off the street?

    How many of you have students who don’t have enough to eat at home?

    Well delegates, this big, bad, disgusting bill that passed the House two days ago, POURS more money into ICE and strips money out of food assistance programs.

    Ripping children away from their parents, letting kids go hungry…this is BEYOND cruel.

    It is immoral.

    This use of cruelty is designed to make us all afraid.

    Afraid for our lives.

    Afraid for our families.

    Afraid for our jobs if we speak up.

    It’s designed to make us bow down.

    To comply.

    To submit.

    This nation was conceived in liberty, and freedom is supposed to be our birthright.

    We didn’t want kings in 1776, and we damn sure don’t want kings now.

    Chaos. Control. Cruelty.

    The sum of that formula is corruption.

    To line billionaires’ pockets with tax breaks on the backs of everyone else.

    Do you know that 50 of the S&P 500 companies in the U.S. paid $0 in income tax last year?

    Guess which company was at the top of that list?

    Tesla.

    Despite reporting a $15 billion profit in 2023, Tesla took a $5 billion tax credit!

    It’s reported that between Tesla, Starlink and X, Musk’s companies are making $38 billion in government contracts, subsidies, or tax credits.

    Meaning that WE’RE paying Elon, rather than Elon contributing to the common good.

    And he’s not alone.

    This big, bad, horrible, no good bill that just passed the House two days ago gives over $1 trillion of our tax dollars — the tax dollars of hard-working, everyday Americans — to the wealthiest among us.

    Over 12 million people will lose their healthcare over the life of this bill.

    And Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos….and yes, the Trump organization will all get even richer.

    So the people who bankrolled the last Presidential campaign are getting quite a return on their investment, while everyone else is less healthy, less safe, and less able to see the American Dream as their probability.

    We wake up to policies like this and a social media machine that gaslights Americans every day.

    They want us to believe that immigrants or poor Americans are to blame for the economic rules that have allowed companies like Tesla to pay ZERO income tax.

    And by the way, I hold both major political parties responsible for the decades of economic rules that have diminished the number of people who have a voice in their workplace through belonging to a union.

    Every human being elected has the responsibility of governing on behalf of all of us.

    It means doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people possible.

    And it damn sure means solving more problems than you create!

    So delegates, yesterday’s celebration of Independence Day took on different meaning for me.

    As I do every year, on July 4th, I spend some time reading portions of our founding documents. So yesterday, I focused on this:

    “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America.”

    The first words of the U.S. Constitution.

    The roadmap for how we as Americans are to govern ourselves, not be ruled by someone else.

    We know the work of democracy is hard.

    It’s messy and uneven and really never ever complete. The work of democracy is like the work of justice….

    To paraphrase Executive Committee Member Mark Jewell, “we are never arriving, always becoming.”

    From the 13th Amendment ending slavery to 19th amendment granting voting rights to women….

    From Social Security to IDEA.…

    From Pell Grants to the Affordable Care Act…

    From Title I to the Higher Education Act….

    It has always taken ordinary people to bend the arc of history toward justice….

    And part of becoming a more perfect union is opening the doors of opportunity wider, not slamming them closed.

    So what’s it going to take, delegates, to rescue democracy and public education?

    Yes, it will take those seven verbs, delegates, that President Pringle outlined the other day:

    Educate. Communicate. Litigate. Organize. Mobilize. Legislate.

    And Elect pro-public education, pro-democracy champions.

    I would submit to you, delegates, that the most potent contribution NEA could make to the effort is through organizing and mobilizing millions of Americans to resist….to say NO….to say our democracy belongs to us!

    But it’s critical that we learn from other countries around the world, and what we know is that an organized, sustained resistance is the key.

    Delegates, Harvard Professor Erica Chenoweth has studied examples around the world of what it takes to topple authoritarian rule.

    Her research shows that when 3.5 percent of a nation’s population stands together in sustained nonviolent resistance, the probability of toppling authoritarianism goes way up.

    In the United States, that’s roughly 12 million people… and NEA — we are 3 million strong.

    If each of us could activate just one person, we’d have nearly 6 million people.

    And if each of those mobilized just one more, we’d be 12 million allies in the fight.

    NEA, this is the biggest movement moment since the Civil War.

    I’m personally so inspired by all of you: the millions of members and thousands of delegates who call this union home.

    I’m also inspired by my friends and family members.

    Earlier this year, during the Hands Off protest in Washington D.C., I met up with a few of them who had come down from New England.

    We were all together on the National Mall, holding up our handmade signs, and one of my family members was there celebrating her 80th birthday.

    She said, “Kim, I was here during the March on Washington. I was here to protest the Vietnam War. I was here fighting for women’s rights. I can’t think of anywhere else that I am supposed to be today.”

    We talked about the masked men who are indiscriminately grabbing people off of American streets to be sent to God knows where – without due process, without warrants, without question.

    We talked about the gravity of the moment that we are in, and she said to me, “I’ve lived my life. If they have to take someone, they should take me.”

    Someone in my family was literally willing to put it all on the line for the values we believe in.

    My family and I talked to many seasoned members of the protest community that day.

    So many of them were of the same mind.

    They were extraordinary.

    They were brave.

    They were willing to stand ten toes down on their values.

    And even as my family member’s words made my eyes fill with tears, they also filled my heart with resolve.

    But one thing’s for sure: We cannot save anyone or anything by keeping quiet and hoping it all goes away.

    In the face of injustice, as the great civil rights leader Audre Lorde said, “Our silence won’t protect us.”

    And Lorde is right.

    This administration only takes notice when we are united and loud… when we are brave enough to step up and step forward, and say, “Not on our watch.”

    So it matters that people in communities nationwide — teachers, parents, librarians, public education advocates — are staging walk-ins…and resisting book bans… and creating safe zones for children at school.

    And it matters that the NEA, our union, is at the vanguard.

    But I do need to acknowledge: Being brave can feel scary — especially when your job is at stake.

    And, even more, if you feel like you are standing all alone.

    So delegates I want you to remember:

    You are never alone.

    This union has your back.

    And when it comes to courage, every small act makes a difference.

    Maybe it’s comforting a terrified student who fears their parents will get ripped away from them.

    Maybe it’s planning a joyful event for your colleagues — celebrating a special occasion or simply because you made it through another day together.

    These acts of resilience –  of love – can be the spark that lights a fire… giving someone else the energy… inspiration… and confidence to act as well.

    Organize. Mobilize.

    Delegates, our assignment is clear:

    Twelve million Americans must choose each day to engage in big and small acts of resistance and noncooperation with an Administration that has no intention of recognizing ANY of our constitutional rights.

    Sometimes acts of resistance can be singular, but they have an incredible ripple effect.

    Like our union sibling Idaho sixth-grade history teacher Sarah Inama.

    When Sarah’s school district told her to take down a classroom sign that said “Everyone is welcome here,” Sarah refused.

    And in her words, “It was so simple to me. Either everyone is welcome here or not.”

    Sarah’s defiance — and the solidarity from our Idaho affiliate — helped shine a spotlight on the threats and intimidation our students, schools, and educators face today.

    Stories like this will mobilize even more people to our cause… and help us drive momentum not only to resist but, yes, to BUILD.

    Because, in a time when the rules are being flouted… when longstanding norms are being shattered… we have a chance to remake systems that are more just, more inclusive, and more sustainable.

    Our union itself can be a model of what that future can hold.

    A place where people from all walks of life can come together and work together in support of the common good.

    And let me say it loud and clear:

    Everyone is welcome here!

    And we NEED everyone engaged!

    Already this year, organizing, mobilizing, and collective action has led to meaningful legislative wins — wins that make life better for students and the educators who serve them.

    • In Alaska, lawmakers significantly and permanently boosted funding for state education.
    • In Mississippi, greater funding includes increases in educators’ health insurance premiums and retirement pay.
    • The Texas legislature passed a record school funding bill with the largest teacher pay increase in state history.

    But we know we must push for more.

    And just as important as what we’ve helped push through is what we’ve blocked.

    • Our efforts in Montana, the Dakotas, and New Hampshire helped ensure bad bills on issues such as vouchers, funding caps, and open enrollment never made it out of committee.
    • Montana also joined Indiana in successfully contesting and, in some cases, defeating anti-union and anti-collective bargaining bills.
    • In Tennessee, when a bill was introduced that would have allowed public schools to deny enrollment to immigrant students, we helped make sure it died before the end of the legislative session.
    • And in Utah, when the legislature passed a bill rolling back collective bargaining rights for Utah education employees, UEA, USEA, and NEA marshalled a huge labor coalition effort to collect 324,000 signatures in 31 days to place a measure on the ballot to repeal the legislature’s attack on our bargaining rights.

    NEA, our collective action is bringing real results.

    And we will not yield in our defense of education, freedom, and democracy.

    We will not yield in our support of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

    And guess what?

    The harder we fight, the stronger our union grows.

    Despite relentless assaults on our affiliates across the country, we are going to finish this year with net membership growth for the first time since the pandemic!

    Delegates, I want to assure you that for years NEA has been steadily increasing its support of year-round organizing in our affiliates.

    We now have 2,194 member organizers that we support through our year-round organizing program, lifted up by talented staff.

    We’ve expanded our Growth and Strength Program, which has helped affiliates hire and deploy 167 full-time staff organizers across the country.

    And we created a Campaign Lab for local affiliates to learn how to develop organizing campaigns to win the schools our students and educators deserve.

    We’ve expanded grants for locals engaged in not only bargaining for the common good but achieving labor-management collaboration systems in the places where there are trusting, productive relationships between our members, administrators, and school board members.

    NEA has increased its support for affiliates who are organizing recognition and first contract campaigns, yielding new units in Colorado, New York, New Mexico, and Kansas.

    • In North Carolina (a non-bargaining state), Asheville City Association of Educators became the first local in North Carolina to reach majority status!
    • And the Durham Association of Educators launched a campaign for Meet and Confer authority and in the process won a school budget that was over 2.5 times larger than any budget request in memory….AND they tripled their membership.
    • In Texas, the San Antonio Alliance won the biggest compensation package in 25 years.
    • In Arizona, the Tucson Education Association won 12 weeks of paid parental leave — the first of its kind in the state!
    • In California, members in Sacramento fought to create Community Schools steering committees at the district and site levels and won 10% across the board compensation increases.
    • In San Francisco, UESF won an 84% raise for their lowest paid classified workers, Community Schools CBA language.
    • And the great United Teachers of Los Angeles won the second largest pay increase ever almost 23% over three years. They achieved a reduction in standardized testing and stood in solidarity with their SEIU colleagues on a 3-day ULP strike.

    When We Fight…….

    And we don’t just Fight Back, we Fight Forward!

    Delegates, our mission statement declares that “Our work is fundamental to the nation.”

    America needs our strength.

    America needs our resilience.

    America needs our vision and power to create something new… something beautiful… 

    A public education system that welcomes and prepares every student and a democracy that delivers for everyone!

    Let’s Go NEA!  Let’s Go!

    MIL OSI USA News –

    July 6, 2025

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Government congratulates Young Farmer of the Year 2025

    Source: New Zealand Government

    The Acting Prime Minister has extended warm congratulations to Hugh Jackson on being crowned the 2025 FMG Young Farmer of the Year.
    “Last night I was lucky enough to attend the Young Farmer of the Year grand final in Invercargill. It was a brilliant event, celebrating the future of farming and showcasing their expertise, leadership, and passion for agriculture,” says Mr Seymour. 
    “Hugh Jackson from the Waikato Bay of Plenty demonstrated exceptional skill, leadership, and knowledge in one of the most historic competitions in the country. They have a bright future ahead of them, and I wish them all the best for their future in farming.
    “Even for a townie from Epsom it’s impossible to not appreciate the contribution farmers make to New Zealand. We are lucky to live in a country that produces food the world loves, and with export revenue on track to surpass $60 billion for the first time, agriculture is very much central to New Zealand’s future prosperity.
    “Last night’s awards ceremony was testament not only to the achievements of those competing, but to the strength and future of New Zealand’s rural sector. The industry is in safe hands judging by the talent on display. 
    “I’d also like to thank the organisers for inviting me to this event. It is inspiring to see the next generation of farmers being recognized for their talent and passion.” 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    July 6, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Loeffler Issues Statement on One Big Beautiful Bill Signing

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    WASHINGTON — Today, after President Donald J. Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law, Kelly Loeffler, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), released the following statement:

    “The One Big Beautiful Bill is a landmark victory for America’s small businesses, and it cements President Trump’s legacy as the greatest small business champion our country has ever known,” said Loeffler. “These historic tax cuts lay the foundation for generational prosperity on Main Street – ushering in a new era of growth, hiring, investment, and opportunity for job creators. I applaud Congressional Republicans for their efforts to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill, and I thank President Trump for his visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to putting American workers and job creators first.”

    Administrator Loeffler has been one of the Trump Administration’s most outspoken proponents of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Last month, she embarked on a national tour to tout its benefits alongside America’s small business owners – traveling to Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, and North Carolina.

    In addition to delivering the largest tax cut in history for middle and working-class Americans – increasing annual take-home pay by at least $10,000 for most families – the One Big Beautiful Bill includes revolutionary reforms to end entitlement abuse, secure the border, stop the Green New Scam, and slash wasteful spending. It also includes numerous provisions that will directly empower small businesses and workers, including:

    • Prevents the largest tax hike in history, making the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts permanent and increasing the standard deduction for every American family.
    • Makes the Small Business Tax Deduction Permanent, preserving the 199A 20% small business deduction, which will generate $750 billion in economic growth and create over 1 million new Main Street jobs. Without the One Big Beautiful Bill, 26 million small businesses would have seen their top tax rate double to 43%.
    • Supports the return of Made in America by allowing 100 percent expensing for new factories, factory improvements, equipment, and research and development.
    • Ends the war on the gig economy by removing the requirement that Venmo, PayPal, and other gig transactions over $600 be reported to the IRS.
    • Protects family farmers by preventing the death tax from hitting 2 million family-owned farms who would otherwise see their exemptions cut in half.
    • Cuts taxes on seniors, tips, and overtime, saving tipped and overtime workers up to $1,750 per year.
    • Protects Medicaid for working Americans, by ending benefits for at least 1.4 million illegal immigrants who are gaming the system.
    • Increases the child tax credit to $2,200 per family.

    # # #

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of entrepreneurship. As the leading voice for small businesses within the federal government, the SBA empowers job creators with the resources and support they need to start, grow, and expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

    July 6, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Eritrea: National Conference on Food Safety and Agricultural Products

    Source: APO – Report:

    .

    The Ministry of Agriculture organized a national conference on 3 July in Asmara under the theme “Ensuring Food Safety is the Responsibility of All.” The objective of the conference was to enhance the understanding of food safety among farmers and food processing enterprises.

    Speaking at the event, Mr. Tekleab Misgina, Director General of Regulatory Services at the Ministry of Agriculture, emphasized the critical link between food and life. He noted that ensuring safety and cleanliness throughout the entire food production chain—from farm to consumer—is a collective responsibility.

    During the conference, briefings were delivered on several topics, including the significance of animal fodder, the safe use of pesticides and animal medicines, food quality capacity, and its management, among other relevant issues.

    Participants held extensive discussions on the topics raised and adopted various recommendations, including the preparation of reference materials based on periodic seminars, increased attention to indigenous plants, and other action points.

    The workshop was attended by representatives of farmers from across the country, food processing enterprises, exemplary farmers, agricultural experts, and invited guests.

    – on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

    MIL OSI Africa –

    July 6, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: ‘A spirit of oneness’: Cooperatives cultivating peace in South Sudan

    Source: United Nations 2

    “Cooperatives are a system that enables the South Sudanese to improve their livelihoods, but at the same time also contributes to the economy… this is the only way for South Sudan to move out of poverty,” said Louis Bagare project manager of cooperatives at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in South Sudan.

    He was speaking ahead of the International Day of Cooperatives, which is celebrated every 5 July, and which highlights how cooperatives enable people to provide for their basic needs in contexts where individuals working alone is insufficient.

    A path to peace

    In South Sudan, the potential of cooperatives extends beyond economic empowerment.

    © FAO/Daniel Chaplin

    A farmer in South Sudan tills her land.

     “Cooperatives are one of the avenues that can bring peace and stability to South Sudan,” said Mr. Bagare.

    For over a decade, South Sudan has faced many intersecting challenges. Following its independence in 2011, a civil war broke out, concluding in 2018 with a peace agreement. But this peace is more fragile than ever.

    Looting and intercommunal violence, mainly perpetrated by young people, continues to be an ever-present concern for many communities which already face catastrophic food insecurity and continual climate shocks.

    In this context, cooperatives provide a ray of hope.

    “Cooperatives really changed the mindset of our people and brought stability to the country,” said Deng William Achiek, director for rural producers in South Sudan’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

    But what is it about cooperatives that may usher in a lasting peace?

    A voluntary and democratic group

    Cooperatives are voluntary economic organizations in which members share in the risk, work and income.

    “A cooperative is a democratic, social association of people who, as individuals, cannot improve their status of living and social status … But once they come together in a cooperative, then, they can raise the standard of their living,” said Oneil Yosia Damia, the Director-General for Cooperative Development in South Sudan.

    © FAO/Daniel Chaplin

    A cooperative of women farmers in South Sudan has been trained in seed production by FAO.

    FAO’s Louis Bagare believes that this sort of democratic approach to governance at a local level will trickle up to the national level and encourage more widespread buy-in to a democratic form of governance across South Sudan.

    Income, not guns

    In addition to providing a model of democratic governance, cooperatives also enable economic growth and development, providing communities — especially young people — a viable and sustainable alternative to looting.

    “When, especially the youth, are engaged in productive activities that generate income, they will not have the interest to pick a gun to go and fight or to rob and loot,” Mr. Bagare said. 

    In South Sudan, the communities which form cooperatives often do not have enough individual resources to maintain a sustainable livelihood, a reality which pushes youth towards violent looting for survival.

    “When [community members] work together, when they bring ideas together, when they bring resources together, it is much easier for them to overcome their livelihood challenges,” Mr. Bagare said.

    Mr. Bagare also explained that banks are more willing to invest in groups and organizations like FAO are more likely to provide support to cooperatives. But ultimately, the goal is that this will not be long-term.

    “The focus is on building their capacity so that they can be able to create lives,” Mr. Bagare said.

    A historic structure in the world’s youngest country

    In South Sudan, there are cooperatives of every shape and size. Overwhelmingly, these cooperatives are agricultural but some also produce soap, bread and textiles. The history of South Sudan is populated with examples of this type of work.

    “Cooperatives are not something which has come from nowhere. It has been part of the culture of South Sudan,” Mr. Bagare said.

    Mr. Daima referred to the “golden era” of cooperatives which existed before the civil war in 2011. He said that his office within the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is working diligently to get back to that time.

    “I want our cooperatives to be as busy as bees. This is the spirit of oneness, of unity,” Mr. Daima said.

    Mr. Bagare hopes for a future in South Sudan where cooperatives become a part of every economic sector — not just agriculture.

    “If we are able to work together, we can become better people tomorrow. But the moment that we continue to only fight with each other, we will continue to destroy ourselves.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 6, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Foreign Secretary reiterates UK’s ongoing support to Lebanon

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    World news story

    Foreign Secretary reiterates UK’s ongoing support to Lebanon

    • English
    • العربيَّة

    British Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited Lebanon and reiterated the UK’s ongoing support for Lebanon’s security, stability and future prosperity.

    British Foreign Secretary David Lammy with President Joseph Aoun

    As part of a regional visit, Foreign Secretary David Lammy visits Lebanon on Friday 4 July 2025. He reiterated the UK’s ongoing support for Lebanon’s security, stability and future prosperity. 

    The Foreign Secretary met with President General Joseph Aoun at the Presidential Palace. Discussions focused on the latest local and regional developments and UK-Lebanon bilateral relations.

    The Foreign Secretary spoke about the urgency of efforts to reach a lasting peace in Lebanon and the region. He stressed the importance of Lebanon and Israel implementing the ceasefire agreement in full, including the withdrawal of Israeli Forces and the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) throughout the South.

    He commended the long-standing and strong bilateral partnership between Lebanon and the UK including with the LAF, both in the South and on the border with Syria. Since 2009, the UK has spent over £115 million to support the LAF with infrastructure, vehicles, training and equipment and since 2013 supported the establishment of the Land Border Regiments (LBRs) on the border with Syria.

    The Foreign Secretary also reiterated the UK’s support for UNIFIL and the role they play for stability in South Lebanon, as mandated in UNSCR 1701.  He called for urgent implementation of essential economic reforms and transparent processes for justice and accountability. 

    British Ambassador Hamish Cowell said:

    I was pleased to welcome British Foreign Secretary David Lammy to Lebanon, following unprecedented regional tensions. 

    Efforts must continue to secure a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon and allow the full deployment of the Lebanese Army to the south of the country, as the sole legitimate defender of Lebanon. 

    Stability in the Middle East is in everyone’s interest. The full implementation of UNSCR 1701 is crucial to Lebanon and the region’s future security.

    Lebanon’s path to recovery is dependent on essential reforms, including those required to secure an IMF agreement to rebuild the economy and unlock international investment.  

    The UK remains a steadfast partner to Lebanon and its people.

    The Foreign Secretary also visited Syria as part of his regional trip. This is the first by a UK Minister in 14 years and renews the UK-Syria diplomatic relationship. The Foreign Secretary met President Al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Al-Shaibani to reiterate the importance of an inclusive and representative political transition in Syria and offer continued UK support to the Syrian people.

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    Published 5 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    July 6, 2025

  • Carrying red wreath, Liverpool players join family for Diego Jota’s funeral

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Carrying a red floral wreath bearing his shirt number, Diogo Jota’s Liverpool teammates joined relatives and residents in a small Portuguese town on Saturday for the funeral of the soccer star, who died with his brother in a car crash on Thursday.

    Club captain Virgil Van Dijk, goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher and manager Arne Slot were among Liverpool teammates past and present who attended the service in Gondomar for the striker and his brother, Andre Silva.

    The English Premier League stars carried two floral tributes in the club’s red colour into the chapel, each in the shape of a shirt.

    The one carried by Van Dijk had the number 20 written in white flowers, which Jota wore on his Liverpool shirt.

    The other bore the number 30, which was worn by Jota’s brother, who played for FC Peñafiel in Portugal’s second division.

    Dressed in black and with their heads bowed, the teammates entered the church in silence. The only sound was the applause from the crowd outside.

    Rute Cardoso, who married her childhood sweetheart Jota only weeks before the fatal crash, arrived with relatives.

    Hundreds of residents of Gondomar, a small town in northern Portugal where Jota grew up, gathered outside.

    The private service was presided over by the Bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda.

    In an emotional homily addressed to Jota’s parents, his wife and their three young children, Linda said “solidarity in love is always stronger than death”.

    Teammates from the Portugal national squad including Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes, who both play in the English Premier League, also attended the service.

    “Jota will always be in our hearts. He will always be present at every breakfast, lunch, dinner, at all our national team get-togethers, at our PlayStation games, at our card games,” Silva told Portuguese broadcaster TVI.

    Jota’s death at the age of 28 sent shock waves through the world of soccer and beyond, with messages of condolences pouring in from national leaders as well as across the sport.

    Fans continued to lay flowers and other tributes to the striker on Saturday outside Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.

    The brothers were believed to have been driving to a ferry in Spain to travel to Britain when their Lamborghini veered off the road and burst into flames after midnight on Thursday. Police said they suspected a tyre had burst.

    -Reuters

    July 6, 2025

  • Carrying red wreath, Liverpool players join family for Diego Jota’s funeral

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    Carrying a red floral wreath bearing his shirt number, Diogo Jota’s Liverpool teammates joined relatives and residents in a small Portuguese town on Saturday for the funeral of the soccer star, who died with his brother in a car crash on Thursday.

    Club captain Virgil Van Dijk, goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher and manager Arne Slot were among Liverpool teammates past and present who attended the service in Gondomar for the striker and his brother, Andre Silva.

    The English Premier League stars carried two floral tributes in the club’s red colour into the chapel, each in the shape of a shirt.

    The one carried by Van Dijk had the number 20 written in white flowers, which Jota wore on his Liverpool shirt.

    The other bore the number 30, which was worn by Jota’s brother, who played for FC Peñafiel in Portugal’s second division.

    Dressed in black and with their heads bowed, the teammates entered the church in silence. The only sound was the applause from the crowd outside.

    Rute Cardoso, who married her childhood sweetheart Jota only weeks before the fatal crash, arrived with relatives.

    Hundreds of residents of Gondomar, a small town in northern Portugal where Jota grew up, gathered outside.

    The private service was presided over by the Bishop of Porto, Manuel Linda.

    In an emotional homily addressed to Jota’s parents, his wife and their three young children, Linda said “solidarity in love is always stronger than death”.

    Teammates from the Portugal national squad including Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes, who both play in the English Premier League, also attended the service.

    “Jota will always be in our hearts. He will always be present at every breakfast, lunch, dinner, at all our national team get-togethers, at our PlayStation games, at our card games,” Silva told Portuguese broadcaster TVI.

    Jota’s death at the age of 28 sent shock waves through the world of soccer and beyond, with messages of condolences pouring in from national leaders as well as across the sport.

    Fans continued to lay flowers and other tributes to the striker on Saturday outside Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.

    The brothers were believed to have been driving to a ferry in Spain to travel to Britain when their Lamborghini veered off the road and burst into flames after midnight on Thursday. Police said they suspected a tyre had burst.

    -Reuters

    July 6, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio Commissions the Mattru-Senehun Bridge, Praises World Bank for Continued Support to National Development

    Source: APO – Report:

    .

    His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has officially commissioned the newly constructed Mattru Jong–Senehun Bridge in Jong Chiefdom, Bonthe District, a transformative infrastructure project designed to benefit over 20,000 residents. The bridge is expected to significantly reduce travel time and costs, eliminate the risks associated with manual ferry transport, and improve the movement of goods, especially farm produce, to markets across the region.

    Located along the Jong River, Mattru Jong serves as the mainland of Bonthe District, approximately 52 miles southwest of Bo. It was previously one of the country’s 13 colonial-era manual ferry points identified by President Bio for replacement with modern bridges as part of his broader infrastructure and rural development strategy.

    In his keynote address, President Bio described the commissioning as a deeply personal and national milestone. “This is a promise fulfilled to my people, to our district, and to our future,” he declared. Recalling his Big Five Game Changer agenda, the President emphasized that his government is committed to delivering tangible development to every part of Sierra Leone “from the hills of Koinadugu to the riverbanks of Bonthe.”

    He recounted the challenges of the past: “Our communities relied on manual ferries that were limited to daytime use, became unusable during the rainy season, and often posed serious risks. These were not just inconveniences, they were barriers to progress,” he said. “While previous governments spoke of development, our government is delivering it. We are the ‘Tok N Do’ government.”

    President Bio explained that the bridge was made possible through a US$30 million grant from the World Bank under the Smallholder Commercialisation and Agribusiness Development Project (SCADeP), overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. The Mattru Bridge is one of four constructed under the initiative, alongside Gendema in Kenema District, Manowa in Kailahun District, and Tomparie in Karene District.

    He described the new 160-metre structure as a vital connection point linking Mattru Jong to Bo, Moyamba, and Pujehun Districts, enabling faster access to healthcare, education, and markets. “Now, mothers can reach clinics faster, students will arrive at school safely, and traders and farmers can move goods with ease,” the President said.

    President Bio emphasized that beyond reducing travel time, the bridge restores dignity and brings hope to local communities. He expressed profound gratitude to the Ministry of Agriculture, the SCADeP team, the Sierra Leone Roads Authority, Paramount Chiefs, local councils, and Members of Parliament for their roles in making the project a success.

    He also thanked the World Bank for its unwavering partnership. “You have walked this journey with us. Your support is yielding real results for our people. But we are not done. There are more bridges to build, more roads to open, and more communities to transform,” he assured.

    Speaking on behalf of the World Bank, Dr Abdul Muwonge, Country Manager for Sierra Leone, commended the government and local stakeholders for their cooperation. He noted that farmers, women, schoolchildren, and the elderly had long struggled with access and connectivity in the region. “This bridge is more than concrete and steel, it is a legacy that will serve generations,” he said.

    Dr Muwonge applauded President Bio for making a compelling case at the World Bank headquarters, which has led to additional funding for future bridge projects. He reaffirmed the Bank’s commitment to supporting Sierra Leone’s infrastructure and rural development ambitions.

    Also speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Agriculture Dr Henry Musa Kpaka described the bridge as a flagship achievement under President Bio’s Big Five Game Changers. He stated that the improved infrastructure would encourage farmers to increase production, knowing that their goods can reach markets efficiently and safely, with improved storage and profitability.

    The commissioning of the Mattru-Senehun Bridge stands as a powerful symbol of President Bio’s commitment to inclusive development, rural connectivity, and agricultural transformation. With strong partnerships, bold leadership, and sustained investment, Sierra Leone is steadily moving forward, one bridge, one road, and one empowered community at a time.

    – on behalf of State House Sierra Leone.

    MIL OSI Africa –

    July 6, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Security: Murder investigation launched after 85-year-old dies in Streatham

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A murder investigation has been launched after an 85-year-old man was found dead at a property in Lambeth.

    Officers were called at around 13:00hrs on Friday, 4 July, by the London Ambulance Service to an address in Churchmore Road, Streatham. The male had sustained a number of injuries

    Despite the best efforts of emergency services to save his life, the man was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. Formal identification has yet to take place.

    A 36-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in custody.

    A post-mortem examination will take place in due course.

    DCI Sarah Lee, from Specialist Crime South – who is leading on the investigation – said:

    “We are working hard to piece together the events that unfolded in Churchmore Road yesterday, and offer our heartfelt condolences to the family of the victim and those affected by this tragic incident.

    “I would like to thank that those that are speaking to police and supporting the investigation already. We will continue to have an increased presence in the area whilst we continue our enquiries.

    “We are not currently looking for any other suspects.”

    Anybody with information can contact the police on 101, quoting crime reference 3581/04JUL.

    To remain 100% anonymous, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

    MIL Security OSI –

    July 5, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Syrians heading home find few of the basics needed to survive

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Hopes rose last week in Damascus when fuel prices dropped instantly following Donald Trump’s move to end punitive sanctions.

    But after more than 13 years of civil war that ended with the fall of the Assad regime last December, ordinary Syrians face an exhausting list of other problems.

    These include an absence of housing – caused by bomb damage on a scale with Gaza – unreliable access to electricity, clean water, healthcare and work.

    Refugee agency call

    Since last December, half a million Syrians have returned home, many for the first time since the war began, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.  

    “We must ensure that people who return can stay and thrive: that is also why the lifting of sanctions is crucial, as reconstruction is urgently needed,” said High Commissioner Filippo Grandi, in an online message.

    Today, transitional authorities govern Syria under President Ahmad al-Sharaa.  

    ‘Destroyed at all levels’

    But the once-prosperous country remains scarred – “the infrastructure in Syria is almost completely destroyed at all levels,” said Hail Khalaf, Officer-in-Charge for Syria at the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM).

    Mr. Khalaf, who spoke to UN News from the capital Damascus where electricity only comes on for four hours a day, confirmed that the protracted war had impacted Syrian society in its entirety – not least education.

    “The impact of the removal of US sanctions on Syria was observed very quickly on the daily lives of Syrians,” he said. “There was an instant drop in fuel prices in Syria the moment the removal of sanctions was announced.”

    “We hope that the American government will expedite the removal of the Caesar Act,” he stressed, referring to the sanctions package against the former Syrian Government signed into law by the first Trump administration in 2019.

    Dilapidated economy 

    Those returning to Syria and looking for a job in the agricultural sector in particular are confronted with an industry in shambles, IOM said in a report.

    Farmers make up the great majority of those who were internally displaced by the fighting to camps. Most – 88 per cent – say they cannot work the soil again, as most farms are either operating at half-capacity or unable to function at all, according to IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix.

    “The country is exhausted, and the economy is also exhausted,” explained Mr. Khalaf.

    Today, more than 90 per cent of Syria’s population lives below the poverty line as of December 2024, according to UNHCR data.

    The war uprooted around 7.4 million people inside Syria and at least six million are refugees, mainly in neighboring countries including Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan, the UN agency noted.

    Working at a loss

    The national currency – the Syrian lira – has been exponentially devalued by the conflict.

    Before the war, one US dollar was equivalent to 50 Syrian lira. Today it is worth about 9,000 Syrian lira – leaving livelihoods in disarray.  

    “Most Syrians do not earn enough,” Mr. Khalaf explained. “In the public sector, most employees earn approximately $35 to $40 a month, which is not even enough for transportation between work and home.”

    Missing paper trail

    Gaps in civil documentation also complicate people’s ability to claim housing and land rights.

    Damaged public infrastructure has also fuelled outbreaks of waterborne diseases, vaccine-preventable illnesses and malnutrition, aid teams have warned.

    “Syrians are resilient and innovative, but they need significant help to rebuild their communities and their lives,” insisted IOM Director General Amy Pope.  

    In a bid to help, UN agencies including IOM are working with the Syrian Government to “find a formula for action” and “sustainable solutions” for all returnees so that they can rebuild their lives again.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 5, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Podgorica Forum Promotes Trade and Technological Cooperation between China and Montenegro

    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

    PODGORICA, July 5 (Xinhua) — More than 100 government officials and business representatives gathered here on Friday at the Podgorica Forum to explore opportunities for trade and technology cooperation between Montenegro and China.

    Speaking at the event, State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy of Montenegro Krsto Radjenovic emphasized the enormous potential for agricultural cooperation between the two countries.

    He expressed hope for the introduction of advanced Chinese technologies into agricultural production and food industry, as well as support in the creation of modern irrigation and water management systems.

    The Montenegrin minister also welcomed joint investments with Chinese partners, which will help bring more Montenegrin agricultural products to the Chinese market.

    Chargé d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Montenegro Lu Fangqing noted that China views Montenegro as an important partner in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

    She pointed to significant achievements in the Belt and Road Initiative and cooperation between China and CEE countries, especially in the fields of transport infrastructure and green energy, and expressed optimism about future bilateral cooperation.

    The forum concluded with a B2B session, where Chinese and Montenegrin enterprises held in-depth discussions and reached a number of preliminary cooperation agreements. –0–

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    July 5, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Development is ‘the first line of defence against conflict,’ Guterres tells Security Council

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Ambassadors met to debate how poverty, inequality, and underdevelopment are fuelling conflict and instability, at a time when hostilities are increasing and demand for humanitarian aid is rising as resources dwindle.  

    Every dollar spent on prevention could save up to $103 in conflict-related costs, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

    Sustainable development critical

    Conflicts are proliferating and lasting longer, said Mr. Guterres. At the same time the global economy is slowing and trade tensions are rising, as aid budgets are being slashed while military spending soars. 

    He warned that if current trends continue, two thirds of the world’s poor will live in conflict-affected or fragile countries by the end of this decade. 

    “The message is clear,” he said.  “The farther a country is from sustainable and inclusive development, the closer it is to instability, and even conflict.”

    UN Photo/Evan Schneider

    Secretary-General António Guterres briefs the Security Council meeting on Poverty, Underdevelopment, and Conflict.

    Give peace a (fighting) chance

    The Secretary-General highlighted how the UN has worked to advance the three pillars of peace, development and human rights.  

    These efforts began with its establishment 80 years ago and continue today, “guided by the simple principle that prevention is the best cure for instability and conflict, and there is no better preventive measure than investing in development,” he said.

    “Development gives peace a fighting chance. It’s the first line of defence against conflict. But right now, we’re losing ground,” he said, noting that “the engine of development is sputtering.”

    World falling short

    Currently, two-thirds of the targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are lagging 10 years after adoption. 

    “The world is falling short by over $4 trillion annually in the resources developing countries need to deliver on these promises by 2030,” he added.

    Furthermore, “developing countries are being battered and bruised by limited fiscal space, crushing debt burdens and skyrocketing prices.”

    Fix the ‘engine’

    The Secretary-General pointed to the fourth Conference on Financing for Development, which begins next week in Spain, as an important moment “to fix and strengthen this essential engine.”

    He called for renewed commitments towards securing public and private finance for the areas of greatest need, providing urgent relief for debt-laden countries, and reforming the outdated global financial architecture.

    The Council debate “could not be more prescient,” said Kanni Wignaraja, the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.

    Break the cycle

    Global human development has stalled just as violent conflicts have surged to levels not seen in eight decades, she said, before presenting three priorities for investment to help break the cycle, including protecting household economies.

    “In fragile settings, where peace and security have been shattered, development that goes directly to the local level becomes the first line of peoples’ defence and survival. And their hope for recovery,” she said.

    “From these local economies – where livelihoods are restored, water and electricity can flow again, women’s businesses in particular reopen, farmers can trade food, and there is basic finance to allow markets to stay afloat – from this, comes the resources to build back broken capabilities and resilience.”

    Address systemic imbalances

    The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Mahmoud Youssouf Ali, recalled how the continent loses billions of dollars annually to conflict, which could be channeled into schools, hospitals, infrastructure and innovation.

    He said the international community must also acknowledge that poverty and underdevelopment “are not confined within national borders” but are global challenges that require global response.

    “If we are to uphold international peace and security, we must address the systemic imbalances – economic, political, and institutional – that continue to fuel deprivation, exclusion, and instability across regions,” he said.

    In this regard, the AU called for enhanced support to African-led peace operations, particularly those deployed in regions where poverty and underdevelopment are deeply entrenched. 

    Collective action required

    The debate was convened by Guyana, which holds the rotating Council presidency this month.

    The country’s Foreign Minister, Hugh Todd, remarked that with the world “at a critical juncture where the interlinkages between peace, security and development have never been more pronounced,” collective and decisive action is required.

    He cautioned against “prioritizing only political solutions in conflicts where poverty and underdevelopment feature prominently,” as creating conditions for socio-economic stability and well-being are also critical for peace.

    Mr. Todd urged countries to address issues such as lack of access to education, underemployment, exclusion, and greater participation of women and youth.

    “Currently, the global youth population is the highest in history, with most young people concentrated in developing countries,” he said.

    “For us to harness their full potential, they must be given adequate economic opportunities and be involved in decision making on peace and security.” 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 5, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: World Health Assembly opens amid high-stakes pandemic treaty vote, global funding crisis

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, urged Member States to remain focused on shared goals even amid global instability.

    “We are here to serve not our own interests, but the eight billion people of our world,” he said in his keynote address at the Palais des Nations. “To leave a heritage for those who come after us; for our children and our grandchildren; and to work together for a healthier, more peaceful and more equitable world. It’s possible.”

    The Assembly, WHO’s highest decision-making body, runs through 27 May and brings together delegations from 194 Member States under the theme One World for Health.

    This year’s agenda includes a vote on the intensely negotiated Pandemic Agreement, a  reduced budget proposal, and discussions on climate, conflict, antimicrobial resistance, and digital health.

    Pandemic prevention focus

    A central item on the Assembly’s agenda is the proposed WHO pandemic accord, a global compact aimed at preventing the kind of fragmented response that marked the early stages of coronavirus“>COVID-19.

    The treaty is the result of three years of negotiations between all WHO Member States.

    “This is truly a historic moment,” Dr Tedros said. “Even in the middle of crisis, and in the face of significant opposition, you worked tirelessly, you never gave up, and you reached your goal.”

    A final vote on the agreement is expected on Tuesday.

    If adopted, it would mark only the second time countries have come together to approve a legally binding global health treaty under WHO’s founding rules. The first was the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, adopted in 2003 to curb the global tobacco epidemic.

    2024 health check

    In his address, Tedros presented highlights from WHO’s 2024 Results Report, noting both progress and persistent global health gaps.

    On tobacco control, he cited a global one-third reduction in smoking prevalence since the WHO Framework Convention entered into force two decades ago.

    He praised countries including Côte d’Ivoire, Oman, and Viet Nam for introducing stronger regulations last year, including plain packaging and restrictions on e-cigarettes.

    On nutrition, he pointed to new WHO guidelines on wasting and the expansion of the Tobacco-Free Farms Initiative in Africa, which has supported thousands of farmers in transitioning to food crops.

    He also emphasised WHO’s growing work on air pollution and climate-resilient health systems, including partnerships with Gavi and UNICEF to install solar energy in health facilities across multiple countries.

    On maternal and child health, Tedros noted stalled progress and outlined new national acceleration plans to reduce newborn mortality. Immunisation coverage now reaches 83 per cent of children globally, compared to less than 5 per cent when the Expanded Programme on Immunisation was launched in 1974.

    “We are living in a golden age of disease elimination,” he said, citing the certification of Cabo Verde, Egypt, and Georgia as malaria-free; progress in neglected tropical diseases; and Botswana’s recognition as the first country to reach gold-tier status in eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

    © WHO/Isaac Rudakubana

    WHO has been supporting Universal Health Coverage in Rwanda.

    WHO budget strain

    Turning to WHO’s internal operations, Tedros offered a stark assessment of the organisation’s finances.

    “We are facing a salary gap for the next biennium of more than US$ 500 million,” he said. “A reduced workforce means a reduced scope of work.”

    This week, Member States will vote on a proposed 20 per cent increase in assessed contributions, as well as a reduced Programme Budget of $ 4.2 billion for 2026–2027, down from an earlier proposal of $ 5.3 billion. The cuts reflect an effort to align WHO’s work with current funding levels while preserving core functions.

    Tedros acknowledged that WHO’s long-standing reliance on voluntary earmarked funding from a small group of donors had left it vulnerable. He urged Member States to see the budget shortfall not only as a crisis but also as a potential turning point.

    “Either we must lower our ambitions for what WHO is and does, or we must raise the money,” he said. “I know which I will choose.”

    He drew a sharp contrast between WHO’s budget and global spending priorities: “US$ 2.1 billion is the equivalent of global military expenditure every eight hours; US$ 2.1 billion is the price of one stealth bomber – to kill people; US$ 2.1 billion is one-quarter of what the tobacco industry spends on advertising and promotion every single year. And again, a product that kills people.”

    “It seems somebody switched the price tags on what is truly valuable in our world,” he said.

    Emergencies and appeals

    The Director-General also detailed WHO’s emergency operations in 2024, which spanned 89 countries. These included responses to outbreaks of cholera, Ebola, mpox, and polio, as well as humanitarian interventions in conflict zones such as Sudan, Ukraine, and Gaza.

    In Gaza, he said, WHO had supported more than 7,300 medical evacuations since late 2023, but over 10,000 patients remained in urgent need of care.

    Looking ahead: a transformed WHO?

    The WHO chief closed with a look at the agency’s future direction, shaped by lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. He highlighted new initiatives in pandemic intelligence, vaccine development, and digital health, including expanded work on artificial intelligence and support for mRNA technology transfer to 15 countries.

    WHO has also restructured its headquarters, reducing management layers and streamlining departments.

    “Our current crisis is an opportunity,” Dr Tedros concluded. “Together, we will do it.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 5, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UN chief hails Pope Francis as ‘a transcendent voice for peace’

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    The pontiff – born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina – was elected in March 2013.  He was the first priest from the Americas region to lead the Catholic Church worldwide and a strong voice for social justice globally.

    Mr. Guterres described him as a messenger of hope, humility and humanity.

    Legacy and inspiration

    “Pope Francis was a transcendent voice for peace, human dignity and social justice. He leaves behind a legacy of faith, service and compassion for all — especially those left on the margins of life or trapped by the horrors of conflict,” he said.

    Furthermore, he “was a man of faith for all faiths — working with people of all beliefs and backgrounds to light a path forward.”

    The Secretary-General said the UN was greatly inspired by the Pope’s commitment to the goals and ideals of the global organization, a message that he conveyed in their various meetings.

    Strong environmental message

    The Secretary-General recalled that the Pope spoke of the organization’s ideal of a “united human family” during his historic visit to UN Headquarters in New York in 2015.

    “Pope Francis also understood that protecting our common home is, at heart, a deeply moral mission and responsibility that belongs to every person,” said Mr. Guterres, noting that his second Encyclical – Laudato Si – was a major contribution to the global mobilisation that resulted in the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change.

    “Pope Francis once said: “The future of humankind isn’t exclusively in the hands of politicians, of great leaders, of big companies…[it] is, most of all, in the hands of those people who recognize the other as a ‘you’ and themselves as part of an ‘us,’” he added.

    The Secretary-General concluded by saying that “our divided and discordant world will be a much better place if we follow his example of unity and mutual understanding in our own actions.”

    UN Photo/Kim Haughton

    Pope Francis addresses the General Assembly during his visit to United Nations Headquarters in 2015.

    Voice for change

    During his September 2015 visit to the UN, Pope Francis delivered a wide-ranging address to leaders gathered in the General Assembly Hall to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

    He urged global action to protect the environment and end the suffering of “vast ranks of the excluded.”  He also suggested that the UN could be improved and can “be the pledge of a secure and happy future for future generations”.

    “The international juridical framework of the United Nations and of all its activities, like any other human endeavour, can be improved, yet it remains necessary,” he said.

    Five years later, during the virtual meeting of the UN General Assembly due to the coronavirus“>COVID-19 pandemic, the Pope said the crisis was also an opportunity to rethink our way of life – and systems that are widening global inequality. 

    People over profit

    Pope Francis was a strong supporter of the UN, including its humanitarian work. 

    He engaged with the three UN agencies based in Rome, namely the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).  

    In a message to the FAO Conference in June 2021, he expressed concern over rising food insecurity amid the pandemic and called for developing a “circular economy” that both guarantees resources for all people and promotes the use of renewable energy sources.

    “If we are to recover from the crisis that is ravaging us, we must develop an economy tailored to fit mankind, not motivated mainly by profit but anchored in the common good, ethically friendly and kind to the environment,” he said.

    Ending conflict

    Most recently, the Pope backed UN efforts towards ending the current unrest in South Sudan, where rising political tensions and fresh mobilization of the army and opposing armed groups in some regions have raised fears of a return to civil war.

    The UN Special Representative for South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, told the Security Council just last week that the UN Mission in the country, UNMISS, was engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts to broker a peaceful solution alongside many stakeholders, including the African Union, regional bloc IGAD, Pope Francis and others. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 5, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: ‘We are the present’: Tajik climate activist urges leaders to include youth voices in dialogue

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    At the end of April, Fariza Dzhobirova attended a Model United Nations Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, where she represented Switzerland.

    For Ms. Dzhobirova, it was a rehearsal of sorts for the actual High-level Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation which began on Thursday in Dushanbe. There, she will serve as a panel member representing her own country.

    “The [Model UN] conference gave me a platform to raise my voice, collaborate with like-minded peers from across the region and develop policy recommendations that we hope will influence real-world decisions,” she said.

    The High-level Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation, hosted by the Government of Tajikistan and supported by a variety of United Nations agencies, will work to underline the extreme urgency of melting glaciers, elevating it as a global climate and development challenge. 

    Will glaciers survive the 21st century? 

    Glaciers, alongside ice sheets, account for over 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater resources and are integral to many local economies, providing water, sustaining agriculture and generating energy. 

    However, due to the increasing temperature of the planet, glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates – scientists predict that if the current rate of melting continues, many glaciers will not survive the 21st century.

    In Tajikistan alone, 30 per cent of glaciers have disappeared over the last century, disrupting local and national water supplies and agricultural patterns. And Slovenia and Venezuela have lost all their glaciers.

    Just yesterday, one day before the conference was set to begin, a partial glacier collapse in Switzerland buried most of a small village, according to news reports.

    “The death of a glacier is more than just the loss of ice,” said World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

    Youth voices are the present and the future

    Before the conference, Parviz Boboev from the UN Country Team in Tajikistan sat down with Ms. Dzhobirova to discuss what motivates her climate activism. 

    Photo by UN Tajikistan

    Fariza Dzhobirova, a young climate activist from Tajikistan, represents Switzerland at a Model United Nations conference on glacier preservation.

    Parviz Boboev: What inspired you to get involved in the climate movement?

    Fariza Dzhobirova: Growing up in Tajikistan, where more than 90% of our freshwater comes from glaciers, I’ve seen how climate change is already impacting people’s lives. Rivers are shrinking, water is becoming less accessible, and natural disasters like landslides and floods are affecting more and more communities.

    I’ve met a family who lost their home because of mudflow. I saw a teenage girl from that family of the same age as me that had totally different problems because of this climate-related disaster. I was thinking about my classes. She was thinking about how to survive.

    My message is that young people are not just the future — we are the present, and we are ready to contribute today

    And I know there are many examples similar to this – farmers whose land can no longer be irrigated and children whose futures are at risk. Seeing this pain and injustice made it impossible for me to stay silent or uninvolved.

    Participating in the upcoming Glaciers’ Preservation conference means a lot to me. It’s about raising the voices of people who are often left out of global discussions. For me, it’s a chance to speak on behalf of my generation and my country, and to show that young people are ready to be part of the solution.

    Parviz Boboev: What message do you hope to share at the conference about the impact of climate change on your community and generation?

    Fariza Dzhobirova: Being invited to speak is a great responsibility for me. It’s a chance to represent not only Tajikistan, but the voice of a generation.

    My message is that young people are not just the future — we are the present, and we are ready to contribute today. Climate change is not only about the environment — it’s about how we live, how we work, how we learn. It affects our opportunities, our mental health, our ability to plan for the future. And yet, many young people are still excluded from decision-making processes.

    At the conference, I want to encourage leaders and policymakers to truly listen not just to the facts and data, but to the experiences and hopes of young people. When you give youth a platform, you don’t just invest in their potential — you strengthen the resilience and sustainability of entire communities.

    Parviz Boboev: Youth voices are becoming increasingly important in global climate conversations. How do you see the role of young people in shaping solutions?

    Fariza Dzhobirova: I truly believe that young people have a unique role to play in shaping more just, inclusive and forward-looking climate solutions. We bring fresh ideas, the courage to question outdated systems and a strong sense of responsibility for the future.

    In countries like Tajikistan, where glaciers are directly connected to people’s livelihoods, youth are already stepping up. What we need now is more trust and investment in young people. We don’t expect to solve everything alone, but we do hope to be included — in dialogue, in decision-making, and in designing real solutions.

    Protecting glaciers and water resources is not just a technical challenge; it’s a human one. By working together — across generations and borders — we can make our region stronger, more resilient, and more united in the face of climate change.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 5, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: ‘This is not just ice’: Glaciers support human livelihoods, UN deputy chief says

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    She said that since 1975, glaciers have lost more than 9,000 billion tons of ice –  equivalent to a 25-metre-thick block covering all of Germany.

    “At current rates, many glaciers may not survive this century, reshaping landscapes, ecosystems, livelihoods and water security on a global scale,” she warned.

    “This is not just a mountain crisis – it is a slow-moving global catastrophe with far-reaching consequences for planet and people.”

    Not just ice

    Ms. Mohammed was speaking a day after visiting the Vanj Yakh Glacier in north-central Tajikistan where she witnessed the “breathtaking beauty” of this crucial mass of dense ice.  

    The glacier is a vital water source for many communities in Central Asia, feeding rivers and helping to sustain millions of lives and livelihoods.

    But due to climate change, it is melting. Quickly. Over the past 80 years, it lost the equivalent of 6.4 million Olympic sized pools of water.

    The International Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation, held 29 May to 1 June in Tajikistan’s capital, is highlighting the ways in which glacier retreat threatens lives and livelihoods worldwide.

    “This is not just ice. This is food, water and security for generations to come,” said Ms. Mohammed.

    ‘Our glaciers are dying’

    Glaciers, along with ice sheets, store approximately 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater, making them essential for human survival and economies. But five of the past six years have witnessed the most rapid glacier retreat on record.

    “Our glaciers are dying,” said Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a co-organizer of the conference.

    “The death of a glacier means much more than the loss of ice. It is a mortal blow to our ecosystems, economies, and social fabric.”

    Melting glaciers increase the likelihood and severity of floods and mudslides, in addition to impacting various industries such as agriculture and forestry.  

    Bridging science and action 

    Ms. Mohammed said that the rate of glacier retreat means that the international community must take immediate action. 

    “The time to act is now for our people and our planet,” she said.  

    The conference in Dushanbe has worked to elevate glacier preservation to the top of the worldwide climate agenda ahead of the UN COP30 climate change conference in Brazil this November.

    Ms. Saulo emphasized that strengthening glacier monitoring and improving warning systems for glacier collapse will help “bridge science and services.” She also said that this must all translate into concrete action to slow glacier retreat.  

    In Tajikistan specifically, Parvathy Ramaswami — the UN Resident Coordinator in the country — said that they have focused on supporting farmers through training and knowledge transfer for local communities.  

    “[The training] means that more children are safe from disasters, they can go to school, learn and grow,” she explained. “Families and communities become resilient and prosper.” 

    UN Tajikistan

    Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed (centre) with Model UN youths and Ambassador for a Day in Tajikistan.

    Intergenerational conversations

    In Tajikistan, the Deputy Secretary-General met with many youth climate activists. She emphasized that actions to address glacier retreat must be intergenerational, much like the conversations which the conference encouraged. 

    “The global decisions we are shaping today will affect [young people’s] lives. So to think that we can begin to shape a person’s future without them, really doesn’t bode well for the rights that they have to determine their future, their aspirations,” she said.

    In giving advice to younger generations, she expressed hope that young activists would continue to advocate for their vision of the future. 

    “They should continue to raise their voices, they should continue to have their courage of conviction, they should remember that this is about a life journey and they need to make every step count.” 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 5, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Yemen: Nearly half the population facing acute food insecurity in some southern areas

    Source: United Nations 2

    Yemen remains trapped in a prolonged political, humanitarian and development crisis, after enduring years of conflict between government forces and Houthi rebels, with populations in the south of the country now facing a growing food insecurity crisis.

    A partial update released Monday by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system – which ranks food insecurity from Phase 1 to famine conditions, or Phase 5 – paints a grim picture.

    Starting in May 2025, around 4.95 million people have been facing crisis-level food insecurity or worse (Phase 3+), including 1.5 million facing emergency-level food insecurity (Phase 4).

    These numbers mark an increase of 370,000 people suffering from severe food insecurity compared to the period from November 2024 to February 2025.

    Further deterioration

    The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned that “looking ahead, the situation [was] expected to deteriorate further,” with 420,000 people potentially falling into crisis-level food insecurity or worse.

    This would bring the total number of severely food-insecure people in southern governorate areas to 5.38 million – more than half the population.

    Multiple compounded crises – such as sustained economic decline, currency depreciation in southern governorates, conflict, and increasingly severe weather – are driving food insecurity in Yemen.

    High-risk areas

    Amid Yemen’s growing food crisis, humanitarian agencies including WFP, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are reorienting their efforts towards high-risk areas, delivering integrated support across food security, nutrition, sanitation, health, and protection to maximise life-saving impact.

    “The fact that more and more people in Yemen don’t know where their next meal will come from is extremely concerning at a time when we are experiencing unprecedented funding challenges,” said Siemon Hollema, Deputy Country Director of WFP in Yemen.

    Immediate support needed

    WFP, UNICEF and FAO are urgently calling for sustained and large-scale humanitarian and livelihood assistance to prevent communities from falling deeper into food insecurity, and to ensure that the UN “can continue to serve the most vulnerable families that have nowhere else to turn,” he said.

    Internally displaced persons, low-income rural households, and vulnerable children are particularly affected, and are now facing increased vulnerability, as approximately 2.4 million children under the age of five and 1.5 million pregnant and lactating women are currently suffering from acute malnutrition.

    The situation is dire, but with urgent support, “we can revitalise local food production, safeguard livelihoods, and move from crisis to resilience building, ensuring efficiency and impact,” said FAO Representative in Yemen, Dr. Hussain Gadain.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 5, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: ‘Plenty of fish in the sea’? Not anymore, say UN experts in Nice

    Source: United Nations 4

    As yachts bobbed gently and delegates streamed by in a rising tide of lanyards and iPads at Port Lympia, Nice’s historic harbor, that statistic sent a ripple through the conference’s third day – a stark reminder that the world’s oceans are under growing pressure from overfishing, climate change and unsustainable management.

    Presented dockside at a press conference by Manuel Barange, Assistant Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the report offered a detailed global snapshot of how human activity is steadily draining the ocean – and how sound management can bring it back.

    “To use a banking comparison,” Mr. Barange told UN News in an interview ahead of the report’s launch, “we are extracting more than the interest the bank gives us. We are depleting the populations.”

    The Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources 2025, which draws on data from 2,570 marine fish stocks – the widest scope used by FAO yet – paints a complex picture: while over a third of stocks are being overexploited, 77 per cent of fish consumed globally still come from sustainable sources thanks to stronger yields from well-managed fisheries.

    “Management works,” Mr. Barange said. “We know how to rebuild populations.”

    A global patchwork

    Regional disparities remain stark. In the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada, over 90 per cent of stocks are sustainably fished. In Australia and New Zealand, the figure exceeds 85 per cent. The Antarctic – governed by strict international regulations – reports 100 per cent sustainability.

    But along northwest Africa’s coast, from Morocco to the Gulf of Guinea, over half of all stocks are overfished, with little sign of recovery. The Mediterranean and Black Sea fare even worse: 65 per cent of stocks there are unsustainable. Yet there is a positive sign – the number of boats going out to fish in that region has declined by nearly a third over the past decade, offering hope that policy shifts are beginning to take effect.

    UN News/Fabrice Robinet

    Assistant Director-General Manuel Barange, of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), unveiled the agency’s report on the world’s fish stocks.

    For Mr. Barange, the lesson is clear: where management systems exist – and are backed by resources – stocks recover.

    But science-based management is expensive. “Some regions can’t afford the infrastructure needed for control and monitoring, the science needed, the institutions needed,” he said.

    “We need to build up capacity for the regions that are not doing so well. Not to blame them, but to understand the reasons why they are not doing so well and support them in rebuilding their populations.”

    From collapse to comeback

    Perhaps the clearest example of recovery may be tuna. Once on the brink, the saltwater fish has made a remarkable comeback. Today, 87 per cent of major tuna stocks are sustainably fished, and 99 per cent of the global market comes from those stocks.

    “This is a very significant turnaround,” Mr. Barange said. “Because we have taken management seriously, we have set up monitoring systems, we set up management systems, compliance systems.”

    The full findings in the FAO’s new report are likely to shape policy discussions far beyond Nice. The agency has worked closely with 25 regional fisheries-management organizations to promote accountability and reform, and Mr. Barange believes the model is replicable – if the political will holds.

    Fish, livelihoods, and the blue economy

    Countries were reported to have finalized negotiations over the political declaration expected to be adopted on Friday at the close of UNOC3, as the conference is known. The statement will form part of the Nice Ocean Action Plan and is intended to align with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – the 2022 agreement to protect 30 per cent of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030.

    As the heat climbed once again over the stone quays of Nice – a city perched in one of Europe’s most climate-vulnerable regions – sustainable fisheries took center stage inside the conference halls. Action panels focused on supporting small-scale fishers and advancing inclusive ocean economies, with delegates exploring how to align conservation goals with social equity – especially in regions where millions depend on fishing for survival.

    We’re not apart from the ocean – we’re a part of it – FAO’s Manuel Barange

    “There are 600 million people worldwide who depend on fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihoods,” Mr. Barange said. “In some countries, aquatic animals are the main source of protein. We’re not apart from the ocean – we’re a part of it.”

    As the conference moves into its final stretch, FAO’s warning shines like a beacon: one-third of the world’s fish stocks remain under too much pressure. But the data also offer something that can be elusive in the climate and biodiversity space – evidence that recovery is possible.

    Three days in, the FAO report underscores a central message voiced by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, on Monday, as he opened the summit: recovery is still within reach.

    “What was lost in a generation,” he said, “can return in a generation.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 5, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: The ‘chinamperos’ have provided Mexico City with food for generations. Do they have a future?

    Source: United Nations 2-b

    The chinamperos get their name from ‘chinampas,’ the human-made islands of floating gardens on which they farm. It was the Aztecs who discovered that, by layering mud, plants and branches on shallow lake beds, they could create highly fertile plots of land.

    For hundreds of years, the chinampas sustained farming communities, but the climate crisis, a lack of enthusiasm for farming amongst younger people and the huge, growing water needs of the metropolis, could combine to ensure that this ancestral way of life is under threat.

    A team from from UN University met with the farmers of Xochimilco ahead of the release of the 2025 Interconnected Disaster Risks report which tracks how disasters are linked to each other as well as human behaviours.

    They discussed the history of the Xochimilco community, and how their way of life can be saved for future generations.

    Lauro Rivera

    72, beekeeper

    © UNU-EHS/Rodrigo Jardón Gal

    Lauro Rivera

    “I was born and raised in Xochimilco, a place that exists because of the hard work of our ancestors. They built the chinampas by layering branches, leaves and rich mud from the lagoon’s bottom. 

    o anchor them in place, they planted ahuejote trees [native Bonpland willows], at each corner.

    Over time, these efforts created the vast network of canals and chinampas that is still here today. There are nearly 180 kilometres of canals surrounded by chinampas.”

    Samuel Luna

    67, vegetable farmer

    © UNU-EHS/Rodrigo Jardón Gal

    Samuel Luna

    “This knowledge is ancestral, and chinampas are unique in the world. We have been passing this down to our children.

    There were even freshwater clams here. Fish, turtles, snails, axolotls. But there are big problems right now with pollution and water scarcity.

    We are starting to go back to what was done before: using crops friendly to the environment, using less pesticides.

    Maybe we can’t bring back everything, but at least what we can preserve is what we have now. We, the farmers, are the guardians of these lands.”

    Eric Enríquez

    45, farmer and grandson of Samuel

    © UNU-EHS/Rodrigo Jardón Gal

    Eric Enríquez

    “My grandfather was the one who taught me farming. There is no school for chinampa farming. My mother used to bring me here as a baby. We still use the spit, the rake, the winnowing fork, and this is passed down from generation to generation.

    First, there were very clear seasons of rain, heat, cold. But with climate change you no longer know when it will rain or be cold. Technology has advanced, and we now have materials that help to cushion the heat or cold or hail. But there is also a disadvantage: not all of us have the money to invest in all these types of tools.

    If everyone works at an office, who will do all this work that we do to feed the chinampas? This is all very beautiful and I have huge feelings for it. I do not want it to be lost.”

    Mariana Cruz

    29, historian

    © UNU-EHS/Rodrigo Jardón Gal

    Mariana Cruz

    “When we talk about farmers, the first thing that comes to mind is the image of a man. I, however, imagine more my great-grandmother. These ladies with their bibs, with their petticoats, who did the housework but also farmed the chinampas. I was born in 1995 and even then, the canal waters had already turned brown.

    Many families have stopped farming. First of all, because of the stereotype that the farmer is poor.

    I am very proud to be able to say that I come from a family of chinamperos. We teach our friends and co-workers why we should take care of the canals, why we should take care of the water, why Xochimilco is important for the life of Mexico City. The work of the farmer is as important as the work of a doctor.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 5, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Green gold beneath the waves: How seaweed – and one man’s obsession – could save the world

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    Lesconil, a salt-bitten fishing port tucked into the coast of Brittany, in northern France, stirs slowly under the pale Atlantic dawn. Tide pools shimmer, breathing with the sea — undisturbed but for the cries of seabirds and a lone figure in yellow waders, knee-deep in a forest of seaweed. The man, Vincent Doumeizel, gently lifts a strand of Saccharina latissima from the brine, waving it above the waterline like a revolutionary banner.

    “It’s not slimy,” he says of the olive-brown frond glistening in his fingers. “It’s magnificent.”

    For Doumeizel, seaweed is more than a marine curiosity. This diverse family of green, red, and brown algae is a cornerstone of his life’s work – a vehicle for feeding the planet, restoring oceans, fighting climate change, and even replacing plastic.

    It is, as he likes to say, “not just a superfood, but a super solution.”

    A senior adviser to the UN Global Compact, a platform advocating for sustainable corporate practices, the 49-year-old Frenchman has become one of the faces of the so-called “seaweed revolution.”

    In 2020, he co-authored The Seaweed Manifesto, a collaborative document involving the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Bank and other partners. Its premise is bold: harness the humblest of marine organisms to tackle some of the planet’s most complex problems.

    Algae, the manifesto argues, can help solve a quartet of crises – climate, environmental, food, and social. Doumeizel’s personal conviction borders on the messianic. “Undoubtedly,” he wrote in a 2023 book outlining his vision, seaweed is “the world’s greatest untapped resource.”

    © Courtesy of Vincent Doumeizel

    Vincent Doumeizel sometimes speaks of “sea forests” rather than “seaweed” – a linguistic sleight of hand designed to counter the Western bias that sees seaweed as stinky pollution waste.

    Algae against apocalypse

    Long before trees shaded Pangaea and dinosaurs thundered across its land, seaweed was already swaying in the sunlit shallows of ancient oceans – a silent architect of Earth’s transformation. Born more than a billion years ago, marine algae were among the first complex organisms to harness sunlight through photosynthesis, oxygenating the atmosphere and shaping the conditions for multicellular life.

    But Doumeizel is neither a marine biologist nor an agronomist. His background is in food policy.

    “I came across world hunger during an early deployment to Africa,” he told UN News. “It left a strong mark.”

    Seaweed first sparked Doumeizel’s interest on a subsequent trip to the Japanese island of Okinawa, whose residents have exceptionally long lifespans. He noticed that people there ate a lot of seaweed.

    “It was delicious,” he recalled. “And visibly healthy.”

    From the northeast Atlantic “sea spaghetti” (Himanthalia elongata), to the Indo-Pacific “green caviar” (Caulerpa lentillifera), and the ubiquitous “sea lettuce” (Ulva lactuca), algae are rich in vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, fibers, and even proteins.

    Humble and often overlooked, these marine vegetables may be one of our most underappreciated sources of nutrition. Despite covering more than 70 per cent of the planet, the ocean contributes only a sliver to the global food supply in terms of calories – a gap that seaweed could help close.

    And while agriculture contributes to roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, in part due to deforestation for pastures and crops, seaweed cultivation does not require any land, fertilizers or freshwater.

    Recent research even suggests that feeding red seaweed to cows could reduce their methane emissions by up to 90 per cent – a potential game-changer in the fight against climate change.

    The implications go far beyond the barnyard. The ocean has generated more than half the oxygen we breathe, and it absorbs about a third of all man-made emissions. Seaweed plays a part in this process, capturing more carbon per acre than land vegetation. Some species, like “giant kelp” (Macrocystis pyrifera), can grow at an astonishing rate of two feet per day, making them powerful carbon sinks.

    Seaweed can also be extracted and transformed into bioplastics, biofuels, textiles, and even pharmaceuticals.

    “We can change the paradigm by encouraging seaweed cultivation,” Doumeizel said.

    © Courtesy of Vincent Doumeizel

    Algolesko, off the coast of Lesconil, in Brittany, is one of the largest seaweed farms in continental Europe, with 150 hectares of organic Laminaria culture.

    A growing, yet under-regulated industry

    When we met Doumeizel in Nice ahead UNOC3, the shorthand by which the third UN Ocean Conference is known, he was coming from the launch, two days earlier, of his comic book. The Seaweed Revolution is a 128-page dive into the life of an algae enthusiast also named Vincent “involved with the UN Ocean Forum.”

    In real life, Doumeizel is as passionate and buoyant as on his TED Talk videos or keynote addresses.

    “I could eat those,” he says, holding up a pair of sunglasses — sleek, black, and entirely made from plankton. Perched on a sunlit ledge above the Mediterranean, Doumeizel becomes part showman, part prophet, as he unpacks a series of seaweed-born wonders: a biodegradable garbage bag that looks indistinguishable from plastic, a soft green T-shirt spun from algae fibers, and, with a grin, an edible copy of his own book, The Seaweed Revolution. “All of this,” he says, gesturing to the strange little tableau at his feet, “could be made of seaweed.”

    While the world’s salty waters are home to 12,000 different known species of seaweed, so far humans are only able to actively cultivate less than a couple dozen of them – a practice known as kelp farming.

    Algolesko, in Brittany, is one of the largest seaweed farms in continental Europe. The morning when Doumeizel could be seen lifting a brown algae from the Atlantic Ocean, he was doing so from the farm’s 150 hectares of organic culture.

    As co-head of the Global Seaweed Coalition, which is roughly 2,000-members strong and hosted by the UN Global Compact, Doumeizel travels around the world for speaking engagements, from Patagonia to Tunisia, Madagascar, and Australia. Each stop is also an opportunity to explore local seaweed production.

    According to a concept paper written by the UN ahead of Nice’s Ocean Conference, the seaweed industry is on the rise. Production of marine algae more than tripled since 2000, up to 39 million tonnes a year, the overwhelming majority of which comes from aquaculture. It has become a $17 billion market, and current investments in bio stimulants, bioplastics, animal and pet foods, fabrics, and methane reducing additives could add another $12 billion annually by 2030.

    Yet the path forward is not simple. “There is generally a lack of legislation and guidance,” notes the UN document. “There are currently no Codex Alimentarius standards establishing any food safety criteria for seaweed or other algae.”

    Doumeizel agrees. The global seaweed industry, he said, is still fragmented and largely dominated by Asia, where the production of nori, the kind of seaweed used in sushi, was already a hugely profitable business. But, he added, so much more could be done with the resource.

    © Courtesy of Vincent Doumeizel

    On the island of Zanzibar, the seaweed boom began with a surge in demand for food texturizers made of algae. Widows and single women quickly stepped up.

    Reducing gender inequality

    Beyond its environmental promise and nutritional punch, seaweed is quietly driving a feminist transformation. According to the concept paper, about 40 per cent of seaweed start-ups worldwide are led by women.

    “In Tanzania, a largely patriarchal society, the seaweed trade has changed lives,” said Doumeizel. The boom began with a surge in demand for food texturizers made of algae. Widows and single women quickly stepped up. On the island of Zanzibar, seaweed is now the third-largest resource, and women retain nearly 80 per cent of the profits.

    “They built schools. They sent their daughters to those schools. They fought for a place in the markets to sell their harvests,” Doumeizel said. “They even bought motorcycles.”

    The ripple effects have reached the highest levels of power: the current President of Tanzania is a woman from Zanzibar.

    But climate change is pushing the industry into deeper waters – quite literally. As sea temperatures rise, the algae can no longer be cultivated close to shore. “Now, women have to venture farther out,” Doumeizel explained. “But most don’t know how to swim or steer a boat.”

    To help preserve both livelihoods, the Global Seaweed Coalition is funding a new initiative to teach women maritime skills – swimming, boating, navigation. “We have to make sure this revolution leaves no one behind,” the Frenchman said.

    The threat of climate change

    If seaweed offers a promising solution to climate change, it is also one of its quietest victims. As atmospheric carbon dioxide climbs, the ocean grows warmer and more acidic – conditions that are already eroding marine ecosystems and triggering the widespread loss of seaweed habitats.

    In places like California, Norway, and Tasmania, more than 80 per cent of kelp expanses have vanished in recent years, driven not only by climate change, but also pollution, and overfishing.

    In interviews, Doumeizel sometimes speaks of “sea forests” rather than “seaweed” – a linguistic sleight of hand designed to counter the Western bias that sees seaweed as stinky pollution waste rather than threatened organisms.

    “Preserving them is just as necessary to life on Earth as saving the forests of the Amazon,” he wrote in his book.

    At UNOC3, which opens on Monday, Doumeizel will unveil a new initiative: the creation of a UN Seaweed Task Force. Designed to consolidate global efforts around regulation, research, and development, the task force would bring together six UN agencies – the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Global Compact, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN trade and development body (UNCTAD), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

    Its aim is ambitious: to give seaweed the institutional muscle it has long lacked. By centralizing expertise and setting global standards, the task force could help scale up the industry responsibly – and sustainably.

    The proposal already has the backing of several countries, including Madagascar, Indonesia, South Korea, and France. Together, they plan to introduce a draft resolution at the UN General Assembly this fall, with a vote expected in 2026.

    © Courtesy of Vincent Doumeizel

    On the island of Zanzibar, seaweed is now the third-largest resource.

    From bloom to boom

    Sometimes, the revolution doesn’t arrive in neat rows of aquafarms. It comes in 6,000-mile-wide blobs.

    In the spring of 2025, a vast bloom of sargassum – a free-floating brown algae known for its sprawling mats – blanketed the Atlantic, clogging beaches from the Gulf of Mexico to the shores of West Africa. Florida’s shore became inundated with the plant, whose pungent smell was deterring tourists. Coastal communities scrambled to manage the deluge.

    Yet, Vincent Doumeizel saw not just crisis but opportunity. “These massive blooms are caused by pollution and climate change,” he noted. “But if we manage and understand them properly, they could become a sustainable resource, turned into fertilizers, bricks, even textiles.”

    The vision is part redemption, part alchemy. Turning oceanic overgrowth into solutions may seem far-fetched. But then again, so does the idea that seaweed could replace beef – or plastic.

    Roughly 12,000 years ago in the Middle East, Homo sapiens ceased to be hunter-gatherers. “We became farmers cultivating plants to feed our animals and our families,” Doumeizel wrote in his book. “Meanwhile, at sea, we are still Stone Age hunter-gatherers.”

    But what if we could farm the ocean – not to exploit it, but to heal it? It’s not just a rhetorical question. It’s an invitation. And perhaps, a final warning.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    July 5, 2025
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