Category: Child Poverty

MIL-OSI Global: Ukraine will need major rebuilding when war ends − here’s why the US isn’t likely to invest in its recovery with a new Marshall Plan

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Frank A. Blazich Jr., Curator of Military History, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Europe after World War II? No, it’s the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in 2023, after a year of Russian bombardment. AP Photo, File

President Donald Trump wants Ukraine to repay the United States for helping to defend the country against Russia’s invasion.

Since 2022, Congress has provided about US$174 billion to Ukraine and neighboring countries to assist its war effort. Trump inflated this figure to $350 billion in a March 2025 White House meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. Separately, he has suggested Ukraine could reimburse the U.S. by giving America access to its minerals.

Ukraine is rich in titanium, graphite, manganese and other rare earth metals used to produce electric vehicle batteries and other tech devices.

Mining and refining these critical mineral resources would require major investment in infrastructure and economic development, including in parts of Ukraine severely damaged by fighting. Some analysts are calling for a return to the European Recovery Program, commonly known as the Marshall Plan.

The Marshall Plan used $13.3 billion in U.S. funds – roughly $171 billion in today’s dollars – to rebuild war-torn Western Europe from 1948 to late 1951. It is often evoked as a solution for reconstruction following global crises. Yet as a military historian and curator, I find that the Marshall Plan is not well understood.

For the U.S., the economic gains of the Marshall Plan did not come from European countries’ repaying loans or allowing the U.S. to extract their raw materials. Rather, the U.S. has benefited enormously from a half-century of goodwill, democratic stability and economic success in Europe.

European nations turn inward

After World War II ended in 1945, Western Europe faced a staggering burden of destruction and upheaval.

Allied bombardment of major industrial areas and German cities such as Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne had created massive housing shortages. Meanwhile, fighting through agricultural areas and a critical manpower shortage had curtailed food production. What harvest there was could not get to hungry civilians because so many of Europe’s roads, bridges and ports had been destroyed.

The United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany and other European governments were buried in debt after so many years of war. They could not afford to rebuild on their own. Yet rather than cooperating on their mutual economic reconstruction, European nations looked inward, focusing primarily on their own political challenges.

The continent was politically and militarily divided, too. Europe’s western half was influenced by the democratic, capitalistic forces led by the U.S. Eastern Europe was beholden to the communist, command-economy forces of the Soviet Union.

In a 1946 speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill articulated Europe’s growing postwar divide. Over the ruins of proud nations, he said, “an iron curtain” had “descended across the continent.”

US looks abroad

Unlike Europe, the U.S. emerged from World War II as the wealthiest nation in the world, with its territory intact and unharmed. Its steel and oil industries were booming. By 1947, the U.S. was the clear successor to Great Britain as the world’s superpower.

But President Harry Truman feared the ambitions of the war’s other great victor – the Soviet Union. In March 1947, he announced a new doctrine to contain communist expansion southward across Europe by giving $400 million in military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey.

Around the same time, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall met with Soviet officials to plan Germany’s future. Following the Nazis’ surrender in May 1945, Germany had been divided into four occupied zones administered by U.S., British, French and Soviet forces.

Each nation had its own goals for its section of Germany. The U.S. wanted to revitalize Germany politically and economically, believing that a moribund Germany would thwart the economic reconstruction of all of Europe.

Marshall hoped that the Soviets would cooperate, but Soviet ruler Josef Stalin preferred extracting reparations from a prostrate Germany to investing in its recovery. A vibrant German economic engine, the Soviets felt, could just as easily rearm to attack the Russian countryside for the third time that century.

The Truman administration chose to unilaterally rebuild the three western Allied sectors of Germany – and Western Europe.

Marshall outlined his plan at a commencement address at Harvard University in June 1947. American action to restore global economic health, he said, would provide the foundation for political stability and peace in Europe. And an economically healthy Western Europe, in turn, would inhibit the spread of communism by plainly demonstrating the benefits of capitalism.

“Our policy is not directed against any country,” Marshall said, “but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos.”

Marshall’s plan

Marshall invited all European nations to participate in drafting a plan to first address the immediate humanitarian aid of Europe’s people, then rebuild its infrastructure. The U.S. would pay for it all.

For nearly bankrupt European nations, it was a lifeline.

In September 1947, the new Committee for European Economic Co-operation, composed of 16 Western – but not Eastern – European nations, delivered its proposal to Washington.

It would take a masterful legislative strategy for the Democratic Truman administration to persuade the Republican-led Congress to pass this $13 billion bill. It succeeded thanks to the dedicated effort of Republican Sen. Arthur Vandenberg, who convinced his isolationist colleagues that the Marshall Plan would halt the expansion of communism and benefit American economic growth.

In April 1948, Truman signed the Economic Cooperation Act. By year’s end, over $2 billion had reached Europe, and its industrial production had finally surpassed prewar levels seen in 1939.

NATO is born

Along with economic stability, the Truman administration recognized that Europe needed military security to defend against communist encroachment by the Soviet Union.

In July 1949, 12 European countries, the U.S. and Canada established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO committed each member country to the mutual defense of fellow NATO members.

Since 1947, NATO has steadily expanded eastward to include Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and other former Soviet satellite states directly bordering Russia.

Ukraine, which declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, is not yet a NATO member. But it desperately wants to be.

Ukraine applied for NATO membership in 2022 after Russia’s invasion. Its application is pending. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said any peace deal with Ukraine must bar NATO membership.

Would a Marshall Plan work for Ukraine?

Modern-day Ukraine mirrors the Western European countries of the Marshall Plan era in meaningful ways.

It suffers from the physical devastation of war, with its major cities heavily damaged. The threat of military attack from hostile neighbors remains urgent. And it has a functional, democratic government that would – in peacetime – be capable of receiving and distributing aid to develop the nation’s economic growth and stability.

U.S. global leadership, however, has changed dramatically since 1948.

Outright American taxpayer financing of Ukraine’s reconstruction seems impossible. Any plan to reconstruct the country after war will likely require public funding from multiple nations and substantial private investment. That private investment could well include mineral extraction and refinement ventures.

Ultimately, Ukraine’s recovery will most likely involve Ukraine and neighboring nations reaching agreement to restore its economic and military security. The European Union, which Ukraine also seeks to join, has the bureaucratic and economic resources necessary to reconstruct Ukraine, restore peace and ease tensions on the continent.

Any future Marshall Plan for Ukraine will probably be European.

Frank A. Blazich Jr. 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. Ukraine will need major rebuilding when war ends − here’s why the US isn’t likely to invest in its recovery with a new Marshall Plan – https://theconversation.com/ukraine-will-need-major-rebuilding-when-war-ends-heres-why-the-us-isnt-likely-to-invest-in-its-recovery-with-a-new-marshall-plan-251872

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

March 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Minister reflects on department’s achievements, challenges in first three months

Source: South Africa News Agency

Minister reflects on department’s achievements, challenges in first three months

Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane has commended the department’s team for the work done to realise one of the principles of the Freedom Charter of providing houses, security and comfort.

This comes as the Minister reflects on the progress made in the three months since her appointment, acknowledging both the achievements and the challenges that lie ahead.

Progress and achievements

In a statement on Monday, Simelane said several key strides hace been made by the department, including responding to emergencies such as floods and fires in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

She highlighted visits to various human settlements projects and a significant meeting held with provincial Members of the Executive Council (MECs) to discuss the five-year Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP), and review progress on the implementation of the 2024/2025 priorities and proposed policy changes, among others.

In collaboration with the Department of Social Development, the Ministry has developed the Special Housing Needs Programme Grant designed to support the implementation of the Special Housing Needs Programme (SHNP).

“This programme seeks to provide amenities required in human settlements to help those who cannot independently live by themselves. This includes persons with disabilities, victims of domestic violence and the elderly,” the Minister explained.

Additionally, the department has worked to ensure stability within its entities by appointing and inducting new board members to serve in five of the six department’s entities.

A White Paper on Human Settlements was also approved in December 2024, focusing on developing a policy and legislative framework for Integrated and Sustainable Human Settlements.

The framework aims to provide housing, safety, and comfort for all, with a particular emphasis on vulnerable groups, the poor, and the “missing middle” of society.

Addressing challenges

Simelane said the period has enabled her to fully understand the challenges faced by the sector. These include budget cuts, poor contract management leading to project abandonment, allegations of fraud and corruption, a trust deficit between the department and its stakeholders, distressed social housing projects, and finding permanent solutions to the country’s informal settlements.

“These challenges inform us that there is no silver bullet to resolve our challenges. Government alone cannot provide solutions. Partnership with the private sector, the public, and NGOs [non-governmental organisations] will bring us closer to a permanent solution to our country’s housing challenges,” Simelane said.

The Minister addressed the issue of tenants deliberately boycotting rental agreements in social housing projects. She stressed that social housing is rental accommodation, and that tenants are legally obliged to pay rent.

“Failure to do so will lead to eviction. Do not blame government. Do the honourable thing, pay rent, and enjoy decent and affordable accommodation closer to economic activities and social amenities,” the Minister said.

Post Investment Support Programme

To foster mutually beneficial partnerships with the private sector, contractors and developers, and address issues that have cost the government millions of rands, the Minister announced that the department will launch the Emerging Developer Incubator and Post Investment Support Programme.

The programme, through the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC), will be launched on 28 March 2025.

This initiative aims to provide non-financial support to emerging developers, particularly those who have been historically disadvantaged. The programme will assist them in packaging funding proposals, managing construction phases and post-investments, and marketing completed units after construction.

“Empowered contractors are a vehicle to our success. If contractors and developers were to deliver quality human settlement projects on time and within budget, nothing would stand in our way of achieving our goals,” Simelane said.

She further outlined some of the department’s immediate priorities, including completing stalled or blocked projects, addressing the backlog of military veterans’ housing, and prioritising housing for vulnerable groups and the destitute.

Investigation into George building collapse

Meanwhile, the Minister said she has received the preliminary report of the National Home Builders Regulatory Council (NHBRC) has into the building that collapsed in George, Western Cape, in 2024.

The final report is expected to be completed shortly.

Simelane will in the coming months unpack departmental priorities, in line with the 2024-2025 MTDP, and explain how the priorities will contribute to government’s three key goals: driving inclusive growth and job creation, reducing poverty and tackling the high cost of living, and building a capable, ethical, and developmental State. – SAnews.gov.za

GabiK
Mon, 03/24/2025 – 12:59

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MIL OSI Africa –

March 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Improving outdoor play

Source: Scottish Government

£25 million for play park renewal.

First Minister John Swinney is set to announce £25 million of funding to local authorities to invest in the renewal of play parks across Scotland.

All councils will receive a share of the funding to improve the standard of existing play parks – helping to ensure children have access to safe environments to play and socialise in.

The funding is supported by the Play Vision Statement and Action Plan for 2025 – 2030, which has been published today.

Speaking ahead of a visit to Woodhead Park in Kirkintilloch, as part of the East Dunbartonshire Travelling Cabinet event, the First Minister said:

“Playing is key to a child’s healthy development, and by enabling councils to invest in outdoor play parks, we will ensure families can access a safe, high-quality place to play within their communities.

“This is all part of my driving mission to eradicate child poverty. Other steps we are taking include investing £3 million to develop mitigations for the UK Government’s two-child benefits cap, £37 million to deliver the expansion of the free school meals programme, and putting more money in families’ pockets through the Scottish Child Payment.”

COSLA Spokesperson for Children and Young People, Councillor Tony Buchanan said:

“COSLA welcomes today’s launch of the Play Vision Statement and Action Plan, play is very important not just for the enjoyment it brings, but also for the part it plays in developing children and young people’s social skills, interests, and curiosity. It also assists in developing relationships between parents, carers and other children and young people. The Play Vision Statement and Action Plan provides a good roadmap for how play can be encouraged and supported.”

Marguerite Hunter Blair, CEO Play Scotland and Chair of external Play Strategy refresh group said:

“We are delighted to be celebrating this clear commitment from the Scottish Government to play opportunities and experiences for all our children and young people. It is fantastic that children’s rights and voices are at the heart of this new vision for play alongside an enthusiastic cross-sectoral collaboration. The clear message coming from the versions of the plan that children have co- produced is simple – more play and better play is good for everyone.”

Background

The 54^th Travelling Cabinet will meet at Kirkintilloch Town Hall on Monday 24 March and hear from the local community at a public discussion at 2pm.

The £25 million investment for 2025-26 marks the completion of a £60 million Programme for Government commitment over four years – with a total of 887 play parks renewed as of March 2024.

Funding for play parks is supported by the Play Vision Statement and Action Plan for 2025 – 2030. Read the children’s version

The Action Plan highlights the importance of play as a key part of children’ healthy development, learning and physical and mental well-being and includes a number of actions which seek to equalise play opportunities for children across Scotland.

Local authorities report annually, in April, on their engagement with children and families, number of play parks identified for renewal, and the number of parks renewed in the previous financial year. The most recent reports were received in April 2024.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

March 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Banking: ADB’s Partnership with Canada
Source: Asia Development Bank
ADB and Canada have been working together for nearly six decades to tackle some of the most pressing development challenges in Asia and the Pacific.

Article | 24 March 2025

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A founding member of ADB, Canada has contributed $245 million to sovereign projects, matched by $868 million of ADB’s resources, and $530 million to ADB-managed trust funds.

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy’s investment of about Can$2.3 billion over the next five years focuses on sustainable infrastructure, gender equality, climate change, and inclusive development.

ADB and FinDev, Canada’s development finance institution, signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2023 to cooperate on sustainable and inclusive private sector investments that promote development in Asia and the Pacific.

For nearly six decades, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Canada have collaborated to tackle some of the most pressing development challenges in Asia and the Pacific. From advancing gender equality to addressing the climate crisis, environmental degradation, and poverty and inequality, the partnership has played an important role in the region’s sustainable development.

A founding member of ADB, Canada has contributed $245 million to sovereign projects, matched by $868 million of ADB’s resources, and $530 million to ADB-managed trust funds. Canada-based private entities have also committed $383 million to nonsovereign operations.

In 2023, Canada’s cofinancing commitments amounted to $6.9 million. In the same year, ADB’s Trade and Supply Chain Finance Program supported five Canadian exports and/or imports valued at $2.1 million.

Advancing shared priorities

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, launched in November 2022, identifies Asia and the Pacific as a region of immense opportunity. With an investment of about Can$2.3 billion over the next five years, the strategy signals Canada’s commitment to the region. It focuses on sustainable infrastructure, gender equality, climate change, and inclusive development. It also aligns efforts with global initiatives such as the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment.

Collaborating with FinDev Canada

ADB and FinDev, Canada’s development finance institution, signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2023 to cooperate on sustainable and inclusive private sector investments that promote development in Asia and the Pacific. They will jointly support private sector growth and investments in emerging and developing markets that advance women’s economic empowerment, climate action, and local market development.

Driving results through trust funds

ADB’s trust funds are essential to mobilize private financing and accelerate private sector participation in development. Canada has supported 6 ADB-managed trust funds, including:

Asia Pacific Project Preparation Facility. Enhancing infrastructure development with $63.3 million in collective contributions alongside Australia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. It supports the preparation and structuring of infrastructure projects, with private sector participation, and bringing them to the global market.

Canadian Climate and Nature Fund for the Private Sector in Asia. Supporting private sector projects in the region focused on climate and nature-based solutions, with $255 million in commitments.

Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in Asia. Catalyzing private investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation in Asia and the Pacific. It is ADB’s first concessional debt cofinancing facility focused on private sector climate actions, with $77.3 million in commitments.

Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in Asia II. Supporting private sector participation in climate change mitigation and adaptation in low- and lower-middle-income countries and upper-middle-income small island developing states, with $149.5 million in commitments.

Stories of ADB-Canada partnerships

Bangladesh: Keeping the Kids in Primary School. Bangladesh’s Primary Education Development Program, cofinanced by ADB and Canada, and other partners, introduced innovative approaches that changed the face of basic education in the country, such as the adoption of multimedia, teacher training, and reward schemes to encourage kids to stay in school.

Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Southeast Asia’s Biggest Wind Power Plant. The Monsoon Wind Power Company is building a wind power plant in the Lao PDR. ADB and Canada, along with other partners, are cofinancing what is poised to become the largest wind power facility in Southeast Asia.

Maldives: Boosting Small Businesses and the Blue Economy. ADB and Canada, along with other partners, are providing the Bank of Maldives with a financing package to boost small businesses and investments in sustainable blue economy projects.

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Subjects

ADB funds and products
MIL OSI Global Banks –
March 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: African safaris and colonial nightmares: a visit to artist Roger Ballen’s latest show

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Tinashe Mushakavanhu, Research Associate, University of Oxford

Born in the US, Roger Ballen, the internationally renowned photographer, has lived in South Africa since the 1970s.

He gained a cult following for his grotesque, surreal images of white poverty, captured on the rural fringes during apartheid. His work exposed not only the exploitation and marginalisation of his subjects but also the reality of apartheid’s failure to uplift even its privileged white minority.

Lion’s Revenge is a living, moving sculpture with sound effects. Roger Ballen/Inside Out Centre For the Arts

Over time, Ballen’s practice has expanded beyond photography into a hybrid realm of exhibition, installation and performance. His new Johannesburg space, the Inside Out Centre for the Arts, serves as a theatre for this experimentation.

The name itself, Inside Out, is typically “Ballenesque”, evoking the psychological effect he seeks to instil in viewers: a blurring of perception and reality. His exhibition, End of the Game, is an arresting debut for the centre.

Ballen is committed to challenging perspectives on African narratives. Designed as a platform for thought-provoking exhibitions and educational programmes, Inside Out supports a range of artistic practices, including photography, painting, sculpture, installation, drawing and film.

On a recent visit to the centre, Ballen walks me through the exhibition. As a scholar of literature and visual cultures, I am fascinated with this epic engagement with colonial archives and the history of big game hunting in Africa since the 1700s.

End of the Game. Inside Out Centre for the Arts

Even though the show’s been up for over a year, there’s no rush to close it, Ballen tells me. It’s become the backdrop of many eclectic events at the centre – live tattooing, poetry performances, curatorial talks, music workshops, film screenings, panel discussions. The centre is also proving popular for school group visits.

Read more: The real Johannesburg: 6 powerful photos from a gritty new book on the city

End of the Game is a visual and psychological exploration of the African safari – an experience long entwined with adventure, exploration, and the exploitative legacies of colonialism. It delves into humanity’s deep-seated drive to control and assert dominance over nature and wildlife.

A call to action

Entering End of the Game, visitors are greeted by Tarzan posters and a room filled with photos, books and documentary material on colonial hunting. But down the stairs, the experience shifts dramatically.

Inside Out Centre For the Arts

Here, Ballen’s images merge with eerie, mechanised sculptures of taxidermied (stuffed) creatures and unsettling painted tableaus. It feels like a horror-infused natural history museum.

Ballen blurs the line between documentary and constructed imagery, creating existential psychological dramas within haunting interiors.

Through his depictions of people and animals on the fringes of existence, he invites us to confront both our own alienation from the natural world and also the devastating consequences of our destructive behaviour.

Over the years, the scenes in Ballen’s photography have become increasingly elaborate and theatrical. His props, masks, drawings and sculptures have come to feature more prominently than people. The results often look more like mixed media collages than photographs.

Some of these elements are present in End of the Game. It assembles historical artefacts, paintings, colonial and contemporary photographs, as well as carefully staged objects. The result is a critical interrogation of the ecological crisis to which we have contributed. In the context of climate change, the show stands as both a stark indictment and an urgent call to action.

Beyond photography

The impulse to compose images beyond the medium of the photograph is what leads Ballen to collect found objects. He explains the process this way:

I am always trying to find things that don’t necessarily belong together and in making them belong together in a new way … It takes the spectator’s mind on a journey in another direction, which is important in art.

Nothing is static. Everything is in constant motion. The exhibition is immersive. The viewer and the objects are circling each other. Walking through it feels like entering a jungle, the taxidermied animals look poised for confrontation.

Hunter by Roger Ballen. Inside Out Centre for the Arts

For Ballen, this encounter is both physical and psychological – are animals enemies or figures of beauty? Perhaps coexistence is the question at the work’s core. As he explains it:

A central challenge in my career has been to locate the animal in the human being and the human being in the animal.

As the Tarzan posters make clear from the beginning, the idea of Africa has been hyped through Hollywood clichés. The image of it as a wild continent to be tamed and conquered, an unspoiled paradise, or a playground, has persisted. The romance of the African bush has filled the imagination of many foreign writers.

Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, in his essay How to Write About Africa, satirised this:

Always use the word ‘Africa’ or ‘Darkness’ or ‘Safari’ in your title.

Here, safari embodies the enduring thrill of conquest.

Victor. Inside Out Centre for the Arts

In the screen room, a collaged film is shown, made up of old hunting expedition clips found on YouTube. It is travel propaganda of famous hunting expeditions, led by colonialists and influential western figures.

Ballen, a US-trained geologist, was drawn to South Africa to study and work in the mineral extraction field. His deep engagement with the earth’s structure, materials and processes conceptually frames this exhibition, blending the scientific with the surreal.

The show sparks critical conversations on wildlife conservation, responsible tourism and environmental stewardship.

Inside Out

Inside Out was originally intended to be a photography centre, but during construction Ballen started imagining broader possibilities. It evolved into a multi-purpose venue that is a gallery, a theatre and an exhibition space, all in one.

Funeral Wake. Roger Ballen/Inside Out Centre for the Arts

However, the photography centre remains part of the plan. Ballen has bought the property next door, where the photography centre will now be established. Set to open in the last quarter of 2025, the centre will host photography exhibitions, talks and a bookstore, making it one of Africa’s few dedicated photography centres.

– African safaris and colonial nightmares: a visit to artist Roger Ballen’s latest show
– https://theconversation.com/african-safaris-and-colonial-nightmares-a-visit-to-artist-roger-ballens-latest-show-251302

MIL OSI Africa –

March 24, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Child Poverty – CPAG calls on Ministers to reverse lunch cuts with Budget bid

Source: Child Poverty Action Group

The Child Poverty Action Group is urging senior Government Ministers to put children first and find the money needed to reverse the cuts it has made to the school lunches programme.

CPAG has today written to Minister of Finance Nicola Willis with a ‘Budget Bid’ on behalf of the children of New Zealand.

CPAG Executive Director Sarita Divis said David Seymour, Erica Stanford, Winston Peters and Louise Upston had been copied into the bid and CPAG wanted one of them to put the bid in.

“It’s been problem after problem with school lunches this year: late deliveries, flies in food, inappropriate and unsafe food for students, a student in hospital with burns. Not to mention excessive wastage and lost economic opportunities for local community suppliers,” Ms Divis said.

“The time has come for the Government to admit the cuts were a mistake and to put things right by funding the previous model properly.”

CPAG was also concerned that nutritional information about the food under the new model was not clear. Good nutrition is essential for children, especially if they are not having breakfast or dinner.

A recent Talbot Mills poll showed 60 percent of voters want the government to reinstate the previous Ka Ora, Ka Ako system.

“Budgets and taxes are how we prioritise the things that really matter and the Government needs to put children first,” Ms Divis said.

“Ministers will right now be putting in their Budget bids for Budget 2025. We ask the Ministers to consider stepping forward to do the right and compassionate thing, which is what most Kiwis want, and reverse the cuts for the children of New Zealand.”

As well as reinstating the budgeted amount for food from $3 back to $8 per meal, CPAG wanted schools to once again be able to source school lunches from local community suppliers.

“The new model has been bad news for children. David Seymour continues to say it’s working well, but Kiwis know that’s just not the case,” CPAG Deputy Chair Rich Greissman says.

“Funding needs to be found in Vote Education, which is within the power of both Ministers Stanford and Seymour.”

Ms Divis said Minister Upston, as Minister for Child Poverty Reduction, was also well within her power to call for funding to be reversed.

“Corporate tax cuts or feeding hungry kids? It’s a no-brainer. The Government can find the money to do this. It is a choice.”

Based on the 2023 and 2024 Budget Summary of Initiatives, CPAG refers to estimates of the cost of restoring school lunches to their 2024 standard, between $107-115 extra a year.

There are also hidden costs to the new model, with many schools citing unexpected costs associated with the new model that are not covered by the School Lunch Collective.

For example, schools are now having to employ people to remove waste which comes out of a school’s operations budget.

Background

The Ka Ora Ka Ako Healthy School Lunches programme was introduced in 2020 to meet genuine unmet needs in New Zealand classrooms and homes.

It was a policy created by New Zealand First when it was in government with Labour and championed by former NZ First MP Tracey Martin which is why Winston Peters has also been copied into CPAG’s letter.

In the lead up to the 2023 election, National leader Christopher Luxon described Ka Ora, Ka Ako as a “good programme” and promised it would “continue to improve each and every year under a National government”.

A Ministry of Education evaluation of the original Ka Ora, Ka Ako in October 2022 found that the wellbeing results of the programme often exceeded expectations, with even greater benefits for students who rarely had enough food at home. Other benefits included less hunger at school, improvement in dietary patterns and greater local employment.

The Child Poverty Action group is concerned the new model for school lunches, along with the cuts to the programme budget, puts these gains at risk.

Under the Child Poverty Reduction Act (2018), the Government is legally required to address child poverty rates in the Budget with specific policies.

The Child Poverty Action Group believes an additional $115m a year of funding for the school lunches programme represents a remarkably small cost when the wider economic and social benefits of Ka Ora, Ka Ako are considered.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

March 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: African safaris and colonial nightmares: a visit to artist Roger Ballen’s latest show

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Tinashe Mushakavanhu, Research Associate, University of Oxford

Born in the US, Roger Ballen, the internationally renowned photographer, has lived in South Africa since the 1970s.

He gained a cult following for his grotesque, surreal images of white poverty, captured on the rural fringes during apartheid. His work exposed not only the exploitation and marginalisation of his subjects but also the reality of apartheid’s failure to uplift even its privileged white minority.

Over time, Ballen’s practice has expanded beyond photography into a hybrid realm of exhibition, installation and performance. His new Johannesburg space, the Inside Out Centre for the Arts, serves as a theatre for this experimentation.

The name itself, Inside Out, is typically “Ballenesque”, evoking the psychological effect he seeks to instil in viewers: a blurring of perception and reality. His exhibition, End of the Game, is an arresting debut for the centre.

Ballen is committed to challenging perspectives on African narratives. Designed as a platform for thought-provoking exhibitions and educational programmes, Inside Out supports a range of artistic practices, including photography, painting, sculpture, installation, drawing and film.

On a recent visit to the centre, Ballen walks me through the exhibition. As a scholar of literature and visual cultures, I am fascinated with this epic engagement with colonial archives and the history of big game hunting in Africa since the 1700s.

Even though the show’s been up for over a year, there’s no rush to close it, Ballen tells me. It’s become the backdrop of many eclectic events at the centre – live tattooing, poetry performances, curatorial talks, music workshops, film screenings, panel discussions. The centre is also proving popular for school group visits.

Read more:
The real Johannesburg: 6 powerful photos from a gritty new book on the city

End of the Game is a visual and psychological exploration of the African safari – an experience long entwined with adventure, exploration, and the exploitative legacies of colonialism. It delves into humanity’s deep-seated drive to control and assert dominance over nature and wildlife.

A call to action

Entering End of the Game, visitors are greeted by Tarzan posters and a room filled with photos, books and documentary material on colonial hunting. But down the stairs, the experience shifts dramatically.

Here, Ballen’s images merge with eerie, mechanised sculptures of taxidermied (stuffed) creatures and unsettling painted tableaus. It feels like a horror-infused natural history museum.

Ballen blurs the line between documentary and constructed imagery, creating existential psychological dramas within haunting interiors.

Through his depictions of people and animals on the fringes of existence, he invites us to confront both our own alienation from the natural world and also the devastating consequences of our destructive behaviour.

Over the years, the scenes in Ballen’s photography have become increasingly elaborate and theatrical. His props, masks, drawings and sculptures have come to feature more prominently than people. The results often look more like mixed media collages than photographs.

Some of these elements are present in End of the Game. It assembles historical artefacts, paintings, colonial and contemporary photographs, as well as carefully staged objects. The result is a critical interrogation of the ecological crisis to which we have contributed. In the context of climate change, the show stands as both a stark indictment and an urgent call to action.

Beyond photography

The impulse to compose images beyond the medium of the photograph is what leads Ballen to collect found objects. He explains the process this way:

I am always trying to find things that don’t necessarily belong together and in making them belong together in a new way … It takes the spectator’s mind on a journey in another direction, which is important in art.

Nothing is static. Everything is in constant motion. The exhibition is immersive. The viewer and the objects are circling each other. Walking through it feels like entering a jungle, the taxidermied animals look poised for confrontation.

For Ballen, this encounter is both physical and psychological – are animals enemies or figures of beauty? Perhaps coexistence is the question at the work’s core. As he explains it:

A central challenge in my career has been to locate the animal in the human being and the human being in the animal.

As the Tarzan posters make clear from the beginning, the idea of Africa has been hyped through Hollywood clichés. The image of it as a wild continent to be tamed and conquered, an unspoiled paradise, or a playground, has persisted. The romance of the African bush has filled the imagination of many foreign writers.

Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, in his essay How to Write About Africa, satirised this:

Always use the word ‘Africa’ or ‘Darkness’ or ‘Safari’ in your title.

Here, safari embodies the enduring thrill of conquest.

In the screen room, a collaged film is shown, made up of old hunting expedition clips found on YouTube. It is travel propaganda of famous hunting expeditions, led by colonialists and influential western figures.

Ballen, a US-trained geologist, was drawn to South Africa to study and work in the mineral extraction field. His deep engagement with the earth’s structure, materials and processes conceptually frames this exhibition, blending the scientific with the surreal.

The show sparks critical conversations on wildlife conservation, responsible tourism and environmental stewardship.

Inside Out

Inside Out was originally intended to be a photography centre, but during construction Ballen started imagining broader possibilities. It evolved into a multi-purpose venue that is a gallery, a theatre and an exhibition space, all in one.

However, the photography centre remains part of the plan. Ballen has bought the property next door, where the photography centre will now be established. Set to open in the last quarter of 2025, the centre will host photography exhibitions, talks and a bookstore, making it one of Africa’s few dedicated photography centres.

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

– ref. African safaris and colonial nightmares: a visit to artist Roger Ballen’s latest show – https://theconversation.com/african-safaris-and-colonial-nightmares-a-visit-to-artist-roger-ballens-latest-show-251302

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

March 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Backgrounder: Federal government invests in community buildings across Canada
Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation

Ontario

Algonquins of Pikwakanagan Health Centre Renovations

Replace the wood siding and wood frame windows with triple-paned windows, and increasing the basement insulation. The heating will be upgraded to an energy efficient heat pump, which provides significant GHG savings. The propane unit will remain, providing back up support in the case of extreme cold temperatures. Energy saving will also come from upgrading to low flow plumbing fixtures and lighting to LEDs. Accessibility will be improved by retrofitting the bathroom and upgrading the ramp to the building to meet code. A wing of the Centre will be retrofitted to improve accessibility with wider hallways and larger door frames.

$2,989,125

Ayr

Ontario

North Dumfries Net Zero Arena Project

The Township of North Dumfries is embarking on an exciting project to construct a new state-of-the-art ice arena. This facility aims to provide a modern, accessible, and energy-efficient space for ice sports and community events. The project includes a full-sized ice rink, seating for spectators, locker rooms, and multipurpose rooms for community use.

The goal is to create a hub for local sports teams, recreational leagues, and public skating, fostering a sense of community and promoting healthy, active lifestyles. The new arena will serve residents of all ages, from young children learning to skate to seniors participating in recreational activities. By incorporating sustainable building practices and energy-efficient technologies, we aim to minimize the environmental impact and ensure long-term operational cost savings.
This project will not only enhance the quality of life for North Dumfries residents but also attract visitors and events, boosting local economy and community spirit.

$5,000,000

Beamsville

Ontario

The Next Chapter – Vineland Library

The Town of Lincoln will retrofit and expand the public library in Vineland. The branch, built in 1996, is showing signs of wear and aging. It is the only public space on the East side of Lincoln and is currently visited by over 38,000 each year. Lincoln is experiencing significant planned residential growth, and the increased population will include newcomers, seniors and children at risk, who require space to meet and connect.
This project will include a 6000 sq foot addition, including new study and community spaces and a place for the local archives, a green retrofit complying with the zero-carbon building design standard v4, and will improve the accessibility of the branch to 2024 AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) standards.

The upgraded library will provide inclusive space for residents to access library programs and services and be a model of Net Zero design and construction in the Niagara Region.

$2,000,000

Blood 148

Alberta

Unlocking Energy Efficiency Potential for Blood Tribe Employment and Skills Training (BTEST) Building

Improve the comfort and efficiency of the facility and the success of programming by lowering energy consumption, reducing operating costs and demonstrating energy efficiency leadership.
Works include upgrading lights to LED, improving insulation and sealing of windows and doors, and building out a solar array. The expected energy efficiency improvements from these projects is 32.4%.

$307,119

Bonnechere Valley

Ontario

Eganville Community Arena GHG Reduction and Energy Efficiency Upgrades

Replace refrigeration equipment, install a 272 kW solar array, upgrade to LED lighting, improve air tightness and optimize the Building Automation System (BAS) for better climate control.
These measures aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower operational costs, and ensure the arena remains a vital community space for activities and events.

$1,000,000

Breton

Alberta

Carolyn Strand Civic Centre Energy Retrofit Improvements

Replace the outdated HVAC system with a high-efficiency heat pump and upgrade interior lighting with LED fixtures and a control panel, which will reduce energy consumption by 54.5%. An accessible ramp will also be installed to ensure all community members, including those with mobility challenges, can access the services.

$527,625

Brokenhead Ojibway Nation Reserve

Manitoba

Brokenhead Ojibway Nation Community Hall

Convert the existing kitchen into a commercial-grade kitchen, install an energy efficient backup generator for emergency power, improve HVAC and audio-visual systems, and accessibility within the building based on CSA standard. Energy efficiency upgrades will feature an air source heat pump, ductwork repairs, demand-controlled ventilation, and repairing the kitchen’s heat recovery ventilator (HRV), leading to a 47.1% reduction in energy consumption and carbon emissions.

$996,368

Burlington

Ontario

Skyway Community Centre and Park

Build a new facility that will exceed the Ontario Building Code (OBC) and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) for accessibility requirements. This new community centre will feature a revitalized park which includes a baseball diamond, natural playground, arena, program rooms and an indoor walking track. This will be a low carbon operating facility which aligns with the City’s goal of being a net carbon operation by 2040.

$1,000,000

Caledon

Ontario

Low Carbon Electric Heating Retrofits and Building Automation System Expansion at Caledon East Community Complex

Retrofit end-of-life natural gas heaters to electric radiant heaters in two arenas and a garage bay at the Caledon East Community Complex. Expand existing building automation system (BAS), as well as optimize the remaining assets which span the remaining 95,962 ft2 of original floor space at the complex. The retrofitted heaters and expanding the BAS system will result in energy savings of 944,583 ekWh and abate 131 tonnes of CO2e from entering the atmosphere.

$336,688

Cape Breton Regional Municipality

Nova Scotia

Going Green in 2023 2023

Install a new refrigeration system which will utilize significant green energy and carbon reductions measures and put in place solar panels as the primary energy source. This will lead to greater efficiency and significantly reduced utility rates and will also be part of a net-zero objective. Building renovations will assist with greater accessibility.

$1,000,000

Edmonton

Alberta

Pimatisiwin Bridge Housing Renovation

The Pimatisiwin Bridge Housing Renovation Project will rehabilitate and transform a former tavern space into a comprehensive support hub featuring 44 bridge housing units, a commercial kitchen, office space, conference rooms, spiritual space, and accessible washrooms. This project will serve individuals experiencing chronic homelessness by providing 24/7 accommodations, meals, showers, and wrap-around services. Residents will receive culturally sensitive support, helping them stabilize and transition to permanent housing. The renovated space will accommodate over 100 people daily, offering holistic care, including cultural, spiritual, and healthcare services. This project directly supports Edmonton’s unhoused population, particularly Indigenous individuals, and promotes long-term housing solutions.

$5,000,000

Edmonton

Alberta

Terra Centre 146 Street Renovation

Terra Centre recently purchased a building to accommodate the expansion of our programmes. Terra Centre is instrumental in raising the standard of living for minority families in Edmonton by being the only organization solely dedicated to pregnant and parenting teen mothers.

By reducing energy consumption and operating costs, we can ensure that services remain free for teen parents and their families. The agency has implemented many strategies to achieve this goal:

– Energy Efficiency Upgrade: HRV Replacement, Built-Up Roof System Replacement, Windows, Skylight and Storefront Replacement, LED Lighting Fixture Upgrade.
The retrofit plan includes enhancing accessibility in the building to welcome more employees, clients, and members of the public, thereby expanding access to more people who require service – Accessibility Retrofits: Accessible family washrooms, Ramps (Exterior and Interior), Automatic Doors, Accessible Reception Desk.

$1,000,000

Edmonton

Alberta

North Glenora Community League – Net Zero Retrofit

Improve the energy efficiency of the Community Leagues buildings and retrofit them to net zero. This project will eliminate the carbon emissions of the Community League, act as a demonstration for energy retrofits for residents, improve community climate resilience by providing emergency shelter from extreme weather, and increase the accessibility of the League buildings.

$752,113

Edmonton

Alberta

Avonmore Community League – Hall Building – Stepped Pathway to Net Zero

Reduce annual energy consumption by 87.3% (45,880 kWh), reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 89.4% (10.1 tCO2e), improve climate resilience, and work towards removing accessibility barriers. This will be achieved with a building envelope retrofit, reduction of natural gas consumption, electric heating and cooling, renewable energy generation, and accessibility enhancements.

$406,667

Edmonton

Alberta

Ritchie Community Hall Replacement Project

Replace the hall to align with community needs and municipal requirements. With a secured development permit, support from various organisations and access to 552 memberships and over 30 businesses, the league is shovel ready and feasible. The building currently serves as an affordable space for charities and non-profit organisations to provide affordable programs to young families and cultural groups. The new hall will also better serve houseless residents.

$4,287,392

Edmonton

*Announced on March 21, 2025

Alberta

Crestwood Hall HVAC and Envelope Upgrades

Correct stucco cladding, windows and doors, and heating and air conditioning systems.
This will also support the long term goal of becoming NetZero in an incremental and financially responsible way. This project will cut energy use by 44%, and prepare the building for full electrification.

$396,000

Edmonton

*Announced on March 21, 2025

Alberta

Edmonton’s Food Bank (EFB) Solar Array Project (Main Building)

Reduce the operating costs for EFB yearly by at least $70,000 and reduce the carbon emissions (GHG) associated with the operation of EFB by 225 tCO2. Funding will also create a sustainable and prosperous community by reduced costs and reinvestment into the local economy through things like food purchases and programs.

$482,160

Georgina

Ontario

Energy, Accessibility, and Climate Resiliency Retrofit of Sutton Arena

Improve the energy efficiency, accessibility, and climate resiliency of the facility by retrofitting the building envelope and equipment to reduce energy usage by over 26%, upgrading the elevator and flooring to meet accessibility standards, and implementing low impact development features in the parking lot to mitigate climate risks. The project will improve the enjoyment and usability of the space for the community by improving temperature controls and occupancy comfort, improving indoor air quality and accessibility, and building in climate resiliency.

$1,118,412

Grand Cache

Alberta

Aseniwuche Winewack Nation of Canada (AWN) Tawow Centre Retrofit

Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and operational costs while expanding programming for the community. Key upgrades will include optimizing heating and cooling systems, improving insulation, replacing windows and lighting with energy-efficient alternatives, and enhancing air quality.
The retrofit will benefit over 500 AWN members, including youth, elders, and families.

$399,700

Hamlet of Kugaaruk

Nunavut

Wellness Centre Renovation and Expansion

Renovate and expand the Centre to better serve the rapidly growing community, with a programming based on Inuit traditions. The Hamlet will install a new kitchen and additional food storage to support the Elders lunch and soup kitchen programs that provide services for the most vulnerable. To better serve expecting mothers and early families through the Canadian Prenatal Nutrition Program, a 25 m² expansion is planned. Additionally, the project will include a solar and battery energy storage system, enabling the Centre to operate essential services in emergencies and reducing reliance on diesel-powered electricity.

$2,998,331

High Prairie

Alberta

High Prairie Friendship Centre Retrofit

Improve the building envelope and HVAC systems, as well as implement rooftop solar. These upgrades will significantly reduce energy consumption, lower operating costs, promote climate resiliency, improve accessibility and building comfort, and ensure vital community services for years to come.

$1,350,995

Kingston

Ontario

Isabel Turner Library Renovation

Isabel Turner Library is a 32,000 sq. ft public library constructed in 1997 and serves as a critical community hub in the west-end of Kingston. The retrofit project will involve aggressive decarbonization measures, energy efficiency upgrades, and site-wide accessibility improvements, including:
- Extensive building mechanical upgrades (i.e. new high efficiency heat pumps)
- Full lighting replacement from fluorescent to LEDs
- Modifications to public and staff entrances to make them fully accessible
- Washroom renovations to make them accessible and a new universal washroom
- General accessibility improvements, including: colour contrasting floors and walls, improved circulation, elevator repairs, low reach shelving, integrated assistive devices, and wayfinding
- Building envelope improvements (water sealing).
$1,000,000

Kingston

Ontario

Solar PV Array – Rideau Heights Community Centre

Retrofit the facility with a net-metered photovoltaic array on the roof and in the adjacent parking lot.

$1,294,560

Kitchener

Ontario

Quad Gymnasium at RBJ Schlegel Park

The new 33,800 sq. ft. gymnasium will be Kitchener’s first facility of this kind, designed to competition standards for pickleball, basketball, indoor cricket, volleyball, and badminton. Located at the intersection of Huron Road and Fischer-Hallman Road, the facility is in the rapidly growing southwestern area of Kitchener, an area that has historically lacked sufficient recreational infrastructure. Just a 10-minute drive from Highway 401 and near other arterial routes the facility will be easily accessible by many, with an expected 150,000 local and non-local visitors in the first year with numbers expected to grow. The gymnasium will operate as a Net-Zero facility, making it one of the most environmentally sustainable recreation centers in Ontario. This will be achieved through a combination of advanced geo-thermal and solar photovoltaics as well as sustainable material selection such as cross-laminated timber wall systems, which significantly reduce the building’s carbon footprint.

$2,000,000

Lac Brome, Quebec (formerly known as Knowlton)

Quebec

Lac Brome Museum Expansion – New Building

Construction a 6000 sq.ft., 2-story building to expand museum displays/public spaces and to provide access during winter to museum and public events. The climate-controlled building will have an elevator, disabled-friendly washrooms and ground-floor exhibits.

$2,211,089

Lindsay

Ontario

Ampere’s Community STEAM Space

Ampere is undertaking a green and inclusive retrofit to create a community STEAM space in Lindsay, Ontario.

Currently, this 13,248 sq.ft. facility is largely inaccessible with poor energy efficiency. Retrofits will help create a safe, energy efficient, and inclusive multi-purpose learning and activity space. Its ambitious goals include:
– Green measures (target 65% energy savings, -90% in annual GHG emissions): Adding insulation and curtain walls, upgrading windows and exterior doors, upgrading HVAC, installing LED lighting
– Accessibility measures (exceeding the highest accessibility standards): Installing exterior/interior ramps, non-slip flooring, elevator, and accessible doors.

This project will primarily benefit underserved/high needs groups in rural Ontario, including people experiencing poverty, Indigenous peoples, people living with disabilities, newcomers, and seniors.

$2,000,000

Little Current

Ontario

Fuel Electrification and Solar Net Metering at NEMI Municipal Library

Offset existing propane and heating oil fuel consumption through installation of cold temperature air-source heat pumps as the new primary heating source, while retaining some of the existing heating system for backup and peak heating demand during extreme cold weather. Other ventilation, HVAC control and building envelope improvements are planned to increase occupant comfort and reduce issues around shoulder season heating with existing heating systems.

$97,362

London

*Announced on March 20, 2025

Ontario

Shelter from the Heat: Creating a Community Forestry Centre for Southwestern Ontario

Transform a 1940s Veterans facility into an energy-efficient, solar-powered, climate-resilient centre for community forestry programs aimed at combating climate change, particularly extreme heat, through tree planting and other nature-based solutions. The centre will offer a variety of free, publicly accessible programs, events, and services.

$2,195,115

London

Ontario

LOSC BMO Sports Centre Green Retrofit Project

Retrofit windows and minimize energy loss, and update outdated mechanical systems and HVAC equipment to optimize performance and reduce environmental impact. The project will provide a more eco-friendly facility, benefiting the London community and its 600,000+ annual visitors by improving comfort and lowering operational costs.

$600,000

Madeira Park, Sunshine Coast Regional District, Area A

British Columbia

Pender Harbour Community Hall Renovation & Upgrade Project

Replace the rafters and roof of the Hall with the goal of extending the life of the building and reduce GHG emissions by upgrading insulation, installing LED lighting and an ERV. The project will enable a solar panel array on the roof. The project will improve accessibility by installing automatic door opener at the main entrance which will complement the accessibility ramp donated by a local business. The project will reduce operating costs by reducing energy consumption and making the Hall more accessible for stakeholders.

$532,059

Mississippi Mills

Ontario

Reducing the Carbon Footprint: Museum Retrofit

Improve energy efficiency, reduce the carbon footprint of the MVTM, and increase long-term viability of the site through investments in grid-connected solar PV, high-efficiency electric heat pumps, improved thermal performance, electrical system upgrade, and WIFI-enabled computerized energy management.

$800,000

Montréal

Quebec

Project Second Chance – Enhancing Community Inclusion, Integration and Support Services to Ex-Inmates

Expand the Maison Belfield facility by approximately 8% by removing walls between the living room, kitchen, and dining areas to create a more open and functional environment and enhance public accessibility to group meetings, social events, and rehabilitation activities.

$294,455

Montréal

Quebec

The Oasis in Transformation: together for an inclusive and sustainable environment for the families of our community

Renovation of the backyard to better manage rainwater and reduce its impact on the building. To improve accessibility, plans include renovating common areas, automating one of the entrance doors, and installing a weather-protected universal access ramp. Improvements to insulation, windows, doors, the air conditioning and heating system, and lighting are also planned.

$550,000

Montréal

*Announced on March 19, 2025

Quebec

Montreal North Sport Centre

Build the sports section of the arena, which includes a double gymnasium, a gymnastics area, a walking track, locker rooms, bleachers, and administrative offices for the organizations.

$15,000,000

Municipality of Pictou

Nova Scotia

MARSA Expansions

Expand kitchen and greenroom/storage, deck, and improve energy and climate and accessibility.

$202,840

Nepean

Ontario

Mamaawi Lodge: Expanding Green Spaces for an Inclusive Future

The Mamaawi Lodge Expansion project involves a substantial addition to cultural performance and education facility, addressing the growing demand for its programming. The expansion will add 457.7 m² to the existing 442 m² pavilion, creating space for an artisan marketplace, office, makerspace, classroom, storage, washrooms, and more.

Upgrades to the current pavilion will include refinishing the event space, energy-efficient lighting, new AV and stage systems, and enhancements to the building envelope such as re-cladding, new windows, doors, insulation, and barriers. A new heat pump, septic system, and hydro service upgrades will further improve sustainability.
This expansion enhances the organization’s ability to offer culturally immersive and educational experiences, benefiting Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities by promoting cultural understanding and reconciliation.

$5,000,000

Norfolk County

Ontario

Reducing CO2 Emissions: Port Rowan Community Centre Retrofit

Install a new roof with insulation, solar panel installation with battery storage, HVAC improvements, building envelope upgrades, and enhanced accessibility features.

$1,510,000

Oka

Quebec

Renovation of Juliette Huot Place

Modernize and make this seniors’ reception center more environmentally friendly. The work will include demolishing and rebuilding the entrance ramp for better accessibility, replacing doors and windows with more energy-efficient models, adding gutters and roof ventilators, and improving insulation. The project also includes decontaminating and removing a buried oil tank, installing an electric furnace, and making various repairs to the building envelope.

$442,008

Ottawa

Ontario

African, Caribbean & Black Wellness Resource Centre: Breaking Barriers

Install energy-efficient windows, lighting, and HVAC systems to reduce the building’s environmental impact and operational costs. Install automatic, wheelchair-accessible doors and an exterior ramp, ensuring ease of access for all members of the community, especially those with mobility impairments. The subfloors will be upgraded to smooth, safe vinyl flooring, improving traction and significantly reducing the risk of accidents.

$237,699

Percé

Quebec

Renovation of the Charles Robin heritage barn (built in 1780) into the Percé community Art Centre

For 16 years, the Percéides Festival has been a major cultural player in the region, offering programming for all audiences. As a long-term tenant of the Charles Robin heritage building, Les Percéides wants to restore this venue’s artistic and community vocation by restoring and redeveloping it into the Percé Art Centre, offering cutting-edge cultural, community, and educational activities year-round, aimed at all ages. The winterized building will be accessible and serve the various communities of Greater Percé and the Gaspé Peninsula so they can meet and develop social and multidisciplinary activities. The renovated building will include various accessible spaces such as a meeting room, a community kitchen for events, a community café, a screening room, artist residencies, and an exhibition hall.

$2,000,000

Pictou County, District 10: Coalburn, Greenwood, Kirmount, McLellans Brook, McLellans Mountain

Nova Scotia

Ivor MacDonald Deep Energy Retrofit Project

Reduce the building emissions (by over 85%) from the Ivor MacDonald Community Arena by making vast improvements to the properties envelope, mechanical, lighting, and renewable energy systems. Targeted upgrades include converting aging oil and wood boilers to an efficient closed-loop geothermal heating system, installing ductless heat pumps, adding a 75kW solar PV array, replacing fluorescent lighting with LED, upgrading controls, and increasing wall insulation. In total the project looks to reduce total on-site energy use by 87%.

$200,000

Qualicum Beach

*Announced on March 22, 2025

British Columbia

Ravensong Aquatic Centre Expansion Project

Double the size of the current facility, connecting rural and urban residents of the Oceanside, BC area with publicly accessible, affordable aquatics programming. This improve community services while meeting the Canada Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Standard V4.The new facility includes a new pool area and modernized change rooms.

$7,000,000

Rothesay

New Brunswick

The Rothesay Intergenerational Centre – Phase 2

The Rothesay Intergenerational Centre (RIC) – phase 2 project is to refurbish and repurpose the 50-year-old Rothesay Arena as a multiuse recreation facility serving the broad Rothesay community and the nearby town of Quispamsis (total population ±35,000).
The existing rink boards and ice plant will be removed and a new multipurpose floor installed suitable for a variety of sports, recreation and cultural activities. The existing structure and select components of the building will be retained and a new, energy-efficient building envelope and HVAC system added. The facility will be upgraded to universal design standards (barrier free). Usage will be intergenerational responding to the needs of a growing senior’s population, active adults and emerging needs of newcomers. Sited adjacent one of our neighbourhoods under stress and within walking distance of a second, this facility is expected to provide wellness opportunities for youth and adults otherwise unserved or underserved.

$7,000,000

Saint-Félix-de-Valois

Quebec

Energy renovation and remodelling of the old Presbytery

Modernization, roof repair, replacement of the heating and ventilation system, renovation of the sanitary blocks and redefinition of the storage and office spaces so that the building complies with the building code will allow the rehabilitation of the premises to accommodate community organizations, to preserve an important element of the built, religious and historical heritage of the community while improving the accessibility of the building and its ecological footprint in order to make it a truly green, inclusive and accessible community building.

$1,300,000

Saint Theresa Point First Nation # 298

Manitoba

Saint Theresa Point First Nation Daycare Solar Project

Retrofit the St. Theresa Point First Nation Daycare building with a grid tied solar photovoltaic system. The 50.6 kW solar PV system is designed to reduce carbon emissions and overall carbon footprint. The solar system will create ~55,900 kWh or 98% of the electricity requirements, lowering operating expenses by ~$6000/year that can to go towards equipment, toys, lunches and even additional staff to meet the constant demand.

$255,332

Sault Ste. Marie

Ontario

John Rhodes Community Centre Energy Retrofit and Accessibility Project

Replace the existing roof to support solar panel installation, upgrading the roof condenser and air handling units for better HVAC efficiency, converting the entire facility to LED lighting and solar panel installation. These changes aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs, aligning with Canada’s climate goals. Additionally, accessible bleachers will be installed in the hockey arena to create an inclusive environment for families, seniors, and individuals with disabilities.

$1,000,000

Seine River First Nation

Ontario

Seine River Community Centre Renovations

Retrofit the 20-year old gymnasium / community centre, that includes replacing the diesel boiler with a geothermal system, adding a solar panel array and replacing windows, and improving accessibility of the building by installing a wider entryway with a concrete apron.

$2,998,863

St. John’s

Newfoundland and Labrador

Kilbride Lions Community Centre: Deep Energy Retrofit & Renewal Project

The City of St. John’s is undertaking a comprehensive retrofit of the Kilbride Lions Community Centre to improve energy efficiency, accessibility, and safety. This project will focus on deep energy retrofits, including upgrades to insulation, heating systems, and lighting, key accessibility upgrades, such as the installation of a gender-neutral accessible washroom and an elevator and, critical safety upgrades, including modernizing outdated electrical systems to address long-overdue maintenance issues.

These improvements target an 80% reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, aligned with the City’s climate action plans, while also promoting inclusivity and safety. The project will benefit all residents, especially vulnerable populations such as indigenous households, single-parent families, and those experiencing energy poverty in the community.

$1,000,000

Surrey

British Columbia

North Surrey Indigenous Learning Centre

The North Surrey Indigenous Learning Centre is a new construction project designed to support the cultural, educational, and social needs of the Kwantlen, Katzie, and Semiahmoo First Nations. The Centre will feature workshops, classrooms, and gathering spaces, fostering cultural knowledge sharing and Indigenous traditions like wood carving. Designed with a focus on sustainability and accessibility, the fully electrified building will meet Zero Carbon Building standards and feature energy-efficient systems. The Centre will also offer the broader Surrey community an opportunity to learn about and engage with First Nations culture, enhancing cultural exchange and inclusivity.

$2,000,000

Temiskaming Shores, Timiskaming District

Ontario

Waterfront Pool & Fitness Centre Energy & GHG Retrofit

Upgrade the regional health and wellness facility, which is the only indoor aquatic and fitness facility within a 75 km radius, providing essential services to seniors, low-income families, and other vulnerable populations, and improve thermal comfort by modernizing HVAC system. This will achieve a 32% improvement in energy efficiency.

$810,160

The Magdalen Islands

Quebec

Musée de la Mer des Îles-de-la-Madeleine: Geothermal upgrading and climate resilience

Improve the performance of the envelope to save energy. Subsequently, an increase in auxiliary power will be necessary to relieve the overstressed geothermal units in the friable soil of the archipelago by about 40%. The new auxiliary system will consist of overhead VRV (Variable Refrigerant Volume) units to complement the geothermal system.

$116,766

Thessalon

Ontario

The Town of Thessalon Sustainability Initiative: Enhancing Energy Efficiency and Accessibility at the Thessalon Memorial Arena and Thessalon Curling Club

This transformative project aims to modernize the Thessalon Memorial Arena and Curling Club by installing an energy-efficient CO2 refrigeration plant and implementing a suite of energy conservation measures, including electric resurfacing equipment, space temperature setbacks, and ice temperature optimization. The project will reduce electrical consumption by 35.3% and lower CO2e emissions by 42.4%, supporting Canada’s climate goals. Additionally, key accessibility upgrades, such as automatic door openers, improved washrooms, and ramp modifications, will ensure that the facility is inclusive for all community members. These improvements will safeguard the arena’s future, ensuring it remains a vital recreational hub for Town of Thessalon, Thessalon First Nation and many other surrounding communities.

$2,000,000

Thunder Bay

*Announced on March 19, 2025

Ontario

Science North Thunder Bay: A Net Zero Attraction and Home for Science in Northwestern Ontario

Build a net-zero science centre attraction in Thunder Bay, designed to the Canadian Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Building Standard (V4) and provide accessible community services to 67,500 people annually, including populations experiencing higher needs.

$20,000,000

Toronto

Ontario

YMCA Bridletowne Neighbourhood Centre

This is a new mixed-use community and recreation centre, owned by the YMCA of Greater Toronto, will contain a combination of health, fitness and child programming along with leased spaces for local community social and health services. The facility will be roughly 14,000 m2 and brings together numerous local small United Way community agencies alongside large established organizations like Scarborough Health Network (SHN) to weave health and well-being into this forward-thinking model of caring for all ages at all stages of their wellness journey.

The project is targeting LEED certification, Toronto Green Standard Tier 2, and Fitwel – making it an example of healthy and climate-smart development. The current design includes ultra-efficient energy systems and low-carbon materials, and GICB funding will allow the project to achieve Zero Carbon Standard certification by eliminating fossil fuels and offsetting any residual emissions associated with the project.

$9,000,000

Toronto

Ontario

Central YMCA energy infrastructure retrofit

Implement a variety of repairs and retrofit measures to significantly reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions, which will ultimately result in a 38% reduction in fuel consumption, 32% reduction in fuel cost, and 49% reduction in carbon emissions.

$1,060,152

Toronto

Ontario

Oshawa YMCA energy infrastructure retrofit

This is an existing, 5,794 sqm mixed-use community and recreation centre owned by the YMCA of Greater Toronto. It brings together the local community and features a wide range of health and fitness facilities and programs, childcare, and day camps. However, as an older building, the building currently contains a number of inefficient systems and building features, resulting in higher energy consumption and GHG emissions, as well as increased fuel cost.

The project will implement a variety of repairs and retrofit measures to significantly reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions, which will ultimately result in a 40% reduction in fuel consumption, 34% reduction in fuel cost, and 60% reduction in carbon emissions. With these measures funded through the GICB program, this project is an excellent example of retrofitting existing buildings to convert them into modern, high-performance facilities.

$1,000,000

Toronto

Ontario

Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre (PARC) Community Hub Revitalization and Energy Saving Retrofit

Replace the windows and the roof, insulating walls and replace the 25-year-old rooftop HVAC units with a new, highly efficient centralized HVAC (VRF) system. Accessibility and fire safety systems will conform to the highest standards. The renovation will not only improve energy efficiency, accessibility, and safety but will reduce GHG emissions, make PARC more resilient to climate change and reduce the risks and costs associated with it.

$500,000

Toronto

Ontario

Westend YMCA energy retrofit

Implement a variety of repairs and retrofit measures to significantly reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions, which will ultimately result in a 39% reduction in fuel consumption, 32% reduction in fuel cost, and 44% reduction in carbon emissions.

$414,624

Town Of Bancroft

Ontario

The Green Ice Initiative: Accessible and Sustainable Upgrades to the North Hastings Community Centre

Upgrade to the Thermalcare refrigeration system, which is safer and offers up to a 41% reduction in energy costs, and install a universal washroom addressing the lack of accessible facilities in the arena.

$1,944,217

Town of Main Brook

Newfoundland and Labrador

Moving Towards a Green Future – Revitalizing Community Spaces

Retrofit an existing municipal storage and warehousing building to become a multi-purpose building that enhances community engagement and interactions, attracts guests, visitors and new families, and supports diverse and underserved local groups with a focus on mental health, aging in place, education and entertainment for youth.

$230,323

Town of Olds

Alberta

Olds Men’s Shed and Community Arts Hub: Activating the former Town of Olds Operations Shop

Renovate the interior of the building to ensure it is safe, accessible, and functional as a community building while improving energy efficiency, lowering carbon emissions and enhancing climate resilience. A Community Arts Hub would offer space for local artists to gather, create and share their talents through various projects and cultural events. The Hub would also be a place for community members to come together to engage in art creation, appreciate art, and participate in other cultural activities.

$199,824

Town of Whitby

* Announced on March 14, 2025

Ontario

55+ – Feasibility Study / HVAC Upgrades & Interior Renovations

Upgrade the Seniors Activity Centre HVAC systems, including new air handling units, rooftop unit condensers, replacement of hot water tanks, and building automation system upgrades.

$798,486

Township of Johnson

Ontario

Johnson Township Community Centre Green Efficiency Updates

Improve the ice making plant, HVAC system, bathrooms, showers, lighting, and enclosure tightness. The installation of automation solutions and replacement of equipment long past its useful life, will reduce consumption, limit water usage, and reduce product waste throughout the building. This will increase energy efficiency’s by approximately 25%, reduce GHG emissions by approximately 35%, reduce costs by $45,000, and reduce water consumption by a minimum of 660,000 gallons annually.

$1,309,728

Trenton

Ontario

Wooler Schoolhouse Project

The Wooler Schoolhouse Project will renovate the heritage 1915 Wooler Schoolhouse in Quinte West, Ontario to return it community service as a modernized, sustainable, climate change resilient, and accessible recreation facility. Renovations will include an addition to provide elevator access and a second emergency exit.
The Schoolhouse’s 2.8-acre property will be developed to support outdoor recreational and cultural activities identified by the community.

The Project is led by the non-profit Wooler and Area Community Organization that will operate the renovated Schoolhouse to provide inclusive, affordable, local access to recreational programs and spaces for community events, services missing in the area since the demolition of the Wooler Town Hall in 2012.
The revitalized Schoolhouse will become a sustainable platform for community engagement, economic development, preservation of history, and cultural events, including meeting the needs of underserved area youth and seniors.

$1,000,000

Village of Memramcook

*Announced on March 21, 2025

New Brunswick

Memramcook Recreation Centre

Build a sustainable recreation centre in the rural linguistic minority community. This centre will be a modern and inclusive space, designed to meet the needs of vulnerable groups such as at-risk youth, newcomers, seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income families. The centre will offer affordable and accessible programming. The project aligns with Canada’s net-zero carbon energy goals, aiming for net-zero energy performance.

$6,000,000

Waterloo

Ontario

MSCC Energy and Accessibility Retrofit

Reductions Energy/GHG by electrification of (natural) gas heating systems, energy recovery, lighting, controls, and new roofing. Accessibility and inclusivity is enhanced with a new universal washroom, and automatic door operators. Community service offering is increased with a new arena dehumidifier with air conditioning.

$2,399,582

Westport

Ontario

WTC Communication Center GHG Reduction & Energy Efficiency Upgrades

The Westport Community Arena Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Upgrades project aims to enhance the facility’s energy performance and environmental impact through a series of targeted measures. These include optimizing dehumidifier controls, installing air-source heat pump water heaters, implementing night temperature setbacks, and upgrading to LED lighting with occupancy sensors. Additionally, the project will integrate a hydronic forced-air bleacher heating system using reclaimed heat, and install a solar photovoltaic system on the roof. These upgrades will reduce energy consumption by 98.6%, lower operational costs, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 96.1%, benefiting the entire Westport community by providing a more sustainable and cost-effective recreational facility. The project will also improve accessibility, indoor air quality and comfort for users, ensuring a healthier and more enjoyable environment for all.

$2,000,000

Winnipeg

*Announced on March 21, 2025

Manitoba

Le Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum Energy & Envelope Upgrade

Replace windows, and mechanical systems including HVAC system with heat pumps, new ductwork, controls and energy recovery ventilators.

$1,000,000

Winnipeg

*Announced on March 19, 2025

Manitoba

Riverview Community Centre – Comprehensive Green Energy Retrofit: Interior & Exterior

Replace mechanical systems and interior and exterior components that have exceeded their functional lifespan. These upgrades will improve energy efficiency, reduce operating costs, and prepare the centre to serve the community in a carbon-constrained future.

$924,079

Yellowknife

Northwest Territories

Endacho Healing Lodge

Build a new, energy efficient and eco-sensitive Endacho Healing Lodge that will be built as a place of harmony with the land and water. In this place, Indigenous people who have suffered trauma can heal by connecting with their culture and the land through a combination of traditional and western healing methods. The Lodge is designed to integrate into the natural contours of the land, incorporating energy efficiency technology proven effective and sustainable in the northern environment.

$7,000,000

MIL OSI Canada News –
March 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Human Rights Day should be a time for reflection

Source: South Africa News Agency

While many have been looking forward to the long weekend provided by Human Rights Day, its commemoration should not only provide an opportunity to connect with loved ones but should also inspire the nation to reflect on the gains the country has made.

“What is important as we’re about to celebrate Human Rights Day is that we should be a proud nation and country given where we come from,” Deputy Director-General for Court Administration at the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD), Lucky Mohalaba told SAnews, in a recent interview with the South African Government news agency.

March 2025 marks over six decades since the painful events of 21 March 1960 where 69 lives were lost in the Sharpeville Massacre. The massacre came to be as a result of citizens choosing to protest against the then pass laws of the apartheid government.

Lives were lost and many were injured not only in that massacre in Gauteng, but across the country as a whole.

When the country attained democracy in 1994, government declared 21 March as a national day to commemorate Human Rights Day. The month of March was also declared as Human Rights Month.

“[We ought to remember] the atrocities that were committed against the people of this country who were fighting for their rights. Given the forcefulness of the then regime to deny the people of this country their rights, whether it be in [the] health sector, education and so on, we should be very proud about where we come from, and the victories that we scored in 1994.

“At the present moment we should take leave in terms of our constitutional dispensation as South Africans and be proud of the Constitution which offers every one of us our rights as enshrined in the Bill of Rights. I think that should be celebrated given the dark history of this country,” Mohalaba told SAnews.

Contained in South Africa’s Constitution, the Bill of Rights is a cornerstone of democracy and “enshrines the rights of all people in our country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom.”

Among its tenets is that everyone is equal before the law and that the state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, ethnic or social origin, amongst others.

The Bill of Rights also states that everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.
The DDG’s comments come as Deputy President Paul Mashatile is set to deliver the Human Rights Day keynote address in the Eastern Cape today.

The Deputy President will deliver the address on behalf of President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Derrick Ferreira Stadium in Kariega which is located within the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

Human Rights commemorative events this year are being held under the theme, “Deepening a Culture of Social Justice and Human Rights”.

“This is a call for a renewed and strengthened commitment from all levels of society, to accelerate practical solutions in driving inclusive growth and job creation, to reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living, and to build a capable, ethical and developmental State,” the Presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.

In its statement, it stated that this is an important day, which also honours 35 people who were killed on 21 March 1985, when apartheid police targeted community members after a funeral in Uitenhage and KwaLanga.

This year, government chose Kariega to host the national commemoration as the State’s initiative to rotate national days, allowing communities across all provinces to pay tribute to those who lost their lives during the liberation struggle.

According to the Presidency, it also provides an opportunity to reflect on and evaluate the progress made towards building a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, and united nation.

Constitutionalism

Mohalaba added that government is committed to promoting constitutionalism.

“What we can say to South Africans as the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is that the department is still committed, led by the Minister [Mamoloko Kubayi], to ensure that we promote constitutionalism across the country.

“We are still committed to ensuring that people have access to justice using the facilities we have such as the courts and also reviewing apartheid legislation,” he said.

Mohalaba’s comments come as discussion documents into the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977 that were released for comment in February with the closing date for public input set for 31 March 2025.

The act makes provision for procedures and related matters in criminal proceedings.

The documents were released by the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC). The review seeks to address systemic challenges in the Act, particularly in relation to provisions that deal with arrest, bail, alternative dispute resolution, and victim participation in the criminal justice process.

READ | Deadline for comments into CPA discussion papers looms

The review seeks to address systemic challenges in the Act, particularly in relation to provisions that deal with arrest, bail, alternative dispute resolution, and victim participation in the criminal justice process.

“Those are matters that the department is really looking into, and I think [that for us] is to celebrate but at the same time, the laws that we have as a nation, we urge the nation to ensure that we protect these victories. [What we are saying] to the citizens of this country is that this department being at the centre of constitutionalism, is still committed to ensuring that the laws that have been passed by Parliament and signed off by the State President are applied to the fullest,” he explained.

The DDG said that government is committed to building a better South Africa.

“We are committed to work with the public at large to say that as we celebrate Human Rights Day. This department and government in particular, is committed to building a strong, united nation going forward for generations to come,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za

MIL OSI Africa –

March 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Kariega residents share their reflections on Human Rights Day

Source: South Africa News Agency

The residents of Kariega in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality have shared their thoughts on the significance of Human Rights Day, emphasising the importance of freedom, self-expression, and government accountability.

Speaking to SAnews, 17-year-old Luphumelo Hini from KwaNobuhle said Human Rights Day represented her ability to express herself freely and pursue her dreams without restrictions.

“Human Rights to me means that we are able to express ourselves in different ways, we are able to live our lives freely, we are able to follow and fulfil our dreams and do a whole lot of things that many people who do not have human rights and are not given freedom are not able to do,” Hini said.

She added that the presence of Deputy President Paul Mashatile at the event made her feel recognised.

“It means a lot for me for the Deputy President to come and address us because it means he acknowledges us, and he realises the importance of Human Rights Day. It just shows that he has the spirit of Ubuntu,” she said.

Similarly, 29-year-old Sinethemba Krweda expressed his appreciation for the Deputy President’s attendance, noting that young people are eager to learn about the government’s role in protecting their rights.

“We do have rights as people. The first right is that we are free and can move freely, unlike during the apartheid era. We are also able to study and further our education. We appreciate that the Deputy President is here so he can hear our concerns, particularly regarding the high unemployment rate among the youth,” Krweda said.

Speaking ahead of the main event, Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane reiterated the provincial government’s commitment to improving the living conditions of communities as South Africa marks Human Rights Day.

Mabuyane emphasised that the day is not just about remembrance but also the tangible efforts made to transform people’s lives.

“To us, this is not just about celebrating or commemorating Human Rights Day – it’s about what we are doing to change people’s lives here. If you look around, you can see the … challenges that our people still facing. But we are doing our level best to turn the tide,” Mabuyane said.

The area has been among the hardest hit by natural disasters, further exacerbating socio-economic struggles. However, the Premier assured residents that government has a concrete plan to support affected communities.

“We have a plan to ensure that we rescue our people out of these kinds of challenges,” he said.

Mabuyane welcomed the visit by the Deputy President to the province, saying his presence reinforces government’s commitment to ensuring that historically marginalised communities are not left behind.

“The people of this area must know that they are part of the history of our country, and they must feel the presence of the government,” he said.

Deputy President Mashatile is set to deliver the keynote address at the 2025 Human Rights Day commemoration event.

The programme began with a visit to James Ndulula Primary School, followed by a wreath laying ceremony at Langa Memorial in Kariega.

Meanwhile at the main event the festivities began with lively performances that had the crowd dancing and cheering in anticipation of the Deputy President’s speech.

This year’s Human Rights Day commemorative events are being held under the theme, “Deepening a Culture of Social Justice and Human Rights”.

The theme calls for renewed commitment from all levels of society to accelerate practical solutions for inclusive growth, job creation, poverty reduction, and addressing the high cost of living while building a capable, ethical, and developmental state.

South Africa commemorates Human Rights Day annually on 21 March in remembrance of the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960, where 69 anti-apartheid protesters were killed by apartheid police.

The day also honours the 35 people killed on 21 March 1985 in Uitenhage and KwaLanga when apartheid police targeted community members after a funeral. – SAnews.gov.za

MIL OSI Africa –

March 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Deputy President calls for action to tackle unemployment, inequality

Source: South Africa News Agency

Deputy President Paul Mashatile has called for urgent and sustained efforts to address unemployment and inequality, describing them as fundamental human rights issues.

Speaking at the national Human Rights Day commemoration in Kariega, the Deputy President acknowledged South Africa’s economic progress but said the country’s 31.9% unemployment rate remained an indicator of persistent socio-economic challenges.

“The pursuit of a just and equitable society is a complex endeavour. While South Africa has experienced notable economic growth through expanding economic participation, the harsh reality of a 31.9% unemployment rate starkly reveals our ongoing struggle against poverty and inequality,” he said.

The Deputy President stressed this was not just an economic issue but a matter of fairness and human rights, requiring collective action from all sectors of society.

“This is not merely an economic issue, it represents a fundamental matter of human rights and fairness, demanding concerted and sustained effort from all of us. The lack of economic and employment opportunities has a direct correlation to poverty, and it exacerbates inequality,” the Deputy President said.

He highlighted the government’s efforts to create economic opportunities through policy and legislative measures, citing key employment programmes that have benefitted millions of young people.

“Government is working to create more opportunities for all citizens through various policy and legislative frameworks. Programmes such as the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) are providing work experience to over 1.5 million young people, 70% of whom are women,” he said.

Other initiatives like the National Skills Fund Disabilities Programme and the Social Employment Fund also address youth unemployment.

The Deputy President emphasised that government remains committed to strengthening the safety net for the most vulnerable in society and will leave no one behind.

Against the backdrop of Human Rights Day, he underscored the significance of youth engagement in shaping South Africa’s democracy.

Across the country, he said, young people continue to step forward to shape the future of the nation’s democracy, ensuring that the rights enshrined in the Constitution are not just theoretical but truly lived.

He lauded young leaders participating in the Mandela-Sobukwe Leadership Camp at Nelson Mandela University, an initiative supported by the Departments of Higher Education and Training and Health.

“This leadership programme is about more than just discussions it is about preparing young leaders to champion civic engagement, ethical leadership, and economic justice in their institutions and communities,” he said.

Reflecting on the theme “Deepening a Culture of Social Justice and Human Rights,” the Deputy President emphasised the need to equip young people with the necessary tools and platforms to effect meaningful change.

“We must ensure that we continue to empower young people with the correct tools, platforms, and opportunities to become the leaders of tomorrow – leaders who, like Nelson Mandela and Robert Sobukwe, do not just accept the status quo but actively work to transform it for the better,” he said.

Deputy President Mashatile commended young people nationwide for their efforts in advocating for justice and progress.

“I commend the young people in this programme, whom I am told are here in the stadium and all those across the country who continue to fight for dignity, justice, and progress. South Africa’s future is in your hands, and today, we celebrate your voices, your leadership, and your unwavering commitment to human rights,” he said.

Building a just society

The Deputy President said building a just society involves ensuring continued access to critical services such as electricity, water, housing and sanitation to improve the quality of life for citizens.

He noted that government has made substantial progress towards achieving these rights. Between 2011 and 2022, access to water rose to 88.5%, while access to improved sanitation reached 80.7%.

“We are also working to increase access to affordable housing through initiatives such as First Home Finance, which is about the provision of serviced sites for qualifying beneficiaries, small-scale affordable rentals, and other strategic interventions that go beyond legislative measures to address the 2.4 million housing backlog,” he said.

Land expropriation

The Deputy President underscored the nation’s land reform agenda as a crucial step in addressing historical injustices, as it acknowledged that land dispossession remains one of the most lasting and difficult legacy of the apartheid era.

He said the Expropriation Act, signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in January this year, signifies a shift towards a more inclusive approach to land ownership, incorporating the principle of ‘public interest’ in land acquisition, and demonstrating a commitment to social justice and redress.

“We would like to reiterate that South Africa, as a sovereign state, would not disregard its policies and activities aimed at rectifying historical injustices due to external pressure. We are confident that we have chosen the correct path to establishing an equitable society, and we will not deviate from it,” the Deputy President said.

This year’s Human Rights Day commemorative events were held at the Derrick Ferreira Stadium, in Kariega under the theme “Deepening a Culture of Social Justice and Human Rights”.

The theme calls for renewed commitment from all levels of society to accelerate practical solutions for inclusive growth, job creation, poverty reduction, and addressing the high cost of living while building a capable, ethical, and developmental state.

South Africa commemorates Human Rights Day annually on 21 March in remembrance of the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960, where 69 anti-apartheid protesters were killed by apartheid police. The day also honours the 35 people killed on 21 March 1985 in Uitenhage and KwaLanga when apartheid police targeted community members after a funeral. – SAnews.gov.za

MIL OSI Africa –

March 23, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: First Minister address to the CBI

Source: Scottish Government

Economic growth essential for future prosperity.

First Minister John Swinney has today set out his commitment to continue working with the business community to grow Scotland’s economy, during a speech to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

Speaking at an event to mark the CBI’s 60^th anniversary, Mr Swinney also called on their representatives to join the mission to deliver a Scottish Graduate Visa and retain top talent in Scotland.

First Minister John Swinney said:

“Scotland consistently ranks as the UK’s top investment destination outside of London and the South East of England. We have significant offshore renewables resources, and we’re ranked first amongst the UK’s nations and regions for green growth potential and opportunity.

“There are many reasons to be optimistic about Scotland’s economic potential and Scotland’s economic performance, but there’s also a need to be realistic about the challenges and the issues that the business community and the Scottish economy faces at this time.

“Since I came into office, I’ve set out a clear and focused agenda for the government around eradicating child poverty, about supporting the transition to Net Zero, about improving our public services, and particularly our National Health Service, which are fundamentally anchored on delivering higher levels of economic growth within Scotland, because we cannot hope to achieve our objectives on Net Zero, or on eradicating child poverty, or on improving our public services without generating the wealth that is going to be at the heart of future success for our country.”

He added:

“We have to act to take steps to boost the working age population in Scotland. The proposals I’ve put forward around a dedicated Scottish graduate visa where we enable international students who come to Scotland to be able to develop longer routes and stay for a longer period, will help to encourage the growth of our working age population and also to boost economic activity within Scotland.

“And we pursue those proposals with the United Kingdom Government because for Scotland, measures of that type are critical, mission critical, for enabling us to fulfil our growth ambitions and your support in persuading the UK Government within that step would be enormously welcome.”

Background

First Minister’s address to the CBI

Scottish Graduate Visa proposed – gov.scot

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

March 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: The pandemic badly affected young people’s mental health – but also showed what they need now to thrive

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jilly Gibson-Miller, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Sheffield

Motortion Films/Shutterstock

The common narrative around teenage behaviour in the UK sets parents up for a fairly sustained period of turbulence and unpleasantness.

But as I navigate the teenage years with my oldest daughter, now 16, my whole outlook on adolescence has undergone a meteoric transformation. I now hold supremely compassionate explanations for the unusual behaviour, mood swings and bad choices that appear to be abundant features of the adolescent years – and especially so for those who were growing up during the pandemic.

During the COVID pandemic, teens should have been busy cultivating independence, nurturing friendships and moulding their identities. Instead, they lived through a global public health crisis that resulted in not only catastrophic health and economic consequences, but also extreme disruptions in vital educational, social and family interactions over a sustained lockdown.

Read more:
Sending nudes but no first kisses: teenagers’ relationships during the pandemic

This has left a lasting legacy for the lives of young people and has potentially reshaped the landscape of their social and emotional development.

During the pandemic, I immersed myself in data – taken from research I was working on with a team of researchers who were monitoring the mental health of the UK population.

Mental health decline

In the early days, teens were – as they often do – getting bad press. They were “superspreaders”, they were breaking the rules, they were instructed by the then health secretary, Matt Hancock, not to “kill your gran”. They were, essentially, accused of spreading the virus through irresponsible behaviour.

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Some of these perspectives were borne out in our data. Young men aged 19-25, for example, were more likely than any other age group to be arrested for breaking social distancing rules. This reflects the inherent teenage drive to seek social connection, even if it means taking risks.

However, as we listened to the voices of young people in our research, the data began to tell us a more complex story. In a world where teens are already misunderstood, the pandemic actually seemed to be making all the existing struggles that young people face today worse, including loneliness, anxiety and depression.

Teens experienced uncertainty about the future and pressure around school, career and finances, resulting in a perceived lack of a sense of control over their lives.

We became very concerned about the increasing levels of distress that certain groups of young people were experiencing. This was particularly worrying when you bear in mind that adolescence is a critical period for developing mental health issues.

Our research showed that during the pandemic, around 30% of teens surveyed met the criteria for suffering from clinical levels of anxiety and depression. Over half – 53% – met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder related to COVID.

Teens’ mental health suffered during the pandemic.
SynthEx/Shutterstock

Other data shows that teens are suffering increasing mental health disorders and eating disorders. Mental health issues are affecting sleep and school attendance.

After the school years, the number of young people out of work due to ill health has more than doubled in the last decade, with mental health issues a significant driver.

These figures plainly present the extent of the challenge we face today in improving teenagers’ mental health and wellbeing. Underlying these figures are enduring struggles around loneliness and social connection, family functioning, anxiety and fear about unpredictable events, and learning to cope with adversity, especially in younger teens and those already disadvantaged through poverty and other social factors.

Feeling connected

However, and importantly, not all teens experienced lasting poorer mental wellbeing as a consequence of COVID. Some actually experienced positive wellbeing.

Our research found that young people who had the ability to tolerate uncertainty, had a sense of control over their lives, felt socially connected and had positive and quality relationships with family and friends were better able to adapt to the pandemic restrictions.

The crisis in young people’s mental health means securing a healthy, thriving adult population in the future becomes less certain. If young people cannot navigate the transition into adulthood successfully, this has huge implications for the next generation and whether they can contribute in positive ways, socially and economically, to society.

But there are lessons from the pandemic that can shine a light on the tools young people need to thrive. Young people received blame during the pandemic. Today, gen Z (those born between 1980 and 1994) have been given the derogatory label of the “snowflake generation” from a perception of their over-sensitivity and lack of resilience. But rather than being castigated, young people need support and connection. This helped them get through the pandemic, and it can help them now.

This means helping teens to combat loneliness, develop resilience and build functional, good quality relationships. It means helping them to increase their self-esteem and regain a sense of control. Crucially, the family remains a key source of support and guidance for young people.

Adolescence is a key transitional window during which young people can learn adaptive skills they will take with them into adulthood. Having the skills to build connections, resilience and self-esteem will help them address the challenges of this post-pandemic era.

Jilly Gibson-Miller receives funding from ESRC, Triumph and UK Research and Innovation funds.

– ref. The pandemic badly affected young people’s mental health – but also showed what they need now to thrive – https://theconversation.com/the-pandemic-badly-affected-young-peoples-mental-health-but-also-showed-what-they-need-now-to-thrive-250968

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

March 22, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Secretary-General’s remarks at the Ceremony marking the 600th Anniversary of the University of Leuven [as delivered]

Source: United Nations – English

ear Rector Magnificus, Chère Madame la Rectrice,

Allow me to address you with the expression that in my country is reserved for the rectors of the university of the Coimbra, your sister university: Magnificus rectorus, magnificent rectors.

Thank you for your warm welcome, your very kind words and this significant honour.

I am proud to accept it on behalf of the United Nations and remembering the women and men of the UN all over the world.

You will find them working everywhere and around the clock.

Building and keeping peace.

Delivering lifesaving relief in the most desperate places on earth.

Fighting poverty and standing up for the marginalized.

Advancing human rights and the rule of law.

And striving to realize the universal values that express the very best of the human spirit.

By bestowing this honour at this consequential time, you are sending a clear message.

A message of support for the noble mission of the United Nations —a message of solidarity to all those working to make it real – and a message of inspiration for us to keep up the fight.

On behalf of the United Nations — thank you.

Distinguished Guests, Dear Students, Ladies and Gentlemen,

You honour the United Nations as we celebrate a remarkable milestone:

The 600th anniversary of the University of Leuven, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher learning, today represented by the two universities that are together in this beautiful ceremony.

Six centuries ago, scholars lit a flame of knowledge.

Generation after generation have kept this flame alive.

Through times of turmoil and triumph.

In war and in peace.

From the Renaissance to the information age.

It is here at Leuven that Erasmus refined his humanist thought, teaching the world to see learning as a path to compassion and understanding.

It was here that Mercator mastered cartography, revolutionizing navigation and the way we see our world — opening new horizons across continents.

It was here that future Prime Minister and statesman August Beernaert began his intellectual journey that led to his bold vision of peace through arbitration, which was recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1909.

It was here that a young Georges Lemaître gazed at the stars and proposed what became the Big Bang theory — forever reshaping humanity’s understanding of the universe itself.

And it was here that Dominique Pire, a humble Dominican friar, developed humanitarian principles that would earn him the Nobel Peace Prize for working with refugees and bringing hope to the forgotten.

All of you are keeping this flame alive in the 21st century.

Your scholars have helped lead the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — and the need for urgent climate action.

Your universities played a pivotal role in launching the Global University Academy — supporting higher education for refugees worldwide.

The Leuven Institute for Artificial Intelligence fosters knowledge-sharing and international partnerships on AI.

Your startup incubators and technology transfer efforts transform innovative research into tangible benefits for humanity.

And you are opening new doors to equality and justice through your Gender Equality Plan, and by actively participating in initiatives like the Belgian Women in Science Network to increase the number of female students and staff in science, technology, engineering and math.

This joint celebration — bringing together KU Leuven and UC Louvain — is yet another example of your spirit of common purpose and renewed partnership…

One that shines a light towards a better, more equal future for all.

Excellencies, dear friends,

We need that light more than ever.

I am here today to deliver a simple and stark message:

Multilateralism matters.

But it is under attack like never before.

We can and must overcome this threat together.

Now is the time.

Your 600th anniversary coincides with a moment of reflection for the United Nations.

2025 marks our 80th anniversary as an organization and as the epicenter of multilateralism.

Our founding Charter embodies the world’s conviction that by working together and adhering to shared principles and values, we can solve global problems.

Standing here in Europe, we know this same commitment to multilateralism is the beating heart of your own European union.

At home and around the world, Belgium and the European Union champion international cooperation, democracy, human rights and global solidarity.

Over the decades, Belgium has brought to life its motto of “unity makes strength” — contributing troops to UN peacekeeping missions, advancing peacebuilding and supporting lifesaving relief around the world.

Today, the European ideal stands as a powerful reminder of our shared responsibility to the world’s most vulnerable people, and proof that isolationism is an illusion, never a solution.

A strong and united Europe is not just essential for the continent.

It is a fundamental pillar of a strong and effective United Nations.

Around the globe, the European Union and the United Nations work hand-in-hand:

Providing humanitarian aid to those in desperate need.

Building peace in fragile states and strengthening democratic institutions.

Defending human rights and dignity.

Supporting sustainable development and climate action.

And putting the spotlight on ending the scourge of domestic violence.

But these and other investments in international cooperation are under threat.

Deadly conflicts are multiplying and deepening, exacting a devastating human toll.

And a contagion of impunity is taking hold.

Poverty, hunger and inequalities are growing — while the wealth of a handful of men eclipses that of half of humanity.

The climate crisis is raging.

Vulnerable countries are often locked out of decision-making rooms.

Technology is outpacing our ability to protect people’s safety, rights and dignity.

We see a dangerous rollback of fundamental freedoms.

Women’s rights are under attack.

Minorities, refugees and migrants are demonized.

The voices of nationalism and isolationism are growing louder with a dangerous resurgence of strongarm politics.

And donors are dramatically scaling-back humanitarian and development support — while defense budgets soar.

It would be the cruelest of ironies for the poor to be made to pay for the weapons of the rich.

Last week, I was in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh during the holy month of Ramadan on a mission of solidarity with Rohingya refugees, and with the Bangladeshi communities that so generously host them.

The entire refugee population depends on humanitarian aid.

But with looming cuts, Cox’s Bazar is fast-becoming ground zero of the funding crisis, with money for basic essentials like food, running out.

And I am hopeful that what we are doing now with several donor countries will help us overcome this tragic situation, because without a reversal of these cuts in Cox’s Bazar and beyond — people will suffer and people will die.

Dear friends,

As the darkness spreads, we risk losing sight of Europe’s greatest gift to civilization — the Enlightenment.

Everywhere we look, the fruits of the Enlightenment are being challenged by the voices of irrationality, ignorance and isolationism.

Truth, science and knowledge are being questioned.

Expertise and experience have somehow become liabilities.

And the multilateral values that the United Nations embodies — collaboration, solidarity, united action and human rights — are being undone by mistrust and geopolitical divisions.

Excellencies, dear friends,

Anniversaries are about more than looking to the past.

At their best, they are about renewing for the future.

And renewal sometimes means asking hard questions.

Let’s be clear: The UN was never meant to be stuck in time.

The world has changed in fundamental ways — most notably the rise in economic influence and political power across the Global South.

How, can we justify, today, a Security Council without permanent representation for Africa — home to one-quarter of humanity?

How can we accept an unfair and dysfunctional global financial architecture that inadequately supports developing countries in their hour of need?

How can we passively accept that the great promise of Artificial Intelligence might be won at the expense of handing over our humanity to algorithms?

Renewal is the driving force of the Pact for the Future, agreed at the United Nations in September.

And multilateralism must be the engine of this renewal.

We need all countries working together — in solidarity — as we tackle the challenges facing our world.

In this spirit of renewal through multilateralism, I want to outline four areas where we can overcome today’s threats by standing as one and forging common solutions.

First — we must find common solutions for peace in our fragmented world.

Around the world, peace is in short supply.

Look no further than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — an open wound in Europe.

This brutal war is now in its fourth year and has claimed thousands of lives, displaced millions — including many who have found shelter here in Belgium — and challenged the very foundations of European security and international order.

It is time for a just and lasting peace. But a just peace means that it must be based on the UN Charter, international law and UN resolutions, including the respect for territorial integrity.

In Gaza, since the horrific terror attacks by Hamas on October 7, the ensuing Israeli military operations have unleashed an unprecedented level of death and destruction.

I am outraged at this week’s Israeli attacks in Gaza, which killed hundreds of people.

I was deeply saddened and shocked to learn of the death of one of our UN staff members — and the wounding of five other UN personnel — when two UN guesthouses in Deir al Balah were hit in strikes.

And appallingly another 5 UNRWA humanitarians were also killed this week, bringing the death toll to 284.

The ceasefire had finally allowed some measure of relief to ease the horrendous suffering of Palestinians in Gaza — and relief to Israeli families finally welcoming home hostages after over a year of anguish and desperation.

All of that has now been shattered.

Escalation is not the answer.

There is no military solution to this conflict.

I strongly appeal for the ceasefire to be restored, for unimpeded humanitarian assistance to be reestablished and for the remaining hostages to be released immediately and unconditionally.

Beyond ending this terrible war, we must lay the foundations for lasting peace — through immediate and irreversible steps towards a two-State solution — with Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security, in line with international law and relevant UN resolutions, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo — a country whose tragic history resonates so strongly here in Belgium — renewed fighting, fueled by external interference and armed militias, has devastated communities and plunged the region into a deeper crisis, naturally aggravated by the presence of Rwandan troops, violating the territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In Sudan, bloodshed, displacement and famine are engulfing the country.

The warring parties must take immediate action to protect civilians, uphold human rights, cease hostilities and forge peace.

And domestic and international human rights monitoring and investigation mechanisms must be permitted to document what is happening on the ground.

Beyond these and other conflicts, we need to reform the global security architecture.

Drawing from proposals included in the New Agenda for Peace that we developed, the Pact for the Future calls for strengthening the machinery of peace by prioritizing the tools of prevention, mediation and peacebuilding.

The changing nature of conflict calls for a review of our global peace operations;

Enhancing coordination with regional organizations;

And the Pact includes also the first multilateral agreement on nuclear disarmament in more than a decade, even if we are still very far from a world free of nuclear weapons.

Dear friends,

Second — we can overcome threats to multilateralism by finding common solutions to reduce inequalities and ensure financial justice for all.

The Pact includes a call for a massive Stimulus to help countries invest in the Sustainable Development Goals.

It also urges bold reforms of the international financial architecture, including expanding the voice and representation of developing countries in institutions.

We must also substantially increase the lending capacity of Multilateral Development Banks to make them bigger, bolder and better.

And we must review the debt architecture to stop debt from bleeding countries dry.

No country should have to choose between servicing their debt and serving their people.

Our global economy also needs open, predictable and inclusive trade to spur broad-based prosperity and help developing countries to better link to global markets and supply chains.

The Pact also reminds us of a basic truth: societies can only thrive when all women and girls enjoy their full rights.

Investing in their education, economic empowerment, and social protection is not only fair — it is essential for a better future for all.

Third — we can strengthen multilateralism for the future by finding common solutions for climate action before it is too late.

The climate crisis is costing lives, livelihoods, and billions in damages.

Record heatwaves scorch continents.

2024 was the hottest year — in the hottest decade in history.

Relentless storms ravage communities.

Rising seas threaten coastlines — including here.

And those least responsible are bearing the heaviest burden.

If we are to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees — essential to avoid the worst of climate catastrophe — the science is clear:

Global emissions must peak this year and rapidly decline afterwards.

And we must recognize this challenge for what it is: a moment of enormous opportunity.

The benefits of the clean energy transition are clear.

Renewables renew economies.

They boost growth, lower energy bills, and help us all breathe easier with cleaner air.

This year — in advance of the UN Climate Conference, or COP30, in Brazil — every country must submit new economy-wide national climate plans that align with the 1.5 degree limit and seize the benefits of clean energy.

I am working closely with President Lula of Brazil to drive action by the biggest emitters.

The United Nations is also helping nearly 100 developing countries to prepare their national climate action plans.

And we will convene a special event to take stock of the plans of all countries, push for action to keep 1.5 within reach, and deliver climate justice.

I urge Europe to keep leading the way.

To set strong and ambitious emission reduction targets.

And to put an end to the myth that fossil fuels are the future.

We must accelerate the renewables revolution which can lower emissions, boost energy security, create good jobs, and provide cheap and accessible power.

Throughout, we must continue supporting developing and vulnerable nations, by making good on long-standing promises and delivering on climate finance across the board.

Climate solidarity is a moral obligation — and a matter of survival for us all.

Fourth and finally — we can overcome threats to multilateralism by making sure technology upholds human rights and dignity for all.

The information age is unfolding at a dizzying scale and speed.

Artificial Intelligence holds great promise.

But today, those benefits remain concentrated in the hands of a privileged few.

And while some are racing ahead with record investments, most developing countries are left in the dark.

Without guardrails, AI risks deepening geopolitical divides and inequalities;

Enabling surveillance, amplifying disinformation, facilitating cyberattacks;

And even making life-and-death decisions.

Humans must always retain control — guided by international law, human rights and ethical principles.

Technology must serve humanity, not the other way around.

That is the spirit of the Global Digital Compact also adopted at the United Nations last year.

It calls for closing the digital divide, so all countries can benefit.

It includes the first universal agreement on AI governance to bring every country to the table.

It calls for an Independent International Scientific Panel on AI that promotes a common understanding of AI risks, benefits and capabilities.

It proposes initiating a Global Dialogue on AI Governance — within the United Nations — to ensure that all countries have a voice in shaping common governance standards that help uphold human rights and prevent misuse.

And it urges support for helping grow AI tools and skills in developing countries.

I will soon present a report on innovative voluntary financing models and capacity-building initiatives to help all countries harness AI as a force for good.

Excellencies, dear students,

These are all ways that we can overcome the clear and present dangers to multilateralism in our time.

I am convinced that we can do it.

Every generation faces moments of decisive choice.

Yet none has possessed our tools, knowledge, and global awareness.

Today, we are celebrating history.

But history is also unfolding before our eyes — and I urge you to be on the frontlines for human dignity.

Refuse indifference. Choose hope. Confront injustice. Defend truth.

And for that you can draw, being inspired by the values these universities represent.

Dear students, I ask you today to draw strength and inspiration from your universities’ history.

Dear Rector Sels and Rector Smets,

I wish to conclude by reinforcing your opening words.

You recounted the powerful story of the University’s library — destroyed in 1914, and again in 1940.

In the midst of two world wars — and the rubble of this very city — the global shock and outrage that followed the destruction of a library sent a clear and powerful message.

These were not only attacks on books and manuscripts.

These were attacks on history, science, reason, knowledge and art.

These were attacks on the very hallmarks of humanity.

These were attacks on our common soul.

Twice the forces of ignorance tried to extinguish Leuven’s light of knowledge.

And twice the world answered Leuven’s call — and helped you restore that light brighter than ever.

Because in the aftermath of these attacks, we saw other aspects of humanity’s soul revealed and shining brightly.

We saw generosity, in countries providing funding to rebuild, and books to re-stock the library.

We saw the power of collaboration, in countries standing with Belgium and with Leuven to resurrect this library not once, but twice.

And yes, we saw humanity’s hunger for the eternal values that have guided your universities for 600 years — and the United Nations for 80 years.

Generosity, solidarity, renewal.

This is more than just your story — it is humanity’s story.

It shows that no matter the challenge, we can face down threats.

We can overcome obstacles.

We can build stronger than before.

And so, let us carry this legacy forward.

And let’s keep building — together.

Happy 600th anniversary.

And I thank you. Dank u. Merci.

MIL OSI Africa –

March 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: ABZWorks to host Jobs Fair at the Beach Ballroom

Source: Scotland – City of Aberdeen

Jobseekers in Aberdeen will have an opportunity to meet local employers looking to fill vacancies at a Jobs Fair, from 10am until 3pm on Thursday 27 March, at the Beach Ballroom.

ABZWorks, Aberdeen City Council’s Employability and Skills service, has organised the free-to-attend event, in partnership with the Department of Works and Pensions.

Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Christian Allard said: “Employability, supporting people into work, and helping to alleviate poverty are key themes and priorities for Aberdeen City Council.

“With local employers keen to fill vacancies and ABZWorks staff available to offer support I would encourage jobseekers to seize the opportunity and go along to the Jobs Fair. Thanks to King Coaches there will be a free bus shuttle service on offer to help jobseekers get to-and-from the Jobs Fair.”

Around 30 companies will be at the event including the Scottish Child Minding Association, Andron, Cornerstone, Stagecoach, First Bus, HMP Grampian, Aldi and ScotRail.

Attendees are advised to bring copies of their CVs and Right to Work in UK documentation as they will have the chance to chat to employers face-to-face to discuss current vacancies and to apply for jobs.

ABZWorks employability staff will be on hand to provide support and guidance. Attendees are welcome to bring someone with them for support.

The first hour of the event (10am-11am) will be a quiet hour for people with additional support needs.

To book a place online, please go to https://bit.ly/Jobsfair2025

Jobseekers unable to book in advance are welcome to come along on the day.

King Coaches will provide a FREE shuttle bus, which will run every half hour from 9.45am until 3pm, pick up/drop off Broad Street/Beach Ballroom, Beach Promenade.

Anyone living in Aberdeen seeking employability support can find more information at www.abzworks.co.uk or email abzworks@aberdeencity.gov.uk or call the ABZWorks team on 01224 070200 (9am-5pm Monday to Friday).

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

March 22, 2025
MIL-OSI NGOs: Three experts on racial justice explain why reparations matter

Source: Amnesty International –

Experts from Africa and its global diasporas gathered in Berlin late last year to call on European governments to address their colonial past and ongoing impact.

Here, human rights lawyer Melissa Hendrickse, journalist Gary Younge and academic Pumla Dineo Gqola talk about the long-lasting legacy of colonialism, how it’s affected them and the importance of reparations…

Melissa Hendrickse

Melissa is Amnesty International’s researcher and advisor on racial justice and international criminal law.

Amnesty International’s Racial Justice team (from left to right) – Melissa Hendrickse, Rym Khadhraoui and Hashas Rage – recently attended the Dekoloniale Berlin Africa Conference, a decolonial counter-version of the 1884/5 Berlin Africa Conference 140 years ago.

I was born in Cape Town in the early Nineties – in the midst of the negotiations to end apartheid. It was a turbulent time in South Africa’s history. After Chris Hani, an important figure in South Africa’s freedom struggle, was assassinated, it seemed that the political transition teetered on the brink of collapse. But the negotiations continued and, when I was two years old, South Africa held its first democratic elections.

It was a better time to be growing up as a person of colour in South Africa, compared to my parents’ experience. There was a sense of hope and optimism. However, the legacy of apartheid didn’t just vanish – the country remained segregated and the inequality caused by centuries of colonialism, dispossession and exploitation has endured. I grew up in a predominantly white area. Most of my classmates were white and it was difficult navigating my own identity within spaces that were disconnected with the history of the country and the experience of the majority of South Africans.

I went on to study law, inspired by the role that law can play in supporting struggles against racial injustice. After my Masters, I applied for a job at Amnesty, where I am now a researcher and advisor on racial justice and international criminal law. Rather than being an activist in the traditional sense, I see my contribution mostly through law and the legal analysis. Working on Amnesty’s groundbreaking report, which concluded that Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians was an honour. The parallels between apartheid South Africa and the racial oppression of Palestinians profoundly resonate with me. As Nelson Mandela, once said: “our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

Within the racial justice team, I work on reparations for slavery and colonialism, having recently drafted Amnesty’s policy. European colonialism and slavery built the world that we inhabit today. It is palpable all around us – from the borders that divide us to the languages we speak and the knowledge systems we are taught. The incredible wealth that was made by European states through slavery and colonialism has led to gross inequality that continues to mark the world order.

There cannot be meaningful racial justice today without reckoning with this legacy and re-making the oppressive systems built by colonialism. While European states are starting to issue apologies, there’s still a resistance to take concrete measures and offer reparations. This is why Amnesty’s work on reparations is coming at an important historical moment. Our hope is that, by joining the global reparations movement, Amnesty can contribute to creating pressure on European states to respond with more than just platitudes to the growing calls for reparatory justice.

Follow Melissa on X.

Gary Younge

Gary is a UK-based award-winning journalist, academic and podcaster.

For journalist Gary Younge, the history of colonialism and slavery has always been of interest.

I grew up in a town called Stevenage (in the UK), during the Seventies, after my family moved from Barbados. There were very few black people.

In the Seventies you got a lot of casual racism from all kinds, teachers as well as people you lived near to. The same people who would be racist could be neighbourly. It wasn’t consistent. I grew up thinking I wasn’t British – and I didn’t want to be. In winter people would say, “I bet it’s not like this where you come from.” There was an assumption that if you were Black, you weren’t British.

It was partly these contradictions that inspired my activism. For me, activism was about being a free person – if you wanted your freedom you had to fight for it and for the freedom of others. For me, there wasn’t any other way to be in the world. My family were very political – my mum, my brothers – and I became obsessed with the notion of freedom and what it means to be free at a very young age.

The history of colonialism and slavery has always interested me. We have grown up in countries in Europe that have decapitated their history in a peculiar way. There’s an aphorism explaining post-colonial immigration that says, “We are here because you were there. If you didn’t know you were there, how do you know why I am here?”

It’s not possible to understand where we are as a country or where I am as a person or why our racial politics are what they are unless there is an engagement with colonialism. None of it makes sense. And it’s far from over yet. We’re still dealing with it.

Britain has only known itself as a non-racial democracy recently. There’s a level of implausible deniability that these European countries can have about where they have been and what they have done – they pose as enlightened liberal democracies and everyone buys into that. However, if you look behind the curtain, you’ll find all the blood sloshing around, along with the occasional kick back such as when Britain gives back the Chagos islands.

Reparations remain important because the impact of slavery and colonialism is still evident. We can see it in trade links, migration patterns, poverty and other inequalities, both globally and nationally. The principal of reparations has already been established. We saw it after the First World War, after the Second World War, after the Holocaust and beyond. So, the question is then why should people of African descent, who were enslaved, and the descendants of the colonised be omitted from that narrative?

Find out more about Gary’s podcast.

Pumla Dineo Gqola

Pumla is a South African academic, award-winning writer and feminist.

Pumla Dineo Gqola is an academic who grew up in South Africa.

I grew up in South Africa, during the Seventies and Eighties, as apartheid was tightening its reign. It was complicated and difficult.

Yet it was a time of diversifying activism. I grew up surrounded by Black academics and I knew I wanted to be an academic myself. My family’s politics were left leaning and my father taught at a historic Black university. It was foundational to who I would become.

I’m now a professor, a feminist writer and I am a post-colonialist by training. We often think about colonialism as something that’s finished, but we are still living in its long aftermath. We live in a world shaped by colonial logic and the systems that organize our world have come from its very powers. For example, where people migrate from and to neatly maps on to histories created under colonial power, while low-income countries are most likely to be former colonies. So, while formal colonialism is over, many of the ideas of how the globe is organized and who can move where, how, why and when map comfortably with those divisions – and that’s why they are so difficult to undo.

I recently attend the event Dekoloniale Berlin alongside a number of racial justice experts. These festivals are important for a variety of reasons. They provide an opportunity to go beyond diplomatic performance, while the conversations around debt, human rights and reparations, even at the level of art and culture, the conversation of coloniality, is one that shows every aspect of how the EU is a power block.

Going forward, I want to see a significant shift in the negotiation of states inside and outside of the EU – and whatever that looks like needs to move beyond diplomacy, while conversations about reparations need to be serious and must move out of the realm of superficiality.

Follow Pumla on X

MIL OSI NGO –

March 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Great British Energy announces £10 million for local government
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Press release

Great British Energy announces £10 million for local government

Communities to benefit from Great British Energy clean energy partnership with local government.
Great British Energy to build clean power in every part of the country, with a new £10 million partnership with metro mayors

local people will see the benefits of homegrown clean power, greater energy security investment, and good jobs as part of government’s Plan for Change

profits can be reinvested in the community or knock money off people’s energy bills

The metro mayors will lead the creation of innovative new clean power projects across the country, including rooftop solar, onshore wind and hydropower, with Great British Energy injecting £10 million into new partnerships.

Great British Energy will work with mayoral strategic authorities across England to build new clean energy projects in communities, with profits knocking money off locals’ energy bills or being reinvested into the community. The funding will help stimulate investment and create good jobs across the country as part of the government’s Plan for Change to deliver clean power by 2030.

Each mayoral strategic authority in England will be invited to apply for a share of the funding, as part of Great British Energy’s plans to back local energy projects across the UK so communities can reap the benefits.

Existing local energy projects are already benefiting communities, and this funding will help projects go further and faster to unlock clean, homegrown power. For example, the Solar Together Consortium that aims to deliver 240 MW of solar capacity across the West Midlands or the solar and battery storage initiative being run by West Yorkshire mayoral combined authority – aiming to deliver 1,500 solar PV and battery storage installations on social housing properties across the region, reducing bills for the residents and helping to tackle fuel poverty.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said:

Taking back control of our energy means not only building more solar panels and wind turbines – it also means giving our communities a stake in their own energy supply.

We’re backing our metro mayors to bid for a share of £10 million and work with our new publicly owned company Great British Energy to roll out more clean, homegrown power.

This could see profits invested back into vital community services and projects, or even money knocked off community buildings bills, giving local services more pounds in their pockets.

Great British Energy Chair Juergen Maier said:

This is the first step in Great British Energy’s work with local communities to help them generate their own energy.

Partnering with mayoral authorities will make an immediate impact as we work to roll out clean, homegrown energy projects, crowd in investment and create job opportunities across the country.

We will work closely with communities to deliver projects that provide a lasting positive impact for the county – both in delivering opportunities and a cleaner future for the UK.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said:

Greater Manchester is already powering ahead with plans to capture the benefits and the opportunities of green growth.

Our Go Neutral programme is delivering millions of pounds of investment in local renewable energy, generating enough to power 5,500 homes, and we’re supporting schools in our city-region to install solar cells and help cut bills.

We’re ready to work with Great British Energy to take these plans to the next level, so we can boost local projects that will help bring down costs and power more of our network with homegrown energy.

It comes as hundreds of schools, hospitals and communities across the UK get new rooftop solar power and renewable projects to save money on their energy bills, thanks to a further £200 million investment from the UK government and Great British Energy.  This includes nearly £12 million for local authorities and community energy groups.

The funding will support the government’s clean power mission as well as helping to rebuild the nation’s public services. It forms Great British Energy’s first local investment, kickstarting the Local Power Plan and ensuring the benefits of this national mission are felt at a local level, with energy security, good jobs and economic growth.  

Backed by £8.3 billion over this Parliament, Great British Energy will own and invest in clean energy projects across the UK. This will range from supporting community energy – like the local authority and solar schemes announced today – to unlocking significant investment in major clean energy projects that will revitalise the UK’s industrial heartlands with new jobs, alongside securing Britain’s energy supply. 

Notes to editors

Funding will be awarded to projects that can be delivered in the next year, to make an impact as quickly as possible.

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Published 21 March 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
March 22, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: People set to benefit from almost £17 million in energy efficiency upgrades

Source: City of Norwich

Norwich residents living in energy-inefficient homes are set to benefit from nearly £17 million in new government funding awarded to the city council.

As part of its commitment to making Norwich a net-zero city by 2045, the council submitted two bids for funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) – both of which were successful.

The first, the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, builds on previous allocations from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and supports local authorities and social housing providers in improving energy efficiency. The council has been awarded £12,042,657 and with the addition of council co-funding, this £22.6 million programme will see 1,400 solar PV systems, 140 air source heat pumps, and a ground source heat pump system installed across the council’s social housing stock.

Work is set to begin in April 2025 and will run for three years, with grant-funded improvements to be completed by 31 March 2028. Council tenants will be contacted directly about any planned works to their property.

The second fund, the Warm Homes: Local Grant, has secured £4,745,409 to support low-income households living in energy-inefficient privately owned or rented homes (EPC rating D-G). People living in inefficient homes with an annual household gross income of less than £36,000, or on specified means tested benefits (housing benefit, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Pension Credit and Universal Credit) or living in deprived post codes in the city could quality for this funding.

Over three years, this funding will provide upgrades to 330 private sector homes, with up to £15,000 available per property for energy efficiency measures and up to £15,000 for low-carbon heating solutions such as heat pumps.

These improvements will help residents by making homes warmer, healthier, and more affordable to heat, while also reducing carbon emissions across the city.

People interested in finding out more or who think they may be eligible for the Warm Homes scheme can email climateaction@norwich.gov.uk

Councillor Emma Hampton, cabinet member for climate change and fuel poverty, said:
“This funding is fantastic news for Norwich. It will make a real difference to people’s lives by improving home comfort, reducing energy bills, and tackling fuel poverty.

“Securing this investment also strengthens our efforts to reach net zero by 2045. We remain committed to driving forward ambitious environmental change and will continue to seize every opportunity to secure funding that benefits our residents and our city.”

Councillor Beth Jones, cabinet member for housing, said:
“Keeping homes warm and energy-efficient is a key priority for us. This funding allows us to make significant improvements to homes that are currently hard to heat, making them more comfortable and reducing running costs for residents.

“We will continue to seek out further investment to improve our housing stock and ensure tenants and residents benefit from the best possible living conditions.”

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

March 21, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Joint Fiji forces tackle civil strife, flash flood crisis and rebels in exercise

Asia Pacific Report

A joint operation between the Fiji Police Force, Republic of Fiji Military Force (RFMF), Territorial Force Brigade, Fiji Navy and National Fire Authority was staged this week to “modernise” responses to emergencies.

Called “Exercise Genesis”, the joint operation is believed to be the first of its kind in Fiji to “test combat readiness” and preparedness for facing civil unrest, counterinsurgency and humanitarian assistance scenarios.

It took place over three days and was modelled on challenges faced by a “fictitious island grappling with rising unemployment, poverty and crime”.

The exercise was described as based on three models, operated on successive days.

The block 1 scenario tackled internal security, addressing civil unrest, law enforcement challenges and crowd control operations.

Block 2 involved humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and coordinating emergency response efforts with government agencies.

Block 3 on the last day dealt with a “mid-level counterinsurgency”, engaging in stabilising the crisis, and “neutralising” a threat.

Flash flood scenario
On the second day, a “composite” company with the assistance of the Fiji Navy successfully evacuated victims from a scenario-based flash flood at Doroko village (Waila) to Nausori Town.

“The flood victims were given first aid at the village before being evacuated to an evacuation centre in Syria Park,” said the Territorial Brigade’s Facebook page.

“The flood victims were further examined by the medical team at Syria Park.”

Fiji police confront protesters during the Operation Genesis exercise in Fiji this week. Image: RFMF screenshot APR

On the final day, Thursday, Exercise Genesis culminated in a pre-dawn attack by the troops on a “rebel hideout”.

According to the Facebook page, the “hideout” had been discovered following the deployment of a joint tracker team and the K9 unit from the Fiji Corrections Service.

“Through rigorous training and realistic scenarios, the [RFMF Territorial Brigade] continues to refine its combat proficiency, adaptability, and mission effectiveness,” said a brigade statement.

Mock protesters in the Operation Genesis security services exercise in Fiji this week. Image: RFMF screenshot APR

It said that the exercise was “ensuring that [the brigade] remains a versatile and responsive force, capable of safeguarding national security and contributing to regional stability.”

However, a critic said: “Anyone who is serious about reducing crime would offer a real alternative to austerity, poverty and alienation. Invest in young people and communities.”

[embedded content]

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Save the Children – Young ocean champions off to France for Global Summit

Source: Save the Children

Six young Kiwi ocean advocates, alongside representatives from WWF-New Zealand and Save the Children New Zealand, will travel to France this week to attend a global Ocean Citizen Summit aimed at exploring solutions to better protect our ocean and accelerate youth-led ocean action.

The global forum, hosted at Nausicaá, Centre National de la Mer in Boulogne sur Mer, France, brings together more than 60 youth representatives from around the world to share the insights and solutions from their regions.

Together, with senior experts in marine science and advocacy, they will identify individual and collective responses to five key challenges of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development: changing humanity’s relationship with the ocean; unlocking ocean-based solutions to climate change, protecting and restoring marine ecosystems and biodiversity, developing a sustainable and equitable ocean economy and understanding and beating marine pollution from source to sea.

The world’s oceans and seas are critical to our planet’s health, covering 71% of the Earth’s surface, producing 50% of our oxygen, feeding over 3 billion people, and absorbing 1/3 of global CO2 emissions. However, they face severe threats from climate change, pollution, overfishing, and ocean acidification. The Ocean Citizen Summit aims to empower young people to address these pressing challenges at both local and global levels.

“Young people have the most to lose from climate and ocean degradation, as they will experience the long-term consequences,” says Save the Children Advocacy Director Jacqui Southey.

“That’s why youth voices are crucial in these global conversations, particularly Pacific youth who are experiencing the impact of the world’s changing climate first hand. Here in Aotearoa, our marine environment is an important part of our lives and national and cultural identities, but sadly it is facing many threats, with unsustainable fishing, plastic pollution and climate change pushing our marine species and habitats to the brink of extinction.”

WWF-New Zealand’s CEO Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb says the global summit is an amazing opportunity for the New Zealand group to meet other ocean youth champions from around the world.

“I’m so proud that our rangatahi will be representing us on the world stage in France. This is a chance for these talented ocean conservation advocates to discuss global ocean conservation issues, share a Pacific perspective, and help shape the United Nations’ Ocean Citizen Charter.”

The six youth advocates were selected following a series of ocean workshops held by WWF-New Zealand and Save the Children New Zealand in late 2024.

Alongside Save the Children Youth Engagement Coordinator Vira Paky and WWF New Zealand’s Conservation Impact Advisor Carolyn Aguilar, the six youth delegates are:

Quack Pirihi (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara, Patuharakeke) is a takatāpui activist, storyteller, and community organiser from Aotearoa, working at the intersection of indigenous sovereignty, climate justice, and queer liberation. Their mahi centres on rangatahi takatāpui empowerment, kaupapa Māori, and resisting environmental destruction. As the Founder and Director of Mana Āniwaniwa, Quack uplifts takatāpui and rangatahi Māori voices in decolonial and climate movements. A staunch opponent of deep-sea mining, Quack has spoken internationally, advocating for moana as an extension of whakapapa. In 2023, they joined the Pacific delegation to the International Seabed Authority conference, challenging corporate and colonial interests. Through storytelling and activism, Quack amplifies indigenous resistance to extractivism, pushing for solutions grounded in mātauranga Māori and a future where whenua, moana, and tangata thrive.

Lottie Stevenson was born in Westport/Kawatiri on the West Coast of Te Waipounamu, and has lived close to the ocean her whole life. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Geography, studying at universities in Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-Tara and The Netherlands. Her recently completed Master’s thesis examines Antarctic paleoclimate and glaciology, including a chapter advocating for decolonising Antarctic research. She aims to foster collaboration across borders, ultimately driving collective action for Papatūānuku (Earth Mother). Lottie largely splits her time between mountains and sea, being an avid tramper, beach-cleaner, and aspiring environmental activist.

Kat Cooper’s background is in marine biology and geography with a special interest in sharks, the deep sea, and queer ecology. Having just submitted their Master’s in marine biology they spend their time baking, annoying their flatmates, and volunteering. Love of the ocean began for Kat with their dad in the big blue backyard of Tāmaki Makaurau, with summers spent camping by the beach or snorkelling. To Kat, the way forward for ocean conservation is taking a holistic view of ocean ecosystems that acknowledges the place of people within the ecosystem, and emphasises the importance of indigenous knowledge. The Citizens of the Ocean Summit is Kat’s first international event, and they’re excited to explore the varied perspectives of the other delegates, and work together to create change.

Maia Horn Nō hea Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti ahau. Spending my childhood summers in Whāngārā fostered my deep love and connection to the ocean and there has never been any doubt in my mind about the career I have dreamt of. Growing up with the tale of the Whale rider, Paikea also meant that I aspire to study tohorā as they are not only ecologically significant, but also culturally significant to Māori.

Wei Heng Pok (卜炜衡) is a Climate & Sustainability consultant based in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) at Edge Impact. An advocate for indigenous solidarity, climate policy, and justice, Pok has contributed to prominent forums such as the Nobel Prize Dialogue, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, COP26, and TIME Magazine. Outside of work, he serves on the Strategic Council of Climate Catalyst and was a former Climate Justice Design Partner for the World Economic Forum. Constantly unlearning and unlearning, he hopes to find his way home as he works on decolonising his identity. His most recent projects are building on regenerative soil practice within community-supported agriculture, alongside tracing his genealogy back to China.

Veronica Rotman is a marine scientist, tertiary lecturer, science communicator and doctoral student. Her entire life revolves around the ocean, for work, for play and for kaimoana gathering, having grown up freediving and spearfishing in the frosty water of Te Waipounamu. Veronica is a TEDx speaker, has delivered many public talks and university lectures, and sat on the Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge Stakeholder Panel for five years. Her proudest mahi has been setting up and delivering the first remote tertiary training in sustainable aquaculture and marine science to Mana Whenua of the Muriwhenua in Kaitaia. The purpose of this was to empower students with knowledge and skills to get jobs and set up their own ventures. Veronica is in the final year of her PhD titled: Ki uta ki tai (mountains to sea): microplastics in Southern Aotearoa, that hopes to highlight the interconnectedness of terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments and to promote mountains to sea management. Her previous research looked into the physiological impacts of microplastics on snapper, incidence of microplastics in wild fish, and microplastics in aquaculture systems.

The Citizen of the Ocean Youth-led Summit is being held March 25-28 2025. It aligns youth advocacy with global agreements like the Paris Agreement, the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water), the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the European Union’s Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters”

About Save the Children NZ:

Save the Children works in 120 countries across the world. The organisation responds to emergencies and works with children and their communities to ensure they survive, learn and are protected.

Save the Children NZ currently supports international programmes in Fiji, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Nepal, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Areas of work include child protection, education and literacy, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, and alleviating child poverty.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Chinese premier emphasizes need to safeguard farm produce supply

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

BEIJING, March 20 — Chinese Premier Li Qiang has urged continued efforts to stabilize the supply of grains and other key farm produce, thereby laying solid groundwork to achieve the country’s annual output target.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in an instruction on spring agricultural production.

All localities and departments must continue to prioritize agriculture and rural development, shoulder their share of responsibilities in ensuring food security, and improve their capacity to ensure the stable production and supply of grains and other major agricultural products, Li said.

To boost rural revitalization, the country should improve its support systems to strengthen agriculture, benefit farmers and enrich rural areas, while continuing to consolidate and build on its achievements in poverty alleviation, Li said.

Emphasizing the importance of spring agricultural production, Li called for efforts to stabilize the grain and oil crop planting areas. Work should also be done to accelerate the use of advanced and applicable agricultural machinery and equipment, as well as the large-scale application of advances in agricultural science and technology, he added.

A national conference on spring agricultural production was held in the city of Suqian, east China’s Jiangsu Province, on Thursday.

Liu Guozhong, Chinese vice premier and a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the conference, calling for solid preparations for spring plowing.

The country should work to improve its arable land quality by cultivating high-standard farmland, and encourage various entities to increase their per unit crop yields, Liu said during the conference.

Efforts must also be made to enhance the monitoring of and emergency response to natural disasters, and coordinate work related to the regulation of the grain market, support for beef and dairy cattle farming, and increasing farmers’ incomes, Liu added.

Agriculture, rural areas and farmers remain top priorities for China’s economic and social development. To feeding a population of over 1.4 billion, the country aims to achieve a grain output of around 700 million tonnes in 2025.

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, speaks at a national conference on spring agricultural production in Suqian, east China’s Jiangsu Province, March 20, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

MIL OSI China News –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Impact of US aid freeze on non-governmental organisations and EU-supported projects – P-000532/2025(ASW)
Source: European Parliament

The EU takes note of the announcement made by the President of the United States (US) on 20 January 2025 to temporarily suspend all US foreign assistance programmes for 90 days pending a review by the administration.

It also observes that on 28 January 2025, the US State Secretary extended the waivers of the pause to lifesaving humanitarian programmes.

The impact of the temporary freeze on US foreign assistance, notwithstanding the waivers in force, cannot be fully ascertained yet, but impacts can already be felt globally .

The EU is in close contact with its Member States, donors and aid organisations to assess the impact on EU-funded projects and affected populations.

Mitigation measures, including early use of financial reserves, will be put in place, if necessary, to safeguard EU humanitarian response.

Measures will be taken on a case-by-case basis in coordination with relevant stakeholders. However, despite all mitigating measures and efforts, the EU cannot be expected to fully compensate for the US foreign aid freeze.

As a major development and humanitarian donor, the EU remains at the forefront of global efforts to promote sustainable development and tackle crises. The EU continues its efforts in addressing poverty and accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals[1].

The EU also remains engaged in fragile countries or in complex settings with specific policy focused on lifesaving actions, supporting the populations’ most immediate needs in terms of food, health, shelter, protection and education.

The EU will not step back from its humanitarian commitments and will continue working to save lives and alleviate suffering, in line with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.
- [1] https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals
MIL OSI Europe News –
March 21, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: The viability of some charities could rest on how they’re taxed – we should be cautious about changing the rules
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Juliet Chevalier-Watts, Associate Professor, Law School, University of Waikato

Ground Picture/Shutterstock

There have long been calls for New Zealand’s charity-linked businesses to lose their tax exemption status. Under the current rules, companies such as Sanitarium, which is wholly owned by the Seventh-day Adventist church pay no income tax.

This could all change very soon.

Inland Revenue recently opened consultation on rule changes that would include taxing business income unrelated to a charity’s charitable purpose. The consultation period runs until the end of this month.

But overhauling the tax rules could undermine the sustainability of some charities, making it harder for them to continue their work.

Our ongoing research looks into the economic contribution of the sector and, in particular, focuses on religious charities. The total value of the services provided by these charities in 2018 alone was NZ$6.1 billion – the equivalent of around 3% of annual government expenditure.

Other studies have shown the substantial contributions charities make to education, sports, the arts, the environment and other activities that don’t get enough support from the government.

Making a profit

There are more than 29,000 registered charities in New Zealand. To register as one, an entity must meet strict legal criteria entrenched in the Charities Act 2005.

Charities have to fall within one of four legally-recognised charitable purposes: relief of poverty, advancement of education, advancement of religion, and any other purposes beneficial to the community.

The government recognises the high bar charities have to meet by giving some tax exemptions. This allows the charities to focus on providing benefits to communities rather than having to divert funds to the government. The exemptions are on both passive income (stocks, for example) as well as business income.

But the issue is not as simple as certain criticisms might imply.

Charities need to sustain themselves over time – particularly as donations fluctuate. Untaxed profits from charity-linked businesses allow them to do this, and changing the rules could undermine future cash flow for these groups.

This argument should not be overstated. Removing the exemption won’t completely wipe out a charity’s profits. But it takes a portion of income that would then need to be covered by an increase in donations.

The Inland Revenue discussion paper also only offers examples of businesses in the primary industry (farming, for example) and manufacturing sectors. But it is silent about the financial and services sectors. It appears charities’ income from interest or financial assets will still be exempt.

This is not necessarily a bad thing.

Holding assets such as a portfolio of stocks or bonds can improve charities’ ability to plan for the long term. But the tax rules should remain consistent between financial assets and non-financial assets, such as a farm or business.

The Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company, the manufacturer of Weet-Bix, Marmite and other well known grocery items, is wholly owned by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and doesn’t pay income tax.
Adam Constanza/Shutterstock

Will the gains be worth the cost?

To better balance the contribution of charities to wider society with efforts to mak tax rules fair, there are a few points the government needs to consider.
- Firstly, society benefits from having a wide variety of charities. Allowing them to build a stable financial base allows them to grow and continue to do their work.
- There will always be gaps in what the government is able to provide. It’s arguably more efficient to address unmet need with charities than by leaving it to individuals to find donations themselves.
- Charities should be able to structure themselves in ways that make them less dependent on donations.
- The government needs to also consider what it would cost to overhaul the current tax rules when it comes to charities. Administrative costs for everyone could end up being greater than the revenue gained.
- Finally, the impact of the proposed changes would extend beyond religious organisations to include gaming trusts, universities and asset-holding charities that provide significant funding for sports, arts, cultural and welfare organisations.
Having public consultation on Inland Revenue’s proposed changes is a good start, but it is just that.

More needs to be done to understand the implications for communities should tax changes occur – and what could be lost if charities are substantially less sustainable. So, if the government delivers a plan, let’s read and evaluate the small print.

The authors thank Steven Moe, Partner at Parryfield Lawyers, for his significant help and mahi in contributing to this article.

Juliet Chevalier-Watts receives funding from The Wilberforce Foundation and the InterChurch Bureau.

Over four decades I have served as a volunteer and trustee for a range of development, educational, health and religious charities.

– ref. The viability of some charities could rest on how they’re taxed – we should be cautious about changing the rules – https://theconversation.com/the-viability-of-some-charities-could-rest-on-how-theyre-taxed-we-should-be-cautious-about-changing-the-rules-251137
MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –
March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Xi Story: A chat on the village bench

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

BEIJING, March 20 — Where does Chinese President Xi Jinping work? Beyond Zhongnanhai and the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, you are just as likely to find him far from the urban sprawl in one of the country’s countless rural villages.

On Monday afternoon, that was exactly where he was: sitting on a bench at a drum tower, deep in conversation with folk song singers, batik artists, and college grads in a Dong ethnic village in Guizhou Province, southwest China.

Nestled amid lush mountains, Zhaoxing Dong Village is a picture-perfect landscape of wooden stilt houses, canola flowers, and terraces awash in shades of deep and light green. Drum towers, a typical Dong architecture, stand as the heartbeat of their community life.

As a crisp spring breeze sharpened the air, the locals opened up, sharing how their lives have shifted.

“Ever since the Spring Festival in late January, sales of our Dong pipa have hauled in over 100,000 yuan (about 14,000 U.S. dollars). It looks like we’re on track for a record,” one villager said with a grin, referring to a string instrument used by local people.

Another piped up, “I’m scaling up my batik shop to hire more locals.”

A third jumped in, “We’re eyeing new tourism ventures to boost our earnings.”

Xi leaned in, all ears, and offered his own words of encouragement and support. “Really inspiring,” he said, “From the way you put it — and the look on your faces — it’s clear this village is thriving. Tourism’s a large industry now.”

“Regions with large ethnic minority populations must preserve their unique cultures, weave them into tourism, and let them glow even brighter,” he added.

Before settling in for the chat, Xi had enjoyed a rendition of a Dong folk song — a lively chorus style inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. He listened attentively as the group explained its origins, characteristics, and the various ways the folk art is brought to life.

He also toured a Dong culture exhibition center and watched batik making at a specialized industrial base. “Traditional yet stylish,” he commented, nodding at its unique charm.

Xi’s inspection tours often see him travel to some of the country’s most isolated rural communities. “Every place I visit,” he once said, “I’d make a point to check out the villages — they show a basic picture of how our people are doing.”

His ties to the countryside are deep-rooted. Over a half century ago, he labored for seven years on the Loess Plateau, working the fields, herding livestock, and hauling coal. The work was tough, but the locals’ care and love remain with him to this day. “One thing I wished most at the time was to make it possible for the villagers to have meat for meals and have it often,” he once recalled.

In 2012, Xi was elected to the Party’s top post — general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. When investigating the causes of poverty in Luotuowan, a village in north China’s Hebei Province, Xi took off his shoes, crossed his legs, and sat on a clay kang — a traditional heated bed — like one of the locals, holding the villagers’ hands as he listened to their struggles.

The trip sparked a nationwide turnaround. Xi rallied the Party and country into an eight-year campaign against poverty, lifting nearly 100 million rural residents above the poverty line. For the first time in its millennia-long history, the nation eradicated absolute poverty.

Luotuowan shook off poverty in 2017 by cultivating mushrooms and fruit while branching into tourism. Tang Zongxiu, whom Xi visited in 2012, now works as a cleaner and tour guide at a local scenery spot, pocketing 2,100 yuan monthly.

With a moderately prosperous society secured, Xi’s next vision for the country is common prosperity. In villages, he emphasized, this means a revitalization drive aimed at narrowing the gap with cities.

Key to this new effort is supporting the growth of thriving businesses. Xi encouraged people to play to their strengths and find a path that suits them.

The Zhaoxing Dong Village is ahead of the curve. The Dong people have leaned into their rich heritage, pouring effort into tourism in recent years. They’ve established over 400 hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and restaurants, plus more than 60 handicraft ventures, creating over 2,000 jobs.

In 2024, the village garnered over 1 billion yuan from tourism, and its collective ventures raked in 2.45 million yuan. This success translated into a per capita disposable income of 41,600 yuan — well above the national rural average of 23,119 yuan.

As Xi left the drum tower, more villagers gathered. Xi flashed a smile. “The Dong people are sincere, hardworking, cultured and wise,” he said. “Keep pushing to revitalize this place as Chinese modernization moves ahead.”

“May your lives get even more prosperous.”

MIL OSI China News –

March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Draft Transformation Fund Concept document out for public comment
Source: South Africa News Agency

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has published the Draft Transformation Fund concept document for a 30-day public commentary period.

Members of the public and interested parties are invited to make inputs and comments on the Draft Concept from 20 March until 7 May.

The aim of the fund is to aggregate Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) funds in support of the participation, transformation and sustainability of black-owned enterprises in the economy.

“This provides an opportunity for the seventh administration, working with the private sector, to increase the effective economic participation of black-owned and managed enterprises, including small, medium and micro enterprises and co-operatives, and enhance their access to financial and non-financial support in line with the requirement of the B-BBEE Act,” Tau said.

It is expected that an amount of R100 billion will be aggregated over the term of the current administration through a joint effort by government, in partnership with the private sector.

“We firmly are in pursuit to transform the economy, as guided by the Vision 2030 of the National Development Plan, which is to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality. Our Constitutional imperative places a collective burden on all of us to advocate for equality and redress,” Tau said.

The objectives of the fund are as follows:
- Promote economic transformation in order to enable meaningful participation of black people in the economy.
- Improve access to funding for black-owned and controlled enterprises.
- Empower and support black-owned and controlled enterprises participation in value chains across key sectors of the economy.
- Mobilise financial resources from the private and public sector using B-BBEE legislation.
- The Minister would like to affirm that the requirements of the Fund are no additional requirements for entities over and above what currently exists in the B-BBEE policy.
The B-BBEE policy, through the Codes of Good Practice, requires that entities must contribute through ESD in the 3% of Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) to the development of black suppliers, black industrialists and SMMEs to broaden the industrial and services base of the country.

“Through the Transformation Fund, we maintain this principle of establishing a partnership between established businesses and emerging businesses, as well as diversification of suppliers within the value chains, as contained in the B-BBEE Codes.

“However, we would like to see much more impact and spending on relevant ESD activities that must lead to growth and sustainability of black-owned enterprises and SMMEs by having a coordinated effort,” Tau said.

Particular attention will be given to businesses owned by women, youth and people living with disabilities, especially those based in rural and township areas.

These groups have historically faced significant barriers to economic participation, and the challenges of unequal access to resources and opportunities remain deeply entrenched in South African society.

“Their meaningful participation in key sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing, agriculture and tourism, is vital for stimulation of economic activities across all regions of our country with their unique potential.

“We will be putting in place governance structures that will ensure that there is accountability to both government and the private sector, transparency and efficiency in managing the fund.

“We will be establishing a Special Purpose Vehicle that will have accountability to an Oversight Committee and a board with the required skills and capacity.

“During the 30-day commentary period, we will be having sessions with stakeholder to create awareness, while soliciting more inputs,” Tau said. – SAnews.gov.za

MIL OSI Africa –
March 21, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Charitable Bonds housing investment reaches half a billion

Source: Scottish Government

Thousands of new homes delivered through scheme.

Additional investment of £24 million through an innovative programme to deliver affordable homes across Scotland will see total funding in the scheme reach half a billion pounds.

Started in 2014, the Charitable Bonds scheme provides loans to housing associations to build properties for social rent, while also generating additional funds for the Scottish Government’s affordable housing budget.

So far, the programme has supported the delivery of more than 4,000 new homes through direct loans to Registered Social Landlords. This has generated a further £146 million to support the delivery of 1,300 social rented homes.

On a visit to an affordable housing development in Rosewell, Midlothian which has benefitted from the scheme, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville confirmed that additional investment will support the issuing of new bonds to three housing associations.

Link Group, Kingdom Housing Association and Wheatley Group will be provided with loan finance to build around 175 homes while generating additional funds for future projects.

Ms Somerville said:

“We need to use all the tools available to deliver more new affordable homes and help tackle the housing emergency. The Charitable Bonds programme has successfully supplemented investment in our affordable housing budget while also allowing social landlords to access additional borrowing to build much needed new homes.

“Taking our investment to more than £500 million demonstrates our commitment to continue that success and see more affordable homes built – building on the 4,000 already delivered through this scheme.

“We will also continue to support the delivery of social homes through the £768 million investment in affordable housing over the next financial year which will enable the delivery of at least 8,000 more homes, as set out in the Scottish Government’s Budget – an increase of more than £200 million.

“The Scottish Government is committed to tackling the housing emergency – and while there is more to do, there is real progress being delivered.”

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations CEO Sally Thomas said:

“It’s never been more crucial that we deliver many more secure, warm and affordable homes. The Charitable Bonds scheme is an important part of doing so, and it’s great to see SFHA members receiving these funds to deliver the homes we desperately need.

“Social homes make lives and places better. As we move forward, working our way out of the housing emergency, continuing, consistent and multi-year government investment in our social homes will be essential – not only to provide the homes we need but also to tackle poverty and help us create a fairer Scotland.”

Allia C&C Director and Head of Scottish Office Peter Freer said:

“Allia issued its first charitable bonds in 1999, raising just under £1 million to support local housing and community projects in Sheffield. From these small beginnings, we’re proud to now celebrate over £500 million of Scottish Government investment in our bonds since 2014. Through this highly successful partnership, we have provided simple finance and grants to housing associations of all sizes all across Scotland, funding the creation of thousands of new affordable homes.”

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

March 20, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Liverpool City Council set to extend contract for crisis household scheme
Source: City of Liverpool

A scheme which provides furniture and domestic appliances to people in crisis in Liverpool is set to be extended.

The ‘homes needs’ element of the Citizens Support Scheme supports residents who can’t afford to buy essential goods including a fridge, oven, sofa or bed.

Last year the £1.4 million scheme, which is delivered by Liverpool-based social enterprise The Furniture Resource Centre, made 12,000 awards.

A report to the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 25 March is recommending the ‘home needs’ element of the contract is extended for a further 12 months. A fresh procurement process to award a new long-term contract will take place later in the year.

Separately, the Citizens Support Scheme also helps people with ‘urgent needs’ including food and fuel costs and last year made 11,000 awards worth £800,000.

Examples of other support provided by the Council to low-income households includes:
- The Council Tax Support Scheme – which is one of the most generous among big ‘core’ cities and in the Liverpool City Region. It has recently been changed to give eligible households a 12 month award to provide certainty and help them budget
- In the 2025/26 budget, the Council committed to increasing the size of the Benefits Maximisation Service team by 50 per cent. Over the last year, they increased income for the most vulnerable households by £7,643,529 – up £433,583 compared to January 2024
Deputy Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Transformation, Cllr Ruth Bennett, said: “The Citizens Support Scheme is a lifeline for thousands of low-income households in Liverpool.

“This is a scheme that is discretionary but that we choose to provide because it is absolutely vital that residents – whatever their background – have access to basic household appliances and furniture.

“It is an integral part of our work to support vulnerable households which also includes the Council Tax Support Scheme and our hugely successful Benefits Maximisation Service which ensures residents are claiming all the support they are entitled to.”

Shaun Doran, CEO of FRC Group, said: “Liverpool City Council’s Home Needs Scheme is a vital lifeline for residents across Liverpool who would otherwise be unable to access essential furniture and appliances, lifting them out of Furniture Poverty.

“We are delighted to be continuing to work with the council on this scheme as it aligns perfectly with FRC Group’s core mission to end furniture poverty.

“We know from the work of our national End Furniture Poverty campaign that Liverpool’s scheme is one of the best in England, playing a crucial role in improving living standards for households across the city, and we congratulate the council on continuing to provide this support.”
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
March 20, 2025
MIL-OSI NGOs: Hunger skyrockets by nearly 80 percent in Eastern and Southern Africa over past five years amidst worsening water crisis
Source: Oxfam –
Nearly 116 million people in eight African countries, hardest hit by severe water crises, lack access to drinking water.

Globally, flash floods have become 20 times more frequent between 2000 and 2022

The climate crisis has dramatically worsened water scarcity in Eastern and Southern Africa over the past few decades, leaving nearly 116 million people –or 40 percent of the population – without safe drinking water, according to a new Oxfam report.

Climate change is supercharging extreme weather events like droughts, cyclones and flash floods, and has led to the disappearance of more than 90 percent of Africa’s tropical glaciers and the depletion of groundwater. This has had knock-on effects on Africa’s small-scale farmers, pastoralists and fisherpersons leaving millions without basic food, drinking water or income.

Oxfam’s report –Water-Driven Hunger: How the Climate Crisis Fuels Africa’s Food Emergency – published ahead of World Water Day, looked at the links between water scarcity and hunger in eight of the world’s worst water crises: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It found that the number of people experiencing extreme hunger in those countries has surged by nearly 80 percent over the past five years – reaching over 55 million in 2024, up from nearly 31 million in 2019. That is two in every ten persons.

The report warns that La Niña weather pattern, which will last through this month, will worsen floods in swaths of Southern Africa and South Sudan while causing severe drought in East Africa further threatening people’s food availability and income.

Globally, flash floods have become 20 times more frequent between 2000 and 2022 and the duration of droughts has risen by 29% since 2000, impacting the most vulnerable communities.

Existing poverty, deep inequality and chronic under-investment along with poor governance in water systems have compounded this climate-fuelled water crisis. African governments are currently meeting less than half the US$50 billion annual investment target required to achieve water security in Africa by 2030.
“The climate crisis is not a mere statistic—it has a human face. It affects real people whose livelihoods are being destroyed, while the main contributors to this crisis—big polluters and super-rich—continue to profit. Meanwhile, national governments neglect to support the very communities they should protect.”

Fati N’Zi Hassane,

Director, Oxfam in Africa
Fati N’Zi-Hassane, Oxfam in Africa Director said:

“The climate crisis is not a mere statistic—it has a human face. It affects real people whose livelihoods are being destroyed, while the main contributors to this crisis—big polluters and super-rich—continue to profit. Meanwhile, national governments neglect to support the very communities they should protect.”

The Oxfam report also found that:

In the eight countries studied, 91 percent of small-scale farmers depend almost entirely on rainwater for drinking and farming.

In Ethiopia, food insecurity has soared by 175 percent over the past five years, with 22 million people struggling to find their next meal.

In Kenya, over 136,000 square kilometers of land have become drier between 1980 and 2020, which has decimated crops and livestock.

In Somalia, one failed rainy season is pushing one million more people into crisis-level hunger, raising the total to 4.4 million—24% of the population.

A farmer from Baidoa, Somalia explains: “In the past, we knew when to farm and when to harvest but that has all changed. The rains now come late or not at all. Last year, I lost all my crops and animals. I have now planted, but the rains have still not come. If this continues, I will not be able to feed my family.”

Deep inequalities mean that disadvantaged people like women and girls are too often the first and most severely punished by this water crisis. In Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia, women and girls walk up to 10 kilometers in search of water, facing violence and extreme exhaustion. Many women and girls in rural households spend hours each day collecting water—time that could otherwise be spent on education or income generation.

“At the heart of this climate crisis lies a justice crisis. Sub-Saharan Africa receives only 3-4 percent of global climate finance, despite being heavily affected by climate change. Rich polluting nations must pay their fair share. It’s not about charity, it’s about justice.

“African governments must also double down on their investment in water infrastructures and social protection to effectively manage natural resources, and help the most vulnerable communities cope with climatic shocks,” added N’Zi-Hassane.
MIL OSI NGO –
March 20, 2025

MIL-OSI Russia: IMF Executive Board Concludes 2023 Article IV Consultation with El Salvador

Source: IMF – News in Russian

March 19, 2025

Washington, DC: On March 20, 2023, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation^{^[1]} with El Salvador.

Despite a series of adverse external shocks, the Salvadoran economy has fared relatively well to date, and is estimated to have grown by 2.8 percent in 2022. Annual inflation jumped to 7¼ percent, mainly due to high global food prices while fuel price inflation was moderated by large subsidies. Vulnerabilities mounted, with international reserves falling below 2 months of imports. In the context of limited financing options, the fiscal deficit narrowed to 2½ percent of GDP, but fiscal policy is expected to turn expansionary in 2023. Under current policies, public debt is on an unsustainable path.

The economy is expected to grow by 2.4 percent in 2023, but the outlook is fragile, given the macroeconomic imbalances and a less favorable international environment. A comprehensive and credible policy package is urgently needed to put public debt on a firmly declining path and strengthen macroeconomic and financial stability.

Over a year after the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, its use has been minimal but risks for financial and market integrity, financial stability, and consumer protection remain and need to be addressed.

Executive Board Assessment^[2]

Executive Directors noted the strong post‑pandemic recovery supported by the authorities’ timely responses to shocks and the improved security situation. Pointing to the fragile outlook amid rising risks and vulnerabilities, Directors urged the authorities to adopt a comprehensive plan to address macroeconomic imbalances, including unsustainable public debt and limited reserve coverage, along with structural reforms to support stronger, inclusive growth.

Directors welcomed recent fiscal efforts but underscored the urgent need for an ambitious fiscal consolidation plan, based on greater revenue mobilization and efficiency of spending, including better targeting energy subsidies and social safety nets and rightsizing the wage bill. This is critical to put public debt on a firm downward trajectory and allow a gradual return to international capital markets. Restoring and upgrading the Fiscal Responsibility Law would also improve the transparency and credibility of fiscal policy. Directors stressed the importance of ensuring the sustainability of the pension system to limit contingent liabilities.

Directors noted that the banking system remains healthy but cautioned against rising exposures to the sovereign and the erosion of liquidity buffers. They called for raising banks’ reserve requirements, enacting promptly the Financial Stability Bill, closing regulatory gaps, and continuing to implement the 2020 Safeguards Assessment recommendations.

Directors underscored the importance of narrowing the scope of the Bitcoin law and removing Bitcoin’s legal tender status. They noted that while Bitcoin has had a minimal impact on financial inclusion, high risks to financial integrity and stability, fiscal sustainability, and consumer protection persist. Directors urged that Bitcoin transactions be transparently disclosed, together with the financial statements of public companies operating in the Bitcoin ecosystem. They also called on the authorities to carefully weigh the implications of the new crypto assets legislation and avoid expanding government exposure to Bitcoin.

Directors stressed the importance of structural reforms to strengthen governance, the investment climate and productivity. They called for continued efforts to strengthen fiscal transparency, public procurement, AML/CFT legislation, and the independence of the judicial system. Directors also stressed the importance of enhancing human capital, infrastructure, and climate resilience, as well as continuing to upgrade the statistical framework.

El Salvador: Selected Economic Indicators

I. Social Indicators
Per capita income (U.S. dollars, 2021)	4,408		Population (million, 2021)				6.5
Percent of pop. below poverty line (2021)	24.6		Gini index (2019)				39

II. Economic Indicators (percent of GDP, unless otherwise indicated)

						Proj.
	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024

Income and Prices
Real GDP growth (percent)	2.4	2.4	-8.2	10.3	2.8	2.4	1.9
Consumer price inflation (average, percent)	1.1	0.1	-0.4	3.5	7.2	4.1	2.1
Terms of trade (percent change)	-3.9	1.7	4.8	-7.6	-1.6	5.0	0.7
Sovereign bond spread (basis points)	424	453	760	837	1,485	…	…

Money and Credit
Credit to the private sector	57.3	59.1	66.3	61.8	63.1	61.2	60.0
Broad money	54.8	59.1	70.4	61.5	58.5	58.5	60.5
Interest rate (time deposits, percent)	4.2	4.3	4.1	3.9	…	…	…

External Sector
Current account balance	-3.3	-0.4	0.8	-5.1	-8.3	-5.4	-5.3
Trade balance	-21.7	-21.2	-21.0	-28.6	-31.4	-27.5	-27.4
Transfers (net)	20.6	21.0	24.4	25.9	24.0	22.9	22.4
Foreign direct investment	-3.2	-2.4	-1.1	-1.1	-0.2	-1.6	-2.2
Gross international reserves (mill. of US$)	3,569	4,446	3,083	3,426	2,440	2,798	3,382

Nonfinancial Public Sector
Overall balance	-2.7	-3.1	-8.2	-5.6	-2.5	-3.4	-3.4
Primary balance	0.9	0.6	-3.8	-1.1	2.2	0.3	0.4
Of which: tax revenue	18.0	17.7	18.5	20.1	20.3	19.0	19.0
Public sector debt 1/	70.4	71.3	89.4	82.4	77.2	76.1	78.3

National Savings and Investment
Gross domestic investment	18.4	18.3	18.9	22.2	20.7	19.8	19.4
Private sector 2/	15.7	15.9	16.9	19.6	18.8	17.4	17.1
National savings	15.1	17.9	19.8	17.1	12.4	14.5	14.2
Private sector	14.7	18.0	25.4	19.5	12.8	14.9	14.9

Net Foreign Assets of the Financial System
Millions of U.S. dollars	2,655	3,372	3,618	3,022	1,114	1,227	1,400

Memorandum Items
Nominal GDP (billions of US$)	26.0	26.9	24.6	28.7	31.6	33.7	35.1

Sources: Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador, Ministry of Finance, and IMF staff estimates.
1/ Gross debt of the nonfinancial public sector.
2/ Includes inventories.

[1] Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board.

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

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Meera Louis

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

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/03/19/pr25069-el-salvador-imf-executive-board-concludes-2023-article-iv-consultation-with-el-salvador

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MIL OSI Russia News –

March 20, 2025

MIL-OSI Africa: Deputy President Mashatile to lead Human Rights Day commemoration

Source: South Africa News Agency

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Deputy President Paul Mashatile will deliver the keynote address at Friday’s 2025 Human Rights Day commemoration event.

The Deputy President will deliver the address on behalf of President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Derrick Ferreira Stadium in Kariega, located within the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality in the Eastern Cape.

This as Human Rights commemorative events this year are held under the theme, “Deepening a Culture of Social Justice and Human Rights” .

“This is a call for a renewed and strengthened commitment from all levels of society, to accelerate practical solutions in driving inclusive growth and job creation, to reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living, and to build a capable, ethical and developmental State,” the Presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.

South Africa commemorates National Human Rights Day on 21 March to remember the Sharpeville massacre, where apartheid police killed 69 peaceful protesters against the regime in 1960.

The Presidency stated that this is an important day, which also honours 35 people who were killed on 21 March 1985, when apartheid police targeted community members after a funeral in Uitenhage and KwaLanga.

The government has chosen Kariega to host the national Human Rights Day commemoration as the State’s initiative to rotate national days, allowing communities across all provinces to pay tribute to those who lost their lives during the liberation struggle.

According to the Presidency, it also provides an opportunity to reflect on and evaluate the progress made towards building a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, and united nation.

Deputy President Mashatile will be accompanied by the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi, Premier of the Eastern Cape Province Oscar Mabuyane, Members of the Eastern Cape Provincial Executive Council, Mayors, and senior government officials. – SAnews.gov.za

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