Category: Child Poverty

MIL-OSI Economics: IMF Executive Board Concludes 2024 Article IV Consultation with Chile

Source: International Monetary Fund

February 5, 2025

Washington, DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation^[1] with Chile on February 3, 2025 and endorsed the staff appraisal without a meeting on a lapse-of-time basis.^[2]

The economy’s imbalances have been largely resolved. Real GDP is expected to expand by 2.2 percent in 2024, close to its potential pace, driven by the strong mining and service exports, and 2-2.5 percent in 2025, related to an expected recovery in domestic demand. However, the recovery has been uneven across industries, with the construction sector lagging and the unemployment rate remaining high. Inflation is set to return to the 3-percent target in early 2026, after the impact of the significant increase in electricity tariffs between June 2024 and early 2025 subsides. The current account deficit has continued to narrow and is projected to reach around 2½ percent of GDP in 2024 and 2025.

External risks and uncertainty remain elevated. The commodity price volatility linked to the economic outlook of Chile’s main trading partners and the pace of the global green transition is a key external risk. Moreover, the uncertainty surrounding monetary and fiscal policies in advanced economies could lead to tight financial conditions for longer periods of time and higher financial volatility. Domestically, concerns about crime, migration, and inequality persist; and political polarization is hindering the structural reform progress.

Policies have supported macroeconomic stability. The Central Bank of Chile lowered the monetary policy rate by 325 basis points since January 2024 to 5 percent in December 2024. The headline fiscal deficit is projected to reach 2.7 percent of GDP in 2024 due to a notable revenue underperformance and despite significant spending restraint compared to the budget. The 2025 budget envisions a notable deficit reduction within a medium-term fiscal plan toward a broadly balanced fiscal position by 2027. By setting the neutral level of the countercyclical capital buffer at 1 percent of risk-weighted assets with a gradual and state-contingent implementation path from the current level of 0.5 percent, the Central Bank of Chile has provided banks with planning certainty for strengthening financial resilience.

Executive Board Assessment

The economy is broadly balanced but external risks are elevated. Chile’s macroeconomic position is sound due to its very strong fundamentals, policies, and policy frameworks. Real GDP is growing around its potential and inflation is expected to reach the 3-percent target in early 2026. The current account deficit has continued to narrow, and the 2024 external position is assessed as moderately weaker than implied by medium-term fundamentals. Public debt is still relatively low and sustainable with high probability. However, the external environment is unstable and uncertain, which calls for policies that further strengthen economic buffers to provide additional policy space for future shocks.

Lifting Chile’s growth potential is a must to raise living standards and tackle social and fiscal pressures. Taking a consultative approach, the government is advancing several growth initiatives, including: (i) expediting investment permit applications and environmental evaluations to encourage investment, (ii) fostering the development of emerging industries, particularly those related to renewable energy to maximize the benefits from the global green transition, and (iii) facilitating R&D. Swift and consistent implementation of these initiatives is crucial, especially in rationalizing the regulatory burden and improving essential infrastructure. Additionally, better integrating women into the labor market could partially offset the unfavorable demographic trends. The proposed new development bank requires a targeted mandate, sound risk management practices, and robust corporate governance.

The goal of a broadly balanced fiscal position by 2027 remains appropriate but has become more challenging. The authorities’ commitment to fiscal restraint by adjusting spending plans in 2024 and 2025 is welcome. To achieve a balanced fiscal position over the next three years, a gap of at least 1 percent of GDP needs to be filled. This could be achieved largely from the important tax compliance law if its implementation yields the planned additional revenue and is not used for new spending initiatives. It is therefore crucial to carefully monitor developments in tax compliance and remain flexible to adjust current spending in case revenue mobilization falls short of plans, while aiming to preserve public investment outlays in support of medium-term growth. Ensuring that any structural spending increases align with higher structural revenues is vital for fiscal sustainability, while unifying fragmented social programs could enhance access and effectiveness for the most vulnerable.

Continuous enhancements to Chile’s already very strong fiscal framework would foster fiscal policy formulation and transparency. For instance, providing more details on debt-creating flows outside the fiscal deficit (“below-the-line” items) would strengthen the monitoring of fiscal pressures. Updating fiscal forecasting methods, in line with the government’s plans, could improve revenue projections in the context of economic and policy shifts. Adopting a medium-term strategy to rebuild the size of the Economic and Social Stabilization Fund (ESSF) would help provide resources to respond to future shocks. Finally, simplifying the presentation of the fiscal targets and budget execution in the Public Finance Report could deepen the understanding of the fiscal balance rule framework.

A pension reform is essential to ensure adequate pensions and address the fiscal costs of population aging. Raising contribution rates and the number of contribution periods is vital for sustainably self-financing old-age pensions. The minimum guaranteed pension (PGU) has strengthened the system’s solidarity, increased replacement ratios, and reduced old-age poverty, but it also incurs high fiscal costs. With the ratio of pensioners to the working-age population set to nearly double in two decades, it is crucial to manage public spending pressures while maintaining a solid safety net. Targeting the PGU to the most vulnerable elderly, linking the retirement age to life expectancy, and implementing the proposed unemployment insurance for pension contributions could further strengthen the system.

A cautious data dependent approach to the pace of monetary policy easing is warranted. The BCCh’s monetary policy adjustments have been in line with its inflation-targeting framework. The real monetary policy rate is close to its estimated neutral range. With near-term inflation risks tilted to the upside, future cuts to the policy rate should remain contingent on evidence that inflation is heading decisively back to its target.

Rebuilding international reserve buffers is important for enhancing resilience. While the flexible exchange rate plays a critical role as a shock absorber, the Central Bank of Chile’s access to international liquidity can provide an additional shield against potential external shocks. This underscores the importance of incorporating a comprehensive international liquidity framework into the central bank’s longer-term financial stability strategy. The strategy and operational design should continue to follow high transparency standards, be persistent and robust to changes in external risks, and minimize distortions in the foreign exchange market.

The financial system remains resilient despite rising vulnerabilities related to the real estate sector and lower financial market depth. The real estate sector is expected to recover modestly as long-term interest rates gradually decline, and there are several mitigants to credit risk associated with lending to this sector. Nevertheless, supervisors need to carefully monitor banks and insurers’ portfolio quality and buffers, including by closing commercial real estate data gaps and enhancing stress test models. Rebuilding the depth of local financial markets by increasing pension contributions, which would increase the pool of investable savings, is important to help reduce market volatility and sensitivity to shocks.

Financial sector policies need to continue reinforcing resilience. The recent adoption of a positive neutral level of the counter-cyclical capital buffer with a gradual and state-contingent implementation provides banks with planning certainty. The ongoing implementation of Basel III capital and liquidity requirements needs to be completed. Prompt implementation of the Financial Market Resilience Law would enhance the BCCh’s ability to respond to financial distress situations. Other priorities continue to include adopting an industry-funded deposit insurance and a bank resolution framework, providing budget independence to the CMF, further enhancing bank corporate governance, and implementing the Consolidated Debt Registry.

Table 1. Chile: Selected Economic Indicators, 2023-27

GDP (2023), in trillions of pesos	282		Quota
GDP (2023), in billions of U.S. dollars	336		in millions of SDRs		1,744
Per capita (2023), U.S. dollars	16,815		in % of total		0.37
Population (2023), in millions	19.96
Main products and exports	Copper
Key export markets	China, U.S., Euro area
			Proj.
	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027

Output	(Annual percentage change, unless otherwise specified)
Real GDP	0.2	2.2	2.2	2.3	2.3
Total domestic demand	-4.2	1.0	2.4	2.3	2.3
Consumption	-3.9	1.6	1.9	2.2	2.1
Fixed capital formation	-1.1	-1.0	4.3	3.4	3.7
Exports of goods and services	-0.3	5.5	4.3	4.7	3.9
Imports of goods and services	-12.0	1.2	4.4	4.3	3.2
Output gap (in percent)	0.0	-0.1	-0.1	0.0	0.0

Employment
Unemployment rate (in percent, annual average)	8.7	8.5	8.2	8.0	7.8

Prices
GDP deflator	6.6	6.0	4.1	2.9	2.7
Change of CPI (end of period)	3.9	4.5	3.5	3.0	3.0
Change of CPI (period average)	7.6	3.9	4.2	3.1	3.0

Public Sector Finances	(In percent of GDP, unless otherwise specified)
Central government revenue	22.9	22.1	23.0	23.8	23.9
Central government expenditure	25.3	24.8	24.8	24.7	24.3
Central government fiscal balance	-2.4	-2.7	-1.8	-0.8	-0.4
Central government structural fiscal balance 1/	-3.4	-3.1	-2.1	-1.2	-0.5
Central government gross debt	39.4	42.7	43.7	44.1	43.5
Public sector gross debt 2/	70.2	73.5	74.5	74.9	74.4

Balance of Payments
Current account balance (% of GDP) 3/	-3.5	-2.3	-2.5	-2.5	-2.7
Foreign direct investment net flows (% of GDP) 3/	-4.6	-4.0	-2.6	-2.9	-2.9
Gross external debt (% of GDP) 4/	71.1	77.5	76.5	76.6	75.7
Sources: Central Bank of Chile, Ministry of Finance, Haver Analytics, and IMF staff calculations and projections.
1/ The structural fiscal balance includes adjustments for output, copper prices, and lithium revenues based on IMF calculations. The lithium adjustment starts in 2022.
2/ Includes liabilities of the central government, the Central Bank of Chile and public enterprises. Excludes Recognition Bonds.
3/ Calculated as a share of US$ GDP.
4/ Data from Dipres for the government and from BCCh for all other sectors. Calculated as a share of US$ GDP.

[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] The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse-of-time procedure when the Board agrees that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

PRESS OFFICER: Jose Luis De Haro

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

MIL OSI Economics –

February 6, 2025

MIL-OSI Security: Head of the Civil Rights Division Vanita Gupta Delivers Remarks at University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights Conference

Source: United States Attorneys General 13

Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Ted [Shaw], for that warm welcome. I want to thank the University of North Carolina’s Center for Civil Rights for organizing this energizing conference and inviting me to join you today. It’s humbling to be part of a program with such a distinguished group of civil rights leaders. I see many dear friends and colleagues in this room. Through advocacy and academia, through service and leadership – you have devoted your careers to the cause of justice and the fight for equality.

For just over two years, I’ve had the enormous privilege and great honor to lead the Civil Rights Division’s work in that fight. At times, my tenure has been filled with moments of tragedy and anguish. And there is no doubt that events in recent years have exposed and exacerbated stark divisions of ideology and open wounds of racial tension across America. I’ve sat with grieving families who lost their loved ones in officer-involved shootings. I’ve attended funerals of officers killed in the line of duty. I’ve seen how the inequities in our criminal justice system can destroy lives and derail futures. And I’ve been all too aware of how some of the most vulnerable among us encounter a real gap between what the law guarantees, on one hand, and what they experience in their daily lives, on the other – from courtrooms, to voting precincts, to public bathrooms.

Yet I firmly believe that these are also times of possibility, of opportunity and of hope. Because amidst the tragedies and divisions, I’ve seen police officers and residents working together to promote community-oriented policing strategies. I’ve seen firsthand these past two years – in meetings, conferences and roundtables around the country – law enforcement leaders stand up and speak out to transform the profession, embracing de-escalation tactics, procedural justice and a smart-on-crime approach. And I’ve seen how people from different walks of life can come together to engage in America’s imperfect, but unyielding journey of progress towards a more inclusive country and a more just union.

For nearly six decades – from prosecuting the 1964 murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi; to combating segregation in education; to enforcing the Fair Housing Act; to preventing discrimination in lending, whether in redlining or underwriting; to defending the civil rights of LGBT men and women here in North Carolina – the division’s career lawyers have played a pivotal role in our country’s quest for justice. The division vigorously enforces civil rights laws to make the promises of equal justice, equal protection and equal opportunity real for all. We work to restore faith in the legitimacy of our justice system. And we work to defend the integrity of our democracy. Because discrimination, inequality and injustice don’t only harm individuals. They threaten entire communities. They breed cynicism and despair. And they erode trust in our public institutions – trust essential to upholding the rule of law, to advancing public safety and to engaging in our centuries-old democratic experiment of effective self-governance.

In stark terms and in real time, we’ve seen this connection between discrimination and distrust play out around the country through the lens of community-police relations. Sometimes, a particular incident ignites public outrage and unrest. And let be me clear: when law enforcement officials flout the law, the Civil Rights Division works to prosecute criminal misconduct and hold them accountable. But I’ll be honest with you, the federal statute that applies is narrow. In use-of-force cases, federal law requires us to prove both that the officer used “objectively unreasonable” force and that she or he acted willfully – “for the specific purpose of violating the law” – the highest standard of criminal intent in the federal code. Mistake, misperception, negligence and poor judgment are not prosecutable at the federal level. That said, during this administration, we have charged more than 580 law enforcement officials for committing willful violations of civil rights and related crimes.

But we know that the true causes – the real reasons – for unrest run far deeper than any individual incident. And we know that while public attention to these issues might be new, these causes are long-standing and systemic. We’ve found these causes time and again through several of the 23 civil pattern-or-practice investigations we’ve opened into local police departments during this administration. These cases focus not on individuals but on systems. Broken systems – plagued by unlawful practices and tainted by bias – can devastate a community and corrode public trust, letting down not just the victims of police misconduct but the officers who seek to proudly wear the badge.

We saw the impact of broken systems in Baltimore, where a “zero tolerance” street enforcement strategy became a quest to produce numbers – pedestrian stops of African Americans in particular – regardless of their limited impact on solving crime and the damage they did to community relationships. Officers routinely arrested people for loitering or trespassing if they could not provide a “valid reason” for standing on the sidewalk or near a public housing development. In one instance, a shift commander emailed a template for describing such trespassing arrests. The template had blank fields. Except that it had the words “black male” pre-filled for the suspect description. Blanket assumptions and stereotypes about certain neighborhoods and certain communities led many residents to see the justice system as illegitimate and authorities as corrupt.

We saw the impact of broken systems in Ferguson, where the criminalization of poverty – and intentional racial bias in police and court practices – eroded public trust. The city relied on enforcement strategies “to fill the revenue pipeline” without due consideration for whether officers could better protect the city by focusing on neighborhood policing, rather than debt collection. We found the city issuing multiple citations with excessive fines and fees for minor violations – $302 for jaywalking, $427 for disturbing the peace and $531 for allowing high grass and weeds to grow on your lawn – and then arresting and even jailing residents when they couldn’t afford to pay.

We saw the impact of broken systems in New Orleans as well, where officers lacked the ability to effectively communicate with immigrant communities. At the time of our investigation, the New Orleans Police Department relied primarily on just two officers – one fluent in Spanish and one fluent in Vietnamese – to assist on all service calls and investigations involving limited English proficient residents. As one Spanish-speaking immigrant testified, “[W]e don’t feel safe, we don’t feel supported. We, the immigrants don’t feel support from them [the police]. We cannot call them for any kind of problem for help.”

And we saw the impact of broken systems in Seattle, where the use of excessive force against individuals in crisis left families dealing with mental illness or addiction with nowhere to turn for help, without access to services and too fearful to call the police when the denial of treatment created dangerous situations for themselves and their loved ones.

While each of these communities struggled with unique problems, the broken systems and police misconduct caused residents to view the police, the courts or even government itself as arbitrary, biased and unfair. And when residents didn’t trust law enforcement, they became less willing to share information – information critical to solving and preventing crimes. Entire communities felt that the justice system was not protecting or serving them, perpetuating disillusionment and exacerbating tensions. Simply put, unconstitutional policing threatens the security and well-being of our communities. And that hurts us all.

Of course, broken systems and unconstitutional policing practices don’t operate in isolation from other inequities in our justice system. Indeed, throughout the justice system – from arraignment to sentencing – when people experience a two-tiered system of justice that stacks the deck against those living in poverty, these broader failures erodes trust, too. The entire Department of Justice – including our team at the Office for Access to Justice, led by Director Lisa Foster – has helped lead the charge against criminal justice policies that punish poverty. We’ve sent a dear colleague letter to state and local judges to help end unlawful fine and fee practices that result in inescapable cycles of debt and incarceration. We’ve shined a light on the right-to-counsel crisis by filing briefs around the country – arguing that if due to underfunding and high workloads, public defenders can’t meaningfully test the prosecution’s case, that violates the Sixth Amendment. We’ve taken on the criminalization of homelessness, arguing that because every human being must sleep at some time and in some place, arresting and punishing a person for sleeping in public – when there aren’t enough shelter beds in the city and she has nowhere else to go – criminalizes the status of being homeless. We’ve addressed unlawful bail practices that result in jailing presumptively innocent people solely because of their poverty, without consideration of their ability to pay or alternatives to incarceration, causing people to lose their jobs, their health benefits or their homes without any benefit to public safety. As with the issue of systemic police misconduct, addressing these issues – by preventing the punishment of poverty and by ensuring access to justice for all – is critical to restoring and maintaining the public’s faith in the legitimacy of our institutions and the integrity of our democracy.

The integrity of our democracy also depends on ensuring that every eligible voter can participate in the electoral process. Voting forms the bedrock of our democracy. In our democracy, no matter what policy issue we care about most, we get closer to these goals through the ballot box. The Justice Department works to ensure that every eligible voter enjoys the full range of voting rights protected by federal law. It makes no difference to us what candidate a voter selects or what party she supports. But we fight day-in and day-out, in elections big and small, not just in November but throughout the year, to protect her right to have a say. Even with the severe setback of the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, we’ve continued to use every tool at our disposal, including the Voting Rights Act, to protect voters from discrimination and provide the opportunities federal law guarantees. And when it comes to protecting the process, we have been winning.

This year, courts around the country issued pivotal rulings to protect the franchise, including in landmark cases brought by the Justice Department and private plaintiffs in North Carolina and Texas. In July, a federal appeals court ruled that “because of race, the legislature enacted one of the largest restrictions of the franchise in modern North Carolina history,” striking down a law that “target[s] African Americans with almost surgical precision.” And after years of litigation prolonged by Shelby County, in July the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down a Texas voter ID law for violating the Voting Rights Act. Roughly half a million Texans lacked the form of ID needed to vote. As Sammie Louise Bates – an elderly African American woman living on a fixed income of $321 per month, who lacked the birth certificate she needed to get a Texas ID – testified, “I had to put the $42 [I needed to get the birth certificate] where it was doing the most good … because we couldn’t eat the birth certificate … and we couldn’t pay rent with the birth certificate.” From Alabama to Connecticut, we’ve also reached critical settlements to ensure that eligible voters can register with the ease and access that federal law requires.

In the general election last month, the Justice Department sent more than 500 personnel to 67 jurisdictions in 28 states to monitor polling places in the field. Of course, no matter how vigorously and effectively we protect this most fundamental right – through enforcement and monitoring, with government action and support from private plaintiffs – eligible voters need to go out and exercise it. Democracy requires active participation. Self-government, after all, doesn’t happen by chance. But I recognize that people need to believe in the legitimacy of government – in the guarantee that government will treat them fairly, with dignity and decency – in order to participate in the process.

Defending the integrity of our democracy also requires protecting all people – no matter who they are, what they look like, whom they love or where they worship – from harm. Violence against people based on their identity not only violates the law and harms individuals. It also denies entire communities the promises of equal protection and true freedom. Following recent heinous acts of terrorism and divisive rhetoric – we’re combating a backlash of religious discrimination targeting Muslim communities and others perceived to be Muslim. Just two days ago, we convicted a Minneapolis man of a hate crime for writing and mailing a threatening letter to a local Islamic Center, where he threatened to “blow up your building with all you immigrants in it.” Beyond hate crimes, this discriminatory backlash also includes bullying in schools and unlawful barriers to building houses of worship.

For the past eight years, the Civil Rights Division has also worked tirelessly to make the promise of equal protection real for gay, lesbian and transgender individuals. Just last month, we celebrated the seventh anniversary of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This law expanded the federal definition of hate crimes to include protections against crimes based on gender, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation. It marked the first time that the words, “lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender” appeared in the United States Code. It enhanced the legal toolkit available to prosecutors. And it increased the ability of federal law enforcement to support our state and local partners. In the years since, the Civil Rights Division has vigorously enforced this landmark statute. And we continue to work with our partners on the federal, state and local levels to ensure the robust enforcement of hate crime statutes.

Hate violence may mark the most severe form, but discrimination anywhere – and in any form – offends the Constitution and corrodes the ideals of our democracy. In United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges, the Justice Department argued successfully that our Constitution guarantees the equal protection of the law to all people. In citing the Supreme Court’s previous decisions – and in recounting America’s painful history of discrimination against gay and lesbian individuals – we explained that bans on same-sex marriage “exclude a long-mistreated class of human beings from a legal and social status of tremendous import” and are “incompatible with the Constitution.” And then in June 2015, the Supreme Court agreed, ruling that here in America, our Constitution guarantees all people “equal dignity in the eyes of the law.” The Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell stands as a beacon of light – not only for gay and lesbian individuals but for the cause of justice itself.

The cause of justice is never static. It is always searching for the next barrier to dismantle, for the next right to vindicate and for the next freedom to secure. Earlier this year, I joined Attorney General [Loretta] Lynch to announce our lawsuit against North Carolina for violating the civil rights of transgender individuals. Just like Obergefell was about more than just marriage, our challenge to H.B. 2 was about more than just bathrooms. Justice [Anthony] Kennedy wrote in Obergefell that gay men and women have a right to “dignity in their own distinct identity.” And, in 1964, in a case vindicating the Justice Department’s efforts to enforce the Civil Rights Act against the Heart of Atlanta Motel, which refused to let African Americans use its facilities, Justice [Arthur] Goldberg wrote that the “primary purpose” of our nation’s antidiscrimination laws “is the vindication of human dignity.” Laws like H.B. 2 force transgender people to choose between their dignity and basic participation in public life. The humiliation, frustration and embarrassment transgender people feel when they are denied access to a facility others of their gender are free to use – when they receive the message that they are less worthy of equal status and dignity than their peers – is the pain of discrimination and always has been. Fighting discrimination is the mission of the Civil Rights Division, and it always has been.

In all of the areas I spoke about today, we – as a nation and as a people – have far more work to do. Whether it’s in North Carolina or in countless other places across America – from rural towns to large states – this fight is centered around the cause of hope. To me, civil rights work has always been built upon a foundation of hope. It’s the hope that despite the zigs and the zags of our nation’s history, we have been marching forward, imperfectly yet inexorably. The long struggle for equal justice and equal opportunity in this country has always required a deep and abiding reservoir of hope. Hope gives us the struggle and the struggle gives us hope. It’s the hope that this work transforms the nation, fulfills dreams and changes lives.

While we will face new and emerging challenges to equality in the days ahead – just as we always have – civil rights work has always been designed to endure, to build new, infectious momentum in both public and private action. And when I look at the distinguished leaders in this room, I know that with your determination, your creativity and your compassion, together we will continue to advance America’s march for progress and quest for justice. Thank you.

MIL Security OSI –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Head of the Civil Rights Division Vanita Gupta Delivers Remarks at the Civil Rights Division’s Annual Awards Ceremony

Source: United States Attorneys General 13

Good afternoon, everyone. I want to start by thanking Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General [Bill] Baer and Deputy Attorney General [Sally Q.] Yates for joining us today and for their wise counsel and outstanding support of the Civil Rights Division. I also want to thank Attorney General [Loretta E.] Lynch – who I know wanted to be here today and sends her regards – for her unwavering support of the division’s work. And I want to thank all of you – the men and women who carry out the division’s work, day-in and day-out, with the utmost integrity. For nearly six decades – during Democratic and Republican administrations, with resilience and resolve, in times of tumult and triumph, against threats of billy clubs and bullets – the Civil Rights Division has advanced America’s highest ideals of freedom, justice and equality for all.

In 1957 – in an era with open wounds of racism and hate, against fierce opposition and after a more than 24-hour filibuster by Senator Strom Thurmond – Congress passed the first piece of civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. Focused almost exclusively on voting rights, the legislation didn’t provide the tools to address widespread discrimination in employment, housing, education and other important areas. But it did create a framework to enforce the protections that Congress would pass, that courts would defend and that America would support in the years to come. That framework was the Civil Rights Division. And over time those protections went into law – protections centered around the most fundamental of human aspirations: the notion that all people deserve to be treated fairly, with dignity and with decency. They were protections designed to advance the cause of justice.

The cause of justice is never static. It is always searching for the next barrier to dismantle, for the next right to vindicate and for the next freedom to secure. That’s what President [Lyndon B.] Johnson meant when he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and said, “those who founded our country knew that freedom would be secure only if each generation fought to renew and enlarge its meaning.” That’s what President [George H.W.] Bush meant when he signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 and declared: “Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.” And that’s what Justice [Anthony] Kennedy meant when he wrote last year in Obergefell v. Hodges that our Constitution guarantees all people “equal dignity in the eyes of the law.”

For the past eight years, this Civil Rights Division has answered that same call to make the promise of justice real for every person in every community. During a time when civil rights are at the forefront of our national public discourse, you have made extraordinary contributions. From policing and criminal justice reform, to LGBT rights and voting, you have fought discriminatory barriers and opened doors of opportunity for some of the most vulnerable among us: people with disabilities, people of color, people living in poverty and people who speak English as a second language. Your work has transformed the nation, fulfilled dreams and changed lives. And in doing this work, from Appellate to Policy, you’ve showed an amazing capacity to work across section boundaries.

You helped Hugo Ramirez – who lost his job, and then his savings and his car, because of an error with E-Verify – resolve the issue and find a new job as director of business development for a California health care provider. In his words, you “gave me my livelihood back.”

After Police Officer Lyndi Trischler suffered complications from a high-risk pregnancy and the city of Florence, Kentucky, denied her request for light duty, you brought a case, reached a critical settlement, won her thousands of dollars in relief and changed the policies and training for protecting future female employees of the city.

In a case that captured the attention of people all over the world, you brought a groundbreaking lawsuit against the state of North Carolina over H.B. 2 to vindicate the rights and defend the dignity of transgender individuals.

Your Olmstead enforcement helped Gabrielle – who dreamed of buying a home – find work as a grooming assistant at a dog day care and boutique, earning more than $9 per hour. As she said, “I feel better about my life and … I ended up buying that house.”

A consent decree you reached with Wells Fargo created a program called CityLIFT that changed Monica’s life. After she couldn’t buy a home for her family and lost her deposit, she felt like she “had lost everything.” But once she learned about CityLIFT, which provides down payment assistance grants, she used the program to fulfill her dream and buy a home. As Monica explained, “I needed for my children to know they can do anything, and for my mother to know she’s done well.”

You changed norms in our justice system by advancing language access in state courts around the country. Because of your work, a low-income LEP woman in Michigan no longer needs to struggle through her child custody hearing or use her son as the court interpreter.

You won two landmark voting rights cases in Texas and North Carolina. In Texas, Sammie Louise Bates was one of roughly half a million Texans who lacked the form of ID needed to vote. Bates – an elderly African-American woman living on a fixed income of $321 per month – lacked the $42 for a birth certificate she needed for a Texas ID. As she testified, “I had to put the $42 where it was doing the most good … because we couldn’t eat the birth certificate … and we couldn’t pay rent with the birth certificate.” Now, thanks to you, Bates can vote without paying money she doesn’t have for a card she can’t afford.

You supported and implemented an election monitoring program that mobilized the division and department to make sure we didn’t miss a beat – and based on your effort, we sent more than 500 personnel to 67 jurisdictions in 28 states during last month’s general election.

You reached a settlement agreement so that thousands of kindergarteners in Arizona will have the chance to learn English and reach their full potential.

You negotiated a consent decree with Ferguson and released our findings letter on Baltimore – two cases that shaped a national dialogue around the devastating connections among race, poverty and injustice in policing.

Your work brought transformative change to Ohio’s juvenile corrections system. One young person explained the system’s “drastic change” that helped transform her from one of the worst-behaved kids to one of the best. She went on to describe the powerful lesson of self-confidence: “When I get home I know I’m going to be able to use my new thought process because it feels so much better than doing what I used to do, being in trouble.”

From filings on bail reform and the criminalization of homelessness to a letter to state and local judges about the unlawful imposition of fines and fees, you have sought to ensure that no one is punished for their poverty.

You stood up for a black gay man in Corpus Christi, Texas, who was viciously beaten because of his race and sexual orientation. You prosecuted hate crimes targeting Muslim Americans and other vulnerable groups. You convicted a defendant for recruiting foreign students from Kazakhstan by falsely promising clerical jobs at a made-up yoga studio and then forcing them into prostitution. And you vindicated the rights of inmates and civilians abused and assaulted by officers who flouted the law.

You did extensive outreach to combat religious discrimination. And you helped advance diversity in law enforcement by identifying common barriers and promising practices to employment in the profession.

For just a few minutes, I want to talk about what your work has meant to me, and I want to emphasize that for the next several weeks, we still have work to do together. During the past two plus years, you have given me the experience of a lifetime – the privilege to advance the cause of justice, to lift up the amazing work of the outstanding career men and women in the division. It has been the most incredible two years of my life. I cannot thank you enough – for your leadership, for your friendship and for your service to our country. You have transformed the landscape of civil rights work in America irrevocably. And you have done it all with grace and resolve, with compassion and empathy, with unyielding drive and relentless focus.

You have also given me hope. This work is never easy. And I know that we – as a nation and as a people – have far more work to do. Congress didn’t create the Civil Rights Division in 1957 to solve the easy problems. Congress created this division to tackle the toughest issues, to serve as an independent and forceful agency of justice and hope. You cannot be an agent of change without a deep reservoir of hope. It’s the hope that men and women today can build a more just, more inclusive and more free future for the children of tomorrow. It’s the hope that thanks to all of you in the Civil Rights Division, people will reap the benefits of this work for generations to come – in safer streets, in desegregated schools, in fair markets and in stronger communities. It’s the hope that despite the zigs and the zags of our nation’s history, you will continue to ensure that America marches forward, imperfectly yet inexorably. Hope fuels the struggle and the struggle fills us with hope.

While we will always face new and emerging challenges to equality, civil rights work is designed to endure and build momentum. It is ironic but true that we learn the depth of our resiliency when tackling the greatest challenges. The nation needs the Civil Rights Division and all of you to continue to make equal justice and equal opportunity a reality for all who live in the country. Thank you for driving progress in our country. It has been such an incredible privilege to lead this division that I love so very much working alongside such a distinguished and exemplary team of colleagues.

MIL Security OSI –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates Delivers Remarks at Civil Rights Division Awards Ceremony

Source: United States Attorneys General 13

Thank you, Vanita [Gupta], for that kind introduction – and for your extraordinary leadership of the Civil Rights Division. I so admire your confidence and clear vision for what the Division is and should be, and you’ve made the last two years some of the most impactful in the Division’s long history.

It’s a privilege to stand with you today, and it’s a pleasure to welcome all of you to the Department of Justice – not only today’s honorees, but also the many proud friends, family members and colleagues who have joined us to celebrate this special occasion. You know better than anyone what this job entails – both the passion it inspires and the dedication it demands. Your loved ones have accepted the formidable challenge of defending – and expanding – the civil and constitutional rights of everyone who calls this nation home. Thank you for sharing them with us as they pursue that vital mission and thank you for joining us today to help honor this outstanding group of attorneys, investigators and support staff.

Today’s awardees stood out in a crowded field of accomplishment in the Division this year – a level of accomplishment that is both wildly impressive and precisely what we have come to expect from the Civil Rights Division. I am incredibly proud of what this Division has achieved, not just in 2016, but from the earliest days of the Obama Administration. In fact, since this will be my last opportunity to speak to all of you as a group, if you’ll indulge me for a few minutes, I’d like to take a step back, and take stock of some of the many ways that this Division has used its inimitable strengths and boundless talent to write a new chapter in our nation’s history. This was already a storied Division. But these last eight years have added to that story in once-unimaginable ways.

When former Attorney General [Eric] Holder and former Assistant Attorney General [Tom] Perez arrived in 2009, they came ready to rev up the engine of the Civil Rights Division – and many of you were ready to be empowered, too. It took a serious commitment to restoring this Division’s traditional role as the conscience of the Justice Department. AG Holder liked to refer to the Civil Rights Division as the “crown jewel” of the Department, but you all know that that reputation didn’t come easily. It was hard-earned and painstakingly built by many of the people sitting in this hall today.

In 2009, it was impossible to imagine just how far we’d come, just how far you would take us, in eight short years. For example, at the dawn of this Administration, only two states – Massachusetts and Connecticut – allowed same-sex couples to marry. But in the years that followed, thanks to the courage and struggle of leaders both within and far beyond these walls, we saw that number climb rapidly to 50 – and 50 is where it will stay.

Building on that success, the Civil Rights Division took a groundbreaking stance this year in support of the fundamental equality and dignity of the transgender community. That’s exactly what the Civil Rights Division was created to do. And if you ask me, in the not-too-distant future, the nation will look back on our position and wonder how this issue could ever have been so fiercely contested.

Of course, adversity often comes with the job. On voting rights, we all remember the day in 2013 when the Division and the country suffered a major setback in the protection of the most fundamental of all rights in the Shelby County case. While the Supreme Court eliminated our most powerful tool to combat discrimination in our voting laws, true to the spirit of this Division, you absorbed the blow, sharpened our remaining tools and stood ready the next day to fight even harder to combat voter suppression. And with what feels like new assaults every day to the voting rights that are at the very foundation of our democracy, the potentially disenfranchised need you now more than ever.

In recent years, as the interaction between the police and the communities they serve has revealed a festering distrust that threatens the safety of those communities and our police officers and undermines confidence in law enforcement, the nation has looked to the Civil Rights Division for leadership born of experience, and guidance born of expertise. You have taken up the charge and while there is still much to be done, you have offered a blueprint for moving forward with mutual trust and respect.

And, when it comes to our nation’s criminal justice system, this Division has done vital work to ensure that we treat all our citizens with the fairness and compassion they deserve. Whether it’s scrutinizing bail practices, making our legal views known in local courts, or giving guidance on courthouse fines and fees, you are lighting a path forward for courts and law enforcement bodies nationwide and demonstrating how critical it is that we end the criminalization of poverty once and for all.

In these and so many other ways, this Division has made a powerful difference by fighting for the core rights and freedoms of every individual – no matter where they live, who they are, or how much money they make. These are not just theoretical concepts. In every corner of our country, from schools to mosques, in housing and lending markets, from border areas to boardrooms, you have made real – and lasting – differences in the lives of the people of our country.

Recounting these past victories, I know that many of you are thinking of the future, as well. With change on the horizon, you might be uncertain about whether these accomplishments will last. But I don’t believe that these achievements are as precarious as you might assume. The progress that you have forged is now woven into the fabric of our country. The Supreme Court has held that the right to marry the person you love is protected within the timeless words of our nation’s founding document. The injustices of poverty that you’ve brought to the nation’s attention will not be soon forgotten. Transgender Americans will always remember the recognition and validation they felt when the Department of Justice stood with them. And the citizens of this country will demand that every American’s right to vote is not something merely recited in our Constitution, but rather that this cornerstone of our democracy lives and breathes in every community.

One of the promises we make to young people who come to the Department – whether as interns, paralegals, assistants, or attorneys – is that, if they’re here long enough, they’ll get their chance to touch history. It’s no secret that, in the Civil Rights Division, that chance can come around more often than elsewhere. But what distinguishes all of you is not that you had a chance to touch history – but that, when you did, you grabbed hold of it with confidence and bent it, inexorably, toward justice.

Not long ago, I was drawn to visit the Lincoln Memorial again. I stood on that step where Dr. King stood for the March on Washington and looked out over the reflecting pool. And I thought about all of you. You are civil rights leaders in our day; you are trailblazers. You open minds and change hearts through your unshakable commitment to fairness and justice, to opportunity and equality. That commitment is contagious – and your voice as the protectors of our fundamental rights is every bit as potent now and in the years to come as it has been over the years that have passed.

Come January 20^th, political appointees like Vanita and I will be private citizens. But the fact of the matter is that political appointees are just a tiny fraction of this legendary workforce. It’s you, the career men and women of the Department of Justice, who have always defined this Department – defined who we are and what we stand for. So even though I will no longer be a part of this Department, I, like millions of your fellow citizens, will be counting on you going forward – counting on you to continue to bend the arc toward justice. And I know that responsibility couldn’t be in better hands. I take heart in that. And you should take heart in yourselves.

I know that you have fought hard battles. But progress without resistance is just inevitability – simple and easy. But nothing you have achieved in these eight years was simple or easy. None of it was inevitable. It happened because you made it happen. Because you made it happen.

Thank you once again for allowing me to join you on this important occasion and for allowing me the privilege, for a moment in our nation’s history, of standing shoulder to shoulder with you. It’s an honor to count you as colleagues and friends.

At this time, I’ll turn things over to your truly fearless leader, Vanita Gupta.

MIL Security OSI –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Air Pollution Worsened COVID-19 Mortality, Especially in Vulnerable Communities

Source: US State of Connecticut

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, statistics emerged showing significant discrepancies in mortality by county.

Shinsuke Tanaka, assistant professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, wanted to use his expertise in environmental and health economics to help understand what was at the root of this puzzle.

“I wanted to understand what could explain that spatial heterogeneity of Covid’s impacts,” Tanaka says.

Tanaka published a paper in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management showing that counties with more days of downwind pollution from power plants had higher COVID-19 mortality rates. This impact was more pronounced in under-resourced communities.

When Tanaka began his research during the 2020 lockdown, there had been a few studies looking at the links between short-term (daily or monthly) exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 mortality. But very few had considered the impacts of long-term air pollution exposure.

Tanaka looked at the impacts of air pollution on counties within 20 miles of fossil-fueled power plants. He determined this was an appropriate radius based on readings from EPA air pollution monitors showing that air pollutants travelled downwind about that far before dissipating.

Then, Tanaka calculated what percentage of days in a 10-year period before the pandemic a given county in the contiguous U.S. was downwind of power plant pollution.

“That gives me a measure of long-term exposure to pollution for each county before Covid started,” Tanaka says.

Tanaka found that counties with an average downwind frequency of 13.5% had 28% more COVID-19 deaths within the first week of April 2020 compared to upwind counties the same distance from a plant.

Tanaka extended his research until the third mortality peak in January 2021. He found the cumulative mortality rate was 45% higher for communities that were more frequently downwind.

Tanaka’s findings also demonstrated that these impacts were greater in counties with higher poverty rates, lower health insurance coverage, and lower education levels.

“That indicates that disadvantaged communities and counties faced even greater burdens of pollution from these power plants during the pandemic,” Tanaka says.

Such underlying disparities mean people in these communities are more likely to have underlying health conditions and less access to health care when they get sick.

Other studies on links between air pollution and health have struggled to separate air pollution from other potentially confounding variables. By focusing on downwind patterns, an essentially random natural event, Tanaka was able to isolate air pollution as a variable.

“This method allowed me to isolate the impact of pollution exposure more effectively,” Tanaka says.

By demonstrating a method that can successfully isolate long-term air pollution exposure from confounding variables, Tanaka’s study paves the way for more research on other health outcomes.

“COVID-19 is, of course, a very specific mortality, and I expect to see more studies on the impact of long-term air pollution exposure on various other health outcomes.”

Research such as Tanaka’s demonstrates that the significant public health costs of fossil fuels will remain critical to public policy discussions.

“It will be very important to understand which power plants are having greater impacts, and what plants should be closed,” Tanaka says. “Those discussions should continue.”

This work relates to CAHNR’s Strategic Vision area focused on Enhancing Health and Well-Being Locally, Nationally, and Globally.

Follow UConn CAHNR on social media

MIL OSI USA News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: How citizen science is shaping international conservation

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Sasha Woods, Director of Science and Policy, Earthwatch Institute (Europe)

Testing the River Gade in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Earthwatch Europe, CC BY-NC-ND

Citizen science is a powerful tool for involving more people in research. By influencing policy, it is transforming conservation at global, national and local levels.

Citizen science actively encourages non-scientists to be a part of the scientific research process. Sometimes the terminology gets confusing. We say “non-scientists” but through taking part in citizen science projects, people become scientists – they’re just not professionally involved in the research.

It’s also worth noting that the “citizen” in citizen science is completely unrelated to ideas of national citizenship. Put simply, it’s science by the people for the people.

Citizen scientists can take part in every stage of the research process. Depending on the project, participants can write the research questions, choose the methods, collect the data, analyse and interpret the results, and share the research as widely as possible. By broadening people’s understanding of scientific problems and solutions, citizen science can act as a powerful catalyst for change.

It is already making an impact across lots of disciplines, including conservation, by addressing barriers to policy change such as lack of evidence and low levels of public engagement and input. While it’s not yet common for citizen science to directly influence policy, in our research we’ve seen how citizen science can shape policy at every scale: through promoting policy, monitoring progress towards policy or advocating for policy enforcement.

At a local level, citizen science can influence policy and transform conservation science. The clean air coalition of western New York is a group of citizens concerned about smells and smoke, and their connection to chronic health problems in the community. The group collected samples in 2004 to determine what was in the air and presented this data to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

In response, the DEC monitored air pollutants in four locations in the city of Tonawanda for a year between 2007 and 2008 – an investigation which formed the basis for compliance monitoring and regulatory actions. As a direct result of citizen science, the Tonawanda Coke Corporation agreed to improve its operations, monitor for leaks and upgrade pollution controls. By December 2019, levels of carcinogenic benzene had dropped 92% since the end of DEC’s sampling in 2008.

Citizen science can also run at the national level. For example, the annual Big Butterfly Count, run by the Butterfly Conservation charity, encourages people in the UK to advocate for conservation policy by counting butterflies.

Over 25 days in July and August 2024, 85,000 volunteers recorded their sightings, with alarming results. Average butterfly numbers were at their lowest in the survey’s 14-year history.

The charity and its citizen scientists called on the UK government to ban pesticides that can harm butterflies and bees. And on January 23 2025, the government confirmed that, for the first time in five years, an emergency application for the use of a neonicotinoid pesticide on sugar beet in England will not be granted.

The government highlighted that the decision was “based on robust assessments of environmental, health and economic risks and benefits” and, although not explicitly stated, it is clear that citizen scientists contributed to those assessments.

Going global

Citizen science also contributes data to international conservation policies. For example, the UN incorporates citizen science data into two of its largest environmental policy frameworks: the sustainable development goals (SDGs) – a set of targets to end poverty, protect the environment, and promote prosperity for all people – and the Kunming-Montreal agreement, which aims to halt and reverse biodiversity decline.

As part of our work at the European branch of the Earthwatch Institute research organisation, we’re involved with a global water quality monitoring project called FreshWater Watch. This project has successfully engaged communities and governments in Sierra Leone and Zambia to collect data on the proportion of rivers and lakes with good water quality within a country. Over time, this indicator can be used to measure progress towards the SDG for clean water and sanitation.

A volunteer tests water quality at Faendre Reen near Cardiff.
Earthwatch Europe, CC BY-NC-ND

Currently, only five of the 231 indicators used to measure progress for the SDGs include citizen science data. But recent research suggests such projects could contribute to up to 33% of these indicators and over half of the 365 indicators for the global biodiversity framework.

And even where citizen science data is not used in official monitoring towards policy, it can still transform conservation science by educating people and empowering them to advocate for change.

The Great UK WaterBlitz is a national example of this. WaterBlitzes are four-day campaigns in which volunteers assess the water quality of local rivers, ponds and lakes, using simple-but-reliable testing kits for nitrates and phosphates.

Nitrates and phosphates occur naturally in the environment and are essential for plant growth. But high concentrations found in sewage and agricultural runoff trigger a process called eutrophication: an overgrowth of algae which leads to increased levels of bacteria and, therefore, decreased oxygen concentrations, which harms aquatic plants and animals.

Citizen scientists used these simple testing kits to assess water quality.
Sasha Woods/Earthwatch Europe, CC BY-NC-ND

Our team has used such testing kits in river catchments for over 10 years, but recently expanded to a UK-wide campaign. In September 2024, we ran our largest event to date, with 4,500 participants investigating 2,300 locations. This created a national snapshot of freshwater health at a granular scale, which we have used to highlight pollution hotspots to the Environment Agency (EA).

Although this data is not yet used for official monitoring or the development of conservation policy, its contribution to improving water ecosystems is increasingly acknowledged. As the EA’s deputy director for monitoring, insight and innovation told the Guardian: “The Environment Agency values the contribution of England’s growing network of citizen scientists and welcomes the Great UK WaterBlitz and other initiatives that complement our own research, monitoring and assessment work.”

Despite demonstrating valuable contributions to research – particularly by providing robust datasets – citizen science still faces multiple challenges. The engagement, motivation and retention of volunteers is resource-intensive, and citizen science is not particularly well funded.

And even though citizen science methods are frequently validated by laboratory scientists, policymakers can still be hesitant to integrate this into their monitoring frameworks, due to often unfounded concerns about the data’s quality and reliability.

But citizen science is already influencing conservation. This will only increase as policymakers recognise it as a legitimate and valuable scientific approach. And because there are citizen science projects all over the world, anyone can be a part of this positive change.

Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

Sasha Woods works for Earthwatch Europe.

Stephen Parkinson works for Earthwatch Europe.

– ref. How citizen science is shaping international conservation – https://theconversation.com/how-citizen-science-is-shaping-international-conservation-247033

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Fairer funding for charities

Source: Scottish Government

More than £60 million for pilot projects focusing on essential services and eradicating child poverty.

A new Fairer Funding pilot to deliver on the Scottish Government’s top priority of eradicating child poverty will provide additional multi-year funding in the form of 45 grants to organisations across Scotland.

The funding, subject to budget approval, will support projects in areas including health, education, poverty and culture and have a total value of £61.7 million in 2025-26 and £63.2 million in 2026- 27.

Speaking on her visit today to the Gathering, the largest third sector event in the UK, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said:

“I know many charities, faced with rising costs and falling donations, need more security and stability to enable them to plan and develop. Child poverty, in particular, requires longer-term interventions to help achieve the solutions we want to see. For that, the third sector needs financial stability and certainty. That’s why I have prioritised delivering on our commitment to provide more multi-year funding where we can to support the vital work of the third sector in Scotland, as part of our fairer funding approach.

“The pilot is the first step in mainstreaming multi-year funding agreements more widely across the third sector. It will give organisations the ability to plan for the future and make the most of their resources. The pilot’s focus on grants connected to tackling child poverty and the delivery of frontline services to our communities will maximise the impact of longer term funding and support the delivery of our number one priority, eradicating child poverty.”

Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) Chief Executive Anna Fowlie said:

“The voluntary sector has a crucial role to play in delivering essential services across Scotland that people and communities rely on. Multi-year funding models are vital, providing security to voluntary organisations and, crucially, allowing them to get on and deliver for people and communities.

“We welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to piloting multi-year funding for a range of voluntary organisations across Scotland – a first step, we hope, towards rolling out Fair Funding principles to voluntary sector funding.”

Background

Organisations to receive multi-year funding for 2025/26 and 2026/27

Social Justice

Scottish Refugee Council

Scottish Empty Homes Partnership

Homeless Network Scotland

Housing Options Scotland

Poverty Alliance

CentreStage – Social Innovation Partnership

COVEY – Social Innovation Partnership

Flexibility Works – Social Innovation Partnership

Heavy Sound – Social Innovation Partnership

MsMissMrs – Social Innovation Partnership

Street Soccer – Social Innovation Partnership

WorkingRite – Social Innovation Partnership

MCR Pathways

Economy and Gaelic

Scottish Mountain Rescue

Constitution, External Affairs and Culture

Youth Music Initiative

Sistema Scotland

Health and Social Care

Cruse Scotland Bereavement Helpline

Penumbra Self-harm support pilots

BASICS Funding PHEC BASICS Scotland

The Listening Service Samaritans

Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults

Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund Management

Autism Advice Line Scottish Autism

Young Scot Carer support funding

Active Play Development Programme Inspiring Scotland

Active Play Development Programme Actify

Community Food Networks Edinburgh Community Food

Community Food Networks Lanarkshire Community Food and Health Partnership

Community Food Networks Community Food Initiative North East

Community Food Networks Glasgow Community Food Network

Drugs Policy: Core Funding Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs

Drugs Policy: Family Recovery Initiative Fund Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder FASD Hub Scotland Service

Finance and Local Government

Planning Aid Scotland

Education and Skills

Dyslexia Scotland

Children’s Advocacy for Children’s Hearings

Who Cares Scotland

Inspiring Scotland

Children in Scotland Enquire National Advice and Information Service on Additional Support for Learning

Scottish Book Trust Bookbug

Access to Childcare Fund

Scottish Association of Minority Ethnic Educators

Justice and Home Affairs

Victim Centred Approach Fund

Apex Scotland

Medics Against Violence

These pilots are in addition to the multi-year funding announced last week by Creative Scotland, which has been funded as part of a record £34 million uplift for culture in the draft 2025-26 Scottish Budget.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: AFRICA/SOUTH SUDAN – Local health authorities forced to suspend HIV & AIDS program in Yambio: thousands of lives at risk

Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

Wednesday, 5 February 2025

Yambio (Agenzia Fides) – The suspension of the HIV & AIDS program in Yambio has placed thousands of lives at risk. Healthcare workers, patients, and local authorities are now calling for urgent intervention to restore funding and ensure continued access to life-saving treatment.Following the decision to halt the activities of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for 90 days, which makes the United States the main country for providing humanitarian aid, the Western Equatoria State Ministry of Health has confirmed the suspension of the HIV & AIDS program in Yambio due to funding cuts from the United States, leaving thousands of vulnerable individuals uncertain about their future.“The program was halted following decisions from the United States. I spoke with the program director of CMMB Yambio, and they assured me that discussions are ongoing. We expect to receive further updates soon,” said Health Minister James Abdallah Arona to the local press.The Minister expressed concern about the impact of the decision, emphasizing that the program was heavily reliant on international donors, including USAID and Sweden. “If funding stops, people will suffer. I urge the national government and our partners to engage donors to ensure continued support for our vulnerable population,” said Arona.According to reports, the HIV/AIDS prevalence in Western Equatoria is 6.8%. This is higher than the prevalence in the other states of the greater Equatoria region, which are Central Equatoria (3.1%) and Eastern Equatoria (4.0%).“We were instructed to halt all ongoing services. Before closing, we informed all county health departments about the development,” said the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) clinician from CMMB Yambio, Henry Biata Nzari. “The government must act swiftly to prevent further suffering. The community is highly vulnerable, and the impact of this suspension could be devastating,” he stressed.USAID was founded in 1961 with the aim of fighting global poverty, providing humanitarian assistance to countries affected by conflict or health emergencies, and supporting the development of democratic societies by improving their potential. Since the 1980s, USAID has worked in the areas of food security, the right to education and humanitarian assistance, focusing on combating the spread of pandemic threats and diseases such as HIV and malaria, as well as supporting maternal and child health. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 5/2/2025)
Share:

MIL OSI Europe News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: LCSD to present “Multi-arts of making-do” lecture series in March

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

LCSD to present “Multi-arts of making-do” lecture series in March
LCSD to present “Multi-arts of making-do” lecture series in March
***************************************************************************

　　The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will present a lecture series, the “Multi-arts of making-do”, in March. By covering topics of art, design, performances, culture, literature and more, this series of four lectures hosted by cultural researcher Dr Ian Fong investigates how multi-arts embody the spirit of making-do that opens up flexibility and possibilities in the art creative process to give new life to artifacts and everyday objects, and enriches the meanings of aesthetics. This lecture series also presents how everyday wisdom of making-do inspires multi-arts, and every ordinary person can be an artist.　　Details of each lecture are as follows: Lecture 1: Poetry, Prose, Short Stories, and Novels——————————————————————Date: March 3 (Monday)Content: Through an intertextual reading of a selection of local and French literary works by renowned authors, links and connections of texts are portrayed across time and space, thus demonstrating the flexibility and imagination of the art of making-do, as well as the importance of creativity in reading a text, turning a reader into a writer. Lecture 2: Visual Art, Film, and Musical Performances——————————————————————Date: March 10 (Monday)Content: Drawing on visual art, film and musical performances to discuss the artistic reflection of making-do that make art more possible, this lecture thereby challenges the boundary of art and the identity of an artist. Lecture 3: Performance Art, “Wing Chun”, and “Jeet Kune Do”—————————————————————————–Date: March 24 (Monday)Content: The bodies of artists are very important to performance art. By appreciating the dexterity of artists’ body movements through works of performance art, and through the enactment of Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do, the speaker presents how the art of making-do stresses the importance of the body, and explores how bodies show the artistic possibility of making-do and its vitality. Lecture 4: Street and Home as Gallery, Museum, Cinema, Theatre, and Concert Hall——————————————————————————————————Date: March 31 (Monday)Content: Any place that gives life to an artwork could be a place for art. By citing various art pieces to appreciate the art of “poverty” and of “going with the flow”, the speaker illustrates how the wisdom of living nurtures the art of making-do, and thereby illustrates the importance of everyday streets and homes to create and exhibit multi-arts. 　　Dr Fong received his PhD degree in comparative literature at the University of Hong Kong. He is currently teaching literary and cultural studies in various tertiary institutions. His research interests lie in urban studies, film and literary studies, psychoanalysis, deconstruction, as well as Nietzsche studies.　　All lectures will be conducted in Cantonese and will start at 7.30pm at AC2, Level 4, Administration Building, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Free-seating tickets priced at $70 for each lecture and $224 for all four lectures are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone bookings, please call 3166 1288. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2268 7323 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/multi_arts/programs_1820.html.

Ends/Wednesday, February 5, 2025Issued at HKT 11:00

NNNN

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Libraries must remain the ‘beating heart’ of Scottish communities

Source: Scottish Greens

05 Feb 2025 Culture

Libraries are special places and must be protected.

More in Culture

Public libraries are the ‘beating heart’ of our communities that must be saved from closure, say the Scottish Greens as many of these vital public spaces await a decision on their fate.

The Scottish Green MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Mark Ruskell, has been active in supporting campaigns to save 7 libraries at risk of closing in Perth and Kinross.

Today he will bring this issue into the chamber for a Member’s Debate in which he seeks to gain cross-party support to save the services.

Across Scotland, many councils have sealed the fates of these vital community spaces with many more at risk. There are 13 public libraries in Aberdeenshire and 7 in Moray that are also threatened with closure.

Speaking ahead of today’s member’s debate in Holyrood, Mr Ruskell said:

“Libraries are not only for borrowing books. They are the beating heart of our communities. They are vital, life-enhancing spaces where opportunities for learning, connection and support take place.

“I am glad that we will finally be discussing the future of our libraries at my debate today. I hope other parties will join me in supporting them and all of the incredible work that they do.

“We must come together to give our full support to these crucial public spaces and ensure they remain supported and open for everyone to enjoy for years to come.”

Text of Mark Ruskell’s motion
That the Parliament notes what it sees as the vital role that local libraries play in their communities, acting as central hubs for borrowing, learning, community engagement and sourcing advice and support; believes that the closure of libraries leaves communities without these vital services, and that this is particularly damaging for rural areas where libraries can be heavily relied on; considers that library closures have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations, including children, older residents and people with limited access to digital resources; notes the reported concerns raised by communities around the proposed closure of libraries across Scotland, including the threatened closure of those in the Perth and Kinross Council area; understands that local authorities have a legal obligation to provide public library services; believes that mobile libraries are often not suitable alternatives; considers that library services require adequate public funding to remain viable and have a critical role to play in achieving the Scottish Government’s priorities, including eradicating child poverty; believes that a closed library is unlikely to reopen, permanently limiting opportunities for the communities they once served, and notes the calls on the Scottish Government to help protect the future of Scotland’s libraries.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

February 5, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: In freezing foreign aid, the US leaves people to die – and allows China to come to the rescue

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa Conley Tyler, Honorary Fellow, Asia Institute, The University of Melbourne

One of the executive orders US President Donald Trump signed the day he was inaugurated was a 90-day pause in US foreign development assistance.

The US Agency for International Development, USAID, was ordered to halt funding. Programs worldwide were issued with stop-work orders.

All of a sudden, more than US$60 billion (around A$95 billion) of programs for the world’s most vulnerable people just stopped.

So what happened? The world became less fair, and US soft power fizzled.

What’s happened so far?

We know this decision will cause deaths.

Stop-work orders were delivered to programs that provide AIDS medication to patients. If you stop this, people die.

Charities, many of which work on a shoestring, had no choice but immediately to lay off staff.

Food and vaccines already in warehouses couldn’t be distributed.

Programs providing landmine clearing and counterterrorism training ceased.

Belatedly, the US walked this back to some extent by saying life-saving humanitarian programs would be exempted.

But it doesn’t appear to have slowed the pace of layoffs, partly because of confusion.

With USAID staff now either sacked, placed on forced leave or told to stay home – and the agency’s website taken down – USAID is essentially no longer operational.

Agents from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have raided the offices of USAID and assumed control, with Musk posting on his X social network that “USAID is a criminal organization” and “it’s time for it to die”.

Some of the people affected have gone public, including Australian organisations on behalf of their partners.

But most in the sector can’t speak up if they hope for funding in the future. So the true extent of the impacts, including their knock-on effects, is likely much larger than has been publicly reported so far.

A more unequal and unstable world

With the halt in aid for the poorest, the world just became more unequal.

Before this week, the US was the world’s largest aid donor.

USAID was established by then-US president John F. Kennedy in 1961. Its programs focused on improving global health, alleviating poverty and providing emergency relief in response to natural disasters or conflict, as well as enhancing education and strengthening democratic institutions abroad.

The countries that were receiving the most USAID assistance in 2023 were Ukraine, Ethiopia, Jordan, Afghanistan and Somalia.

In the Indo-Pacific, the Lowy Institute’s aid maps show that the Pacific received US$249 million (about A$470 million) and SouthEast Asia received US$1 billion (almost A$1.6 billion) in US overseas development assistance annually in the most recent data.

This funded 2,352 projects, including peacebuilding in Papua New Guinea, malaria control in Myanmar, early childhood development in Laos, and programs to improve the education, food security and health of school-age children across the region.

All of these programs are now being reviewed to ensure they are “fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States”.

Based on the first Trump administration, there seems no chance that programs on climate, gender equality, abortion and equity inclusion will be reinstated after the 90-day assessment period. Losing funds for climate adaptation and mitigation is a huge issue for the Pacific Islands.

Assistance for survivors of gender-based violence, employment for people with disabilities and support for LGBTQIA+ youth will likely lose funding.

In communities that received significant USAID funding, the sudden cut in programs and loss of community organisations will damage the fabric of society.

An unequal world is a less stable one. Australia’s peak body for the non-government aid sector, the Australian Council for International Development, says the suspension of USAID programs “will work against efforts to build peace, safety, and economic stability for the world”.

A power that’s no longer super

Thinking of the impact on the US interests, there has been an enormous hit to US soft power from an entire pillar of US foreign policy suddenly disappearing.

This is underlined by the fact the cuts apply equally to ally, partner and adversary nations alike.

In the Pacific, the Biden Administration made a real effort to increase US presence, opening embassies and announcing USAID programs.

All of this has now been squandered by withdrawing from this space. I am aware of a project for which China has come in to provide funding where US funding has gone. It is a spectacular setback for the US.

What is most extraordinary is that this is self-inflicted damage. There were alternatives, such as continuing business as usual during a 90-day period of review, then giving notice to some programs that they would be discontinued.

The performative and haphazard way in which the policy has been implemented suggests an administration that doesn’t care much about the world outside its borders and is more concerned about ideological battles within.

Researcher Cameron Hill describes Trump as linking foreign aid “to the symbols and slogans of his domestic political coalition”. This is likely to continue beyond the demise of USAID to other agencies involved in foreign assistance, such as development finance.

Australia needs to help fill the gap

What does this mean for Australia? As a middle power, it has an opportunity to step up – and work with other development partners such as Japan, Korea, India, Indonesia, Canada and European donors in the face of a genuine emergency.

For the Australian government this might mean an emergency increase in development funding or freeing up existing funding to keep the lights on.

Australia will undoubtedly now need to step up on climate programs in the Pacific if US funding doesn’t return. Australia could seek to convene an urgent meeting through the Pacific Islands Forum to discuss.

The first fortnight of the Trump administration has had global impact well beyond US politics. On the most important issue for the majority of the world – development – the US decided to withdraw, destroying in a few days what have taken decades to build.

Melissa Conley Tyler is Executive Director at the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy & Defence Dialogue (AP4D), an initiative funded by the foreign affairs and defence portfolios and hosted by the Australian Council for International Development.

– ref. In freezing foreign aid, the US leaves people to die – and allows China to come to the rescue – https://theconversation.com/in-freezing-foreign-aid-the-us-leaves-people-to-die-and-allows-china-to-come-to-the-rescue-249024

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Asian Impact 88: Climate Change Perceptions in Asia

Source: Asia Development Bank

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. It assists its members and partners by providing loans, technical assistance, grants, and equity investments to promote social and economic development.

Headquarters

6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550, Metro Manila, Philippines

MIL OSI Economics –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on the passing of His Highness the Aga Khan IV

Source: United Nations – English

he Secretary-General expresses his profound sadness at the passing of His Highness the Aga Khan IV, a global spiritual leader, philanthropist, and advocate for peace, development, and pluralism. For decades, the Aga Khan dedicated his life to improving the quality of life for millions around the world, particularly in the most vulnerable communities, through his unwavering commitment to humanitarian work, education, and cultural preservation.

The Aga Khan’s leadership extended beyond his role as the Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. He was a bridge-builder between cultures and faiths, promoting mutual understanding and respect in an increasingly interconnected world. His efforts to address poverty, advance gender equality, and foster sustainable development have left an indelible mark on the global community.

The United Nations recognizes the Aga Khan’s invaluable contributions to the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and his partnership with the UN in addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

The Secretary-General extends his deepest condolences to the Aga Khan’s family, the Ismaili community, and all those who were touched by his vision, compassion, and leadership.

MIL OSI Africa –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Govt’s lack of a plan shows in soaring unemployment stats

Source: Green Party

The latest labour market figures confirm unemployment has risen to levels not seen since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This Government lacks a plan for creating jobs, its only plan is entrenching poverty for our poorest communities,” says the Green Party’s Social Development spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March.

“Our country has the means to build an economy that works for everyone and leaves nobody behind. We can invest in the public services and infrastructure which support our communities into meaningful jobs and livelihoods.

“The latest stats lay bare the poverty trap this Government is setting for our communities. Cutting thousands of jobs and undermining support for people doing it tough is setting our communities up to fail.

“There are not enough jobs – this is by design. We can’t use austerity to condemn people into deeper poverty due to hard times

“The Government has introduced new benefit sanctions while they push more people into unemployment, knowing full well there aren’t enough jobs for every single person on the benefit, and will never be while it’s in power.

“Where is the workforce planning desperately needed for our country, with its many challenges including the huge infrastructure deficit and meeting the needs of an ageing population? Nowhere to be seen under this coalition for the rich.

“We have a plan for a Future Workforce Agency to strategically upskill New Zealanders and coordinate industrial planning.

“The Greens would end poverty with a Guaranteed Minimum Income, more training opportunities, and restarting public investment in healthcare, schools, and building housing that creates good jobs. Our jobs for nature plan will also be a central plank for providing people with meaningful and stable work.

“The Government needs to boost benefits and abolish sanctions, so that the increasing number of unemployed New Zealanders aren’t left to languish in poverty, and aren’t punished for struggling to find work in National’s barren economy,” says Ricardo Menéndez March.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – on the passing of His Highness the Aga Khan IV

Source: United Nations secretary general

The Secretary-General expresses his profound sadness at the passing of His Highness the Aga Khan IV, a global spiritual leader, philanthropist, and advocate for peace, development, and pluralism. For decades, the Aga Khan dedicated his life to improving the quality of life for millions around the world, particularly in the most vulnerable communities, through his unwavering commitment to humanitarian work, education, and cultural preservation.

The Aga Khan’s leadership extended beyond his role as the Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. He was a bridge-builder between cultures and faiths, promoting mutual understanding and respect in an increasingly interconnected world. His efforts to address poverty, advance gender equality, and foster sustainable development have left an indelible mark on the global community.

The United Nations recognizes the Aga Khan’s invaluable contributions to the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and his partnership with the UN in addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

The Secretary-General extends his deepest condolences to the Aga Khan’s family, the Ismaili community, and all those who were touched by his vision, compassion, and leadership.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Release: Māori and Pacific people hit hardest by lack of jobs

Source: New Zealand Labour Party

The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%.

“The Government is continuing to take Māori backwards in every possible way,” Labour spokesperson for Māori Development Willie Jackson said.

“Christopher Luxon has no plan for Māori to support whanau into meaningful employment. The Prime Minister had every opportunity to front up to Māori at Waitangi to provide a positive plan for all of us to work together. Instead, he left it to David Seymour to speak and further divide our nation.

“The reality is, when National took power the Māori unemployment rate was 8.2%. They have had more than a year to deliver results, and instead we see rising unemployment, shocking health disparities, and tragic poverty rates,” Willie Jackson said.

Unemployment among Pacific People is now 10.5%, up from 6.1% when National took office. Across all groups, unemployment reached 5.1%—a four-year high.

“The Government’s failure to deliver real results for Pacific People is shameful and shows their complete lack of attention to this community,” Labour Pacific People’s spokesperson Carmel Sepuloni said.

“That is a huge increase in Pacific unemployment, 1 in 10 Pacific people in New Zealand are now unemployed. This is bordering on a crisis for our people.

“Instead of supporting our people into work, this Government chooses to slash funding for frontline services, cut public sector jobs, and has left a total of 33,000 more people out of work,” Carmel Sepuloni said.

Stay in the loop by signing up to our mailing list and following us on Facebook, Instagram, and X.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: ADB, Fiji Sign Landmark Agreement for Urban Waste Management
Source: Asia Development Bank
From left: UNDP Team Leader for Inclusive Growth Patrick Tuimalealiifano, ADB Head of Office of Markets Development and Public–Private Partnerships F. Cleo Kawawaki, Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Sivendra Michael, Permanent Secretary for Local Government Seema Sharma, and ADB Regional Director for the Pacific Subregional Office Aaron Batten.

News from Country Offices | 05 February 2025

SHARE THIS PAGE
SUVA, FIJI (5 February 2025) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a Transaction Advisory Services Agreement with Fiji’s Ministry of Local Government (MLG) to support the development of a new sanitary landfill and the rehabilitation of four open dumpsites in the Western District of Fiji. The project, envisioned as a public–private partnership (PPP), aims to address critical urban waste management challenges while ensuring environmental and public health benefits. The project will be implemented by MLG together with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.

Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Local Government Seema Sharma and the Head of ADB’s Office of Markets Development and Public–Private Partnerships Cleo Kawawaki signed the agreement in Suva in the presence of the Regional Director of ADB’s Pacific Subregional Office in Fiji, Aaron Batten, and the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Sivendra Michael.

“This project is a crucial step toward sustainable waste management in Fiji,” said Mr. Batten. “By leveraging public–private partnerships, we can bring innovative solutions to improve infrastructure, protect the environment, and support healthier communities.”

The project envisions the construction of a sanitary landfill, including engineered cells, and leachate collection. The rehabilitation of existing open dumpsites will mitigate pollution and health risks, while paving the way for sustainable urban development.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 69 members—49 from the region.

Media Contact

SHARE THIS PAGE

Countries

Subjects
MIL OSI Economics –
February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: UN Women International Women’s Day Parliamentary Breakfast

Source: Australian Government – Minister of Foreign Affairs

Thank you very much Simone.

Can I, in her absence, thank Aunty Violet for her welcome and wisdom – she’s had to go do school drop off. I told her it was much more important than listening to me.

I acknowledge also the traditional owners, the Ngunnawal people, and I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

And I offer that acknowledgement as a mark of respect for our history and an expression of hope for our future.

First Nations people were this continent’s first diplomats, first traders and they are connected to our region – it is a connection that makes our nation stronger.

Thanks UN Women for all you do. Thank you Christine, thank you Georgina for all you do here and in the world.

To my Ministerial colleagues, particularly the Minister for Women Katy Gallagher, to the Leader of the Opposition, Members and Senators, friends – it’s really great to be here.

The Prime Minister just talked about progress. He talked about the work we have done – the community has done, the Government has done – to make Australia a more equal country, as part of the “march forward” on gender equality.

But I regret to report that the situation around the world is not quite as encouraging.

More than 380 million women and girls worldwide are living in extreme poverty.

We talk a lot about economic empowerment, 2.4 billion women of working age do not have equal economic opportunities.

In countries like Iran and Afghanistan, repressive authorities deplete their nations’ souls but also their prospects, by denying the rights of women and girls.

Across the world, women are facing more sexual and gender-based violence, and less access to sexual and reproductive health services.

An estimated one in three women experiencing physical or sexual violence in their lifetime globally.

Closer to home, that figure is even more stark – two in three women experience physical or sexual violence in the Pacific.

And as we have seen a surge in conflict and humanitarian crises internationally, we see devastating effects on women and girls.

Last year alone, cases of conflict-related sexual violence surged by 50 percent – almost a third of these cases involved girls.

These terrible facts and they underline the costs of gender inequality.

We know that gender equality is as a stronger predictor of peace than a nation’s wealth or political system.

We know that peace agreements are more likely to last when women can participate in them.

And we know that gender equality reduces poverty, strengthens social cohesion, unlocks economic productivity and enhances prosperity for current and future generations.

If women participated in the economy on equal terms with men, it could add up to US$28 trillion to the international economy.

So the whole world pays the price for the lack of gender equality.

We pay that price in a world that is more dangerous, more divided, less stable, and poorer.

And so it is in this context that today I release Australia’s International Gender Equality Strategy.

The Strategy outlines how Australia is driving gender equality with action to end sexual and gender-based violence.

Action to protect and advance women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Action to increase the security of women and girls and to ensure our humanitarian responses integrate the needs of women and girls.

Action to improve women’s economic security, through social protection, financial inclusion, reform to workplace gender equality…

And action to support women’s leadership, to drive change that benefits everyone.

Now I’m sure some will try to delegitimise this strategy as being about a “special interest”.

So I want to emphasise one thing the Prime Minister said – and something I believe passionately.

Gender equality is not a “special interest”. Gender equality is a matter of national interest.

Australia is always better off if our region and world is more prosperous and more secure.

So as we advance our interests in the world, policies that contribute to the women and girls’ empowerment are not simply an appendix to the rest of our foreign policy.

This Strategy reaffirms the centrality of Australia’s commitment to gender equality.

Because gender equality benefits everyone.

And when women march forward, the whole world makes progress.

MIL OSI News –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: PREPARED REMARKS: Sanders on America’s Dangerous Movement Toward Oligarchy, Authoritarianism & Kleptocracy

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Vermont – Bernie Sanders

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today gave remarks on the floor of the Senate outlining the Trump administration’s movement toward oligarchy, authoritarianism and kleptocracy.

Sanders remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below and can be watched HERE:

M. President: Today, we find ourselves in a pivotal moment in American history and millions of Americans, by their actions or lack of action, will determine the future of this country for decades.

M. President: In my view, the Trump administration is moving this country very aggressively into an oligarchic form of society where extraordinary power rests in the hands of a small number of unelected multi-billionaires.

The Trump administration is moving this country very aggressively into an authoritarian society where the rule of law, and our constitution, are being ignored and undermined in order to give more power to the White House and the billionaires who now control our government.

In my view, the Trump administration is moving this country very rapidly toward a kleptocracy – where the function of government is not to serve the people of America, but to enrich those who are in power.

M. President: I think that today is a good day to recall what one of our great presidents said at Gettysburg in November of 1863. Looking out at a battlefield where thousands of Union soldiers had just sacrificed their lives in the defense of freedom, Lincoln famously stated:

“The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

M. President: Under President Trump we are not seeing a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Quite the contrary.

We are seeing a government of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class, for the billionaire class. And it’s not being done secretly. It’s right out there for all to see.

Several weeks ago, Donald Trump was inaugurated for his second term as President of the United States. Standing right behind him were the three richest men in the country – Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg – worth a combined $920 billion. These 3 men have more wealth than the bottom half of America – 170 million people. And I should point out, and this should tell you exactly where we are going as a nation, these 3 men have become some $232 billion richer since Trump was elected. In just two weeks under Trump their wealth has exploded by $232 billion dollars.

M. President: This is how an oligarchic system works. Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, and now a key part of the administration, spent over $277 million to get Trump elected. In other words, within a corrupt campaign finance system he helped buy the election for Donald Trump.

Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, the second and third wealthiest people in our country, both kicked a million each into Trump’s inauguration fund.

And let’s remember that Mr. Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, rescinded the endorsement of Kamala Harris of the Washington Post’s editorial board. Mr. Bezos was showing early on that he was willing to bend the knee for Donald Trump.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, agreed to settle a lawsuit with Trump for $25 million.

These three multibillionaires are working with Trump because they understand one very important reality. Trump’s policies are designed to make the very richest people in this country even richer.

Since Trump’s election, Mr. Musk has become $154 billion richer, Mr. Bezos has become $35 billion richer, and Mr. Zuckerberg has become $43 billion richer.

M. President: I am growing increasingly concerned that in our country, under the leadership of President Trump, we are moving rapidly towards authoritarianism.

And all over this country people are alarmed and shocked by what they are seeing.

Just a few examples.

Last week, Trump attempted to suspend all federal grants and loans in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution and federal law. As every 3rd grader knows, the power of the purse belongs to Congress, not the president.

Let’s be clear. The president can recommend legislation, he can veto legislation, but he does not have the power to unilaterally terminate funding and legislation passed by the U.S. Congress. That is a dangerous and blatantly unconstitutional act.

And I should add that Trump’s blocking of federal funding would have had an horrific impact on millions of Americans who utilize programs like Medicaid, Head Start, community health centers, Meals on Wheels, homeless veterans’ programs and many, many other initiatives.

Tens of millions of Americans, including some of the most vulnerable people in our country, were impacted by that decision.

But that’s not all.

A few days ago, Trump fired 17 inspectors general – independent government watchdogs that were created by Congress, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, to prevent the abuse of power by the executive branch.

Last week, President Trump fired a member of the National Labor Relations Board, and in so doing, effectively neutered the only federal agency in America with the authority to hold corporations accountable for illegal union busting and to protect the constitutional right of workers to form a union and to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

Not only is this move blatantly illegal, it is exactly what Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, and Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, have been fighting for for months. This is a huge gift to the two wealthiest people in our country who are both strongly anti-union.

The President also illegally fired members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – the only independent commission in our country that protects workers against discrimination in the workplace.

Further, and this should upset every American regardless of political view, in direct violation of the Constitution and federal law, Trump is intimidating the media with lawsuits against ABC, CBS, Meta and the Des Moines Register. His FCC is now threatening to investigate PBS and NPR. Take a deep breath my fellow Americans.

What Trump is essentially saying to every media outlet in America: If you say or do anything that is critical of me, that displeases me, you may be subject to a lawsuit or a federal investigation.

If this is not a direct attack on the First Amendment, the U.S. Constitution and Freedom of Speech, I don’t know what is.

But that’s not all.

Elon Musk and his unelected minions at DOGE have forced out officials at the Treasury Department and illegally shut down US AID – a program which, among other things, helps feed and provide medical help to starving and desperate children all over the world. Presidents, much less unelected billionaires, do not have the unilateral right to shut down federal agencies established by Congress.

When we talk about the dangerous movement towards authoritarianism let us not forget Trump’s pardoning of the January 6th insurrectionists who injured 174 police officers at the Capitol.

Even worse, Trump is undermining the FBI by investigating the agents there who helped bring these violent criminals to justice.

In other words, what Trump is saying is that violence against police officers, when done in his name is ok, but when law enforcement officers try to hold criminals accountable that is not ok.

M. President: Under Trump, we are rapidly moving towards a kleptocracy as well.

Just before Trump was inaugurated, he and his wife Melania launched their own cryptocurrency coins giving them the potential to earn tens of billions of dollars.

M. President: If Wall Street CEOs tried to bribe the President with a bag full of money that would be against the law.

But now, they don’t have to do that.

Today, if a multi-billionaire or the head of a foreign country wants to curry favor with the President, all they have to do is buy his cryptocurrency coins and, when they do that, they are directly enriching Donald Trump and the First Lady.

That is unacceptable and cannot stand.

So, M. President, the question then becomes, where do we go from here?

Instead of moving toward an economy which is designed to benefit the very richest people in our society we have got to fight hard to create a government that works for all of us, not just Mr. Musk or Mr. Bezos or Mr. Zuckerberg and other multi-billionaires.

M. President, at a time of massive wealth and income inequality we must not provide more tax breaks to billionaires paid for by huge cuts in Medicaid and other programs that working families and low-income people desperately need.

But let me tell you what we should be doing.

At a time when 85 million Americans are uninsured or under-insured we have got to do what every major country on earth does and that is to guarantee health care as a human right to every man, woman and child in this country.

At a time when 1 out of 4 Americans cannot afford the medicine that their doctors prescribe we have got to end the absurdity of Americans paying by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.

We have got to cut the cost of prescription drugs in half.

M. President: The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage. While 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck, we must raise that minimum wage to a living wage, at least $17 an hour. If you work 40 hours a week, you should not be living in poverty.

Mr. Musk and Mr. Bezos want to make it harder for workers to join unions. Well, we have got to do exactly the opposite. We must pass the PRO Act so that anti-union CEOs cannot act unconstitutionally to deny workers the right to join a union.

At a time when we need the best educated workforce in the world, we need to have the best public schools in the world. And, among other things, that means we need to substantially raise teacher salaries. If we want the best and the brightest to become educators no teacher in America should earn less than $60,000 a year.

M. President: All over this country, we have a major housing crisis. And it’s not just the 800,000 who are homeless. It is millions of working families who are spending 40, 50 or 60 percent of their limited incomes on housing. Instead of spending almost a trillion dollars a year on a wasteful and bloated Pentagon budget, we have got to build millions of units of low-income and affordable housing. And when we do that, we put large numbers of people to work at good-paying union jobs.

M. President: I hear from Trump supporters that the president won the election and he has been given this huge mandate to do whatever he wants. Well, no president has the right to move us to oligarchy, authoritarianism and kleptocracy. But more importantly, let us not forget that while Trump did win this election he actually received 4 million fewer votes in 2024 than Biden did in 2020 when Biden won the election.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Shaheen Joins New Hampshire Health Care Leaders to Discuss Her Legislation to Prevent Skyrocketing Costs for Granite Staters

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen

(Concord, NH) – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) joined Granite State health care leaders to discuss the importance of preventing health care costs from skyrocketing, including by passing her bicameral legislation, the Health Care Affordability Act, to make permanent the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits (PTCs) for Marketplace coverage. If these credits are not extended, in New Hampshire alone, 10,000 Granite Staters would be priced out of their health insurance. The enhanced PTCs have led to record enrollment in ACA coverage, including more than 68,000 in New Hampshire, and a record low uninsured rate nationwide. In addition to Shaheen, participants included New Futures President, Michele Merrit, Lamprey Health Care CEO, Greg White and National Alliance on Mental Illness New Hampshire Executive Director, Susan Stearns. You can find photos from the event here.

“For too many Americans, exorbitant costs are the biggest obstacle to purchasing health insurance leading to rationing medications and delaying appointments. Without an extension of the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits, that will only get worse,” said Senator Shaheen. “My bill to extend these lifesaving tax credits was the first I introduced this Congress because we need to act now to protect access to health care and prevent costs from rising at the end of this year.”

The Health Care Affordability Act would make permanent the ACA PTCs for Marketplace coverage as passed in the American Rescue Plan Act and extended through the Inflation Reduction Act. Those enhanced tax credits increase the value of the tax credits available to people with income between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), while expanding eligibility for premium tax credits to include individuals with income above 400 percent of FPL.

At the end of last year, Shaheen, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), U.S. Representatives Richard E. Neal (D-MA-01) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14), as well as U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, secured new data from the U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) detailing the impact on Americans’ health insurance should the ACA enhanced PTCs expire at the end of 2025. Shaheen’s legislation is cosponsored by 41 Senators.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Health – ProCare Foundation announces recipients of more than $200,000 of funding
Source: ProCare Foundation

Six Auckland organisations tackling health inequity and poverty have received a major boost, with the ProCare Charitable Foundation announcing $210,000 in grants to support initiatives that promote community health and wellbeing.

This year’s recipients are:

Auckland Women’s Centre Inc

BabyStart Charitable Trust

Dance & Arts Therapy NZ

Garden to Table Trust

Orange Sky NZ Ltd

Warriors Community Foundation.

ProCare Foundation Chair, Peter Didsbury, says: “Every dollar granted reflects our commitment to addressing health inequities and empowering organisations working on the frontlines of our communities. This funding is an investment in healthier futures for all Aucklanders.”

“It’s inspiring to see the creativity and dedication these organisations bring to tackling some of our toughest social and health challenges. Their mahi aligns perfectly with the Foundation’s mission – to support the health and well-being of disadvantaged communities by delivering health-related activities that improve a community’s wellbeing, or reduce health inequalities and alleviate poverty and deprivation in the Auckland region,” concludes Didsbury.

The Foundation was established by the shareholders of ProCare Health Limited in 2013 with Trustee and Administration services being provided by Public Trust.

Glenys Talivai, CEO of Public Trust, says: “Empowering local organisations with targeted funding creates ripple effects and positive outcomes for the larger community. Our work with the ProCare Charitable Foundation is a powerful way to uplift organisations that provide care and protection for society’s most vulnerable. We are proud to be the trustee and manage the granting programme and congratulate the six organisations receiving funding.”

Since the establishment of the ProCare Charitable Foundation, it has granted more than $2 million in funding to increase community health and wellbeing in the Greater Auckland Region.

Recipients of the ProCare Charitable Foundation funding, as selected at the end of 2024 are:

Organisation: Auckland Women’s Centre Inc

Project: Supporting no/low-cost counselling: supervision, triage, referrals, and client-counsellor matching.

The centre facilitates empowerment and wellbeing for all women in Tāmaki Makaurau via education, counselling, brief crisis support, peer support, advice and referral, community kōrero, advocacy, and safe space. In 2025, they will offer five student counsellors, up from 3.5 in 2024 and two in 2023. Their counsellors are of different ethnicities, ages and interests who meet the needs of diverse women.

Organisation: BabyStart Charitable Trust

Project: Supporting infant and maternal care packages for Auckland families.

BabyStart’s purpose is to alleviate poverty, encourage positive parenting and safe sleep practices, and encourage engagement with maternal health services through the provision of high-quality infant care packages. This funding will go towards baby boxes with baby clothing and care items for high needs whānau based on need and availability.

Organisation: Dance & Arts Therapy NZ

Project: Dance movement and arts therapy for 80+ vulnerable children

Their mission is to provide unwavering support to the mental health and disability sectors through dance movement and arts therapy. They serve individuals of all backgrounds, including those with disabilities, mental health challenges, low-income children and survivors of abuse. The funding will cover facilitation, materials, coordination, venue hire, and administration, delivering 108 sessions for at-risk children and 128 sessions for children with disabilities.

Organisation: Garden to Table Trust

Project: Supporting salary for programme coordinators – Auckland.

The Garden to Table programme is currently running in 85 schools and ECEs in Greater Auckland (excluding South Auckland). The programme is typically run as a regular session in school where tamariki learn the skills they need to grow fresh produce, harvest it, prepare and cook it. Children do everything for themselves and are encouraged to take their learning home to share with family and whānau.

Organisation: Orange Sky NZ Ltd

Project: Laundry & shower service for those experiencing homelessness and hardship.

In Auckland, they operate two vans, an internal laundry at HomeGround (Auckland City Mission), and a pod in South Auckland. Through these services, they aim to raise dignity and mana for individuals experiencing homelessness and hardship, supporting their health and wellbeing. By offering clean clothes and access to showers, they foster a sense of self-worth and community connection, addressing both immediate needs and the long-term goal of improving lives in the wider Auckland region.

Organisation: Warriors Community Foundation

Project: Supporting health-focused programmes promoting physical, mental well-being, and inclusivity.

The Tupu Maia programme is dedicated to promoting the health and wellbeing of intermediate-aged girls by advancing education on physical and mental wellness. The programme focuses on building confidence, self-esteem, and physical activity through structured lessons on nutrition, hydration, sleep, and mental resilience. By fostering a supportive environment, Tupu Maia encourages participants to develop lifelong habits that improve both their physical and mental health.

About the ProCare Foundation

The ProCare Foundation was established by the shareholders of ProCare who gifted more than 90% of their shares to the Foundation in 2013. The purpose of the Foundation is to help promote the health and wellbeing of disadvantaged communities, deliver health-related activities that improve a community’s wellbeing, or reduce health inequalities and alleviate poverty and deprivation in the Auckland region. For more information about the Foundation and previous grant recipients, click here or visit www.procare.co.nz
MIL OSI New Zealand News –
February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – High cost of living in the outermost regions – E-002822/2024(ASW)
Source: European Parliament
The Commission is aware of the high costs of living in the outermost regions. A 2024 independent study on living conditions[1] puts the spotlight on substantial challenges in access to housing (as well as energy and water) in these regions.

In line with the 2022 strategy for the outermost regions[2], and highlighted in its 2024 implementation report[3], the Commission supports these regions through policies and funds that seek to improve living conditions and alleviate poverty. For example, the cohesion policy funds support these regions with nearly EUR 10 billion between 2021 and 2027.

Cohesion policy funds play a vital role in supporting access to affordable and adequate housing, as well as for access to basic services and infrastructure. In addition, the Recovery and Resilience Facility finances energy renovation of housing, to help reduce the energy bills of the most vulnerable households and increase their comfort. For instance, France’s recovery and resilience plan funds a programme for energy renovation of social housing, and initiatives to improve energy efficiency in private housing, including in its outermost regions.

The ‘Programme of Options Specific to Remoteness and Insularity’ (POSEI) contributes to food autonomy, accessibility, and economic diversification in these regions with over EUR 4.5 billion. The European agricultural fund for rural development further supports their agri-food sector and rural development with over EUR 1 billion.

Finally, the first-ever Commissioner for housing will deliver a European Affordable Housing Plan to address structural drivers and unlock public and private investment for affordable and sustainable housing. The Commission is establishing a Task Force on Housing to this end.

[1] Study on living conditions and access to selected basic needs in the EU outermost regions, (ECORYS — February 2024): https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/information-sources/publications/studies/2024/study-on-living-conditions-and-access-to-selected-basic-needs-in-the-eu-outermost-regions_en

[2] COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Putting people first, securing sustainable and inclusive growth, unlocking the potential of the EU’s outermost regions (COM/2022/198 final): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52022DC0198

[3] Report on the implementation of the communication: Putting people first, securing sustainable and inclusive growth, unlocking the potential of the EU’s outermost regions: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/information-sources/publications/reports/2024/report-on-the-implementation-of-the-communication-putting-people-first-securing-sustainable-and-inclusive-growth-unlocking-the-potential-of-the-eu-s-outermost-regions_en
Last updated: 4 February 2025
MIL OSI Europe News –
February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Experts of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Commend the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Steps Taken to Provide Healthcare to Victims of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, Ask about Reparations for Victims and the Protect

Source: United Nations – Geneva

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today concluded its consideration of the report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on sexual violence in armed conflict in the eastern part of the country, presented under its exceptional reporting procedure.

Committee Experts commended the State for the healthcare delivered to victims of conflict-related sexual violence, while asking about reparations for victims and how women seeking firewood and other resources in nature reserves could be protected

A Committee Expert congratulated the State party for steps taken in the areas of healthcare. The Committee hailed the adoption of decree 23/9, which provided for the creation of multisectoral care for survivors of sexual-related violence. The establishment of mobile clinics in internally displaced persons camps should be commended, as well as the distribution of post-rape kits by midwives.

Another Expert said the State party should be commended for enacting the fund for conflict-related sexual violence. How did it operate and how many victims had benefitted from it? What steps were being undertaken to ensure adequate resources to implement a victim-centred transitional justice mechanism?

A Committee Expert said as Goma was under siege, the most pressing issue was water. How would the State install water distribution centres while ensuring the protection of women collecting the water? Many women trekked from Goma in search of firewood, but instead were found by gunmen and faced rape. Were there park rangers trained in violence prevention who were gender-sensitive and conscious of the epidemic of violence? The proliferation of small arms and light weapons often claimed the lives of women and girls foraging for food and firewood; how was their illegal trading being addressed?

The delegation said victims were active participants in the reparation process. A law implemented in 2022, which provided protection and reparation to victims of sexual violence, mandated a three per cent fixed amount to be sent to organizations for female victims to provide reparations. Work was done with women at the local level to ensure their full participation. More than 220,000 victims had been identified, including displaced persons.

Regarding the situation in the nature reserves in the east of the country, the delegation said this had become a ground for armed groups operating in the area. Programmes were in place to address practical needs, including safe drinking water for persons in internally displaced persons camps, to ensure there was no need to forage further afield. Steps had been taken to strengthen protection in the park areas, with regular security patrolling the areas, and keeping note of where women were located. Awareness raising campaigns were being conducted to highlight the risks women faced when collecting firewood alone. Women were provided with micro-credits to generate alternative income streams, allowing them to pay for resources such as firewood and water, rather than searching for them themselves.

Introducing the report, Chantal Chambu Mwavita, Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and head of the delegation, called for a minute of silence to be observed for the victims of the conflict. The special report being presented today on sexual violence in armed conflict in the eastern part of the country had been drafted at the request of the Committee. The Congolese Government was committed to the prevention and suppression of sexual violence in times of conflict.

Since the submission of the report, at least 945 police staff members had been deployed in areas where the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) had withdrawn to protect the civilian population. The Government had adopted a national action plan, which included measures aimed at preventing violence against women in armed conflict. The Minister said the Committee should support the creation of an international criminal tribunal for the Democratic Republic of the Congo to prosecute those responsible for sexual violence.

In closing remarks, Ms. Chambu Mwavita said it was an honour to be with the Committee to speak about the situation in the country. The Democratic Republic of the Congo needed support. The country had faced the aggression of its neighbour Rwanda for more than 30 years. The dialogue today presented an opportunity to ask for unity and for efforts to respect the United Nations Charter.

In her closing remarks, Nahla Haidar, Committee Chair, thanked the delegation for the constructive dialogue despite the difficult situation being faced in the country. The Committee expressed its solidarity with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and commended the State party for the efforts it had already taken.

The delegation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Human Rights; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of Gender; the National Assembly; the Coordination Body on Youth, Gender and Violence against Women and Trafficking in Persons; the High Military Court; the Superior Council of the Judiciary; the Secretary General for Human Rights; the Commission for Inter-Institutional Victim Assistance and Reform Support Organization; the Assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Head of State and Focal Point for Sexual Violence; Gender and Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones Specialist; the National Assembly; the Directorate of Access to Justice; the Congolese National Police; the Head of State Security; and the Permanent Mission of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s ninetieth session is being held from 3 to 21 February. All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Meeting summary releases can be found here. The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.

The Committee will next meet at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 5 February, to begin its consideration of the seventh periodic report of Nepal (CEDAW/C/NPL/7).

Report

The Committee has before it the report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo presented under the Committee’s exceptional reporting procedure (CEDAW/C/COD/EP/1).

Presentation of Report

CHANTAL CHAMBU MWAVITA, Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and head of the delegation, called for a minute of silence to be observed for the victims of the conflict. The delegation was presenting the report at a particular moment in time when the territory of North Kivu and South Kivu and Ituri was being torn apart by acts of violence, targeting the civilian population and civilian infrastructure, perpetrated by the Rwandan army and the M23 armed group. Rwanda was a party to the Convention and was directly responsible for these crimes.

Various reports from the United Nations and witness statements from survivors of sexual conflict showed that thousands of women and girls had been victims of rape, mutilation and other types of inhumane violence. These atrocities not only affected displaced persons, but were also taking place at homes, schools and in prisons. Now Goma and its surroundings had been taken by the M23 army and other parts of Kivu were being besieged. If the international community did not take urgent measures, there could be the spread of a cycle of violence against women and girls.

The special report being presented today on sexual violence in armed conflict in the eastern part of the country had been drafted at the request of the Committee. The Congolese Government was committed to the prevention and suppression of sexual violence in times of conflict. Since the submission of the report, at least 945 police staff members had been deployed in areas where the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) had withdrawn to protect the civilian population. They had been trained to protect people against sexual violence.

The Government had adopted a national action plan, which included measures aimed at preventing violence against women in armed conflict. In 2024, over 1,030 cases were reported and prosecuted by police in South Kivu. Rulings had been handed down, including under military jurisdiction, where reparations were provided for victims. The Ministry of Human Rights had pledged to conclude military amendments for transitional justice in the country.

The Government was making combatting violence against women the number one priority. National funds had been developed, providing reparation and health care to the survivors. Mobile clinics had established health care near areas controlled by the Rwandan army and the M23. The efforts to protect victims from sexual violence were being undermined by the increased attacks by the Rwandan army and M23, as they had stepped up their military efforts and attacks against civilians. Two weeks ago, a Rwandan military offensive backed by M23 had resulted in the escape of over 3,000 prisoners from Goma’s central prison, the proliferation of light arms, infrastructure damage, rapes of 163 women held in the prison who were set alight while alive, pillaging of legal buildings, attacks on women defending women victims of violence, and the bombing of the maternal hospital in Goma which led to the deaths of pregnant women and women who had just given birth.

The Minister said it was essential for the Committee to provide support without delay to women survivors of sexual violence who were in areas occupied by the Rwandan army and the M23. The Committee should strongly condemn the occupation of Congolese territory by the Rwandan army and the M23, and actively advocate for sanctions against them. The Committee should support the creation of an international criminal tribunal for the Democratic Republic of the Congo to prosecute those responsible for sexual violence. The delegation was here to support the United Nations Charter and put an end to the war in the country.

NAHLA HAIDAR, Committee Chair, said the Committee stood with the delegation and the people of the Democratic of the Congo during this difficult time.

GISÈLE KAPINGA NTUMBA, National Human Rights Commissioner and head of the delegation of the National Human Rights Commission of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, saluted the delegation, which had spared no effort to take part in the session, despite the situation in the country. The Commission welcomed the decisions taken by the Congolese Government to protect the civilian population from the risks of sexual violence and other related human rights violations committed by the parties to the ongoing conflict in the east of the country. However, it remained concerned about the implementation of the decisions taken and their deterrent nature, particularly with regard to armed groups and the Rwandan army, which were not concerned by these decisions.

One of the major challenges for the Government was the security of and humanitarian assistance for the civilian population, both in areas besieged by armed groups and in camps for displaced persons. The recent invasion and unprecedented assault on the city of Goma by the M23 rebels and the Rwandan army demonstrated the magnitude of the challenge and had led to systematic and widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, with women and children as primary targets.

At least 700 people had died in Goma since the invasion, and about 500,000 people had been displaced, the majority of whom were women and children. Sexual violence had reached its peak and health care facilities were overwhelmed. The city had not been under the control of the Congolese Government, in violation of the principle of Congolese State sovereignty, since the invasion.

Taking into account the current context, the Commission recommended that the Congolese State use all its powers to restore peace in the east by favouring diplomatic channels and the peaceful settlement of the conflict. At the International Criminal Court, it was recommended that criminal proceedings be initiated against the leaders of the M23 and the Rwandan army for the various acts constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in Goma and its surroundings. Finally, at the United Nations Security Council, the Commission recommended that targeted sanctions be taken against Rwanda and that everything be done to bring peace to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Questions by Committee Experts

BRENDA AKIA, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said the Committee members extended their heartfelt condolences to the Democratic Republic the Congo, and condemned the violence being experienced by women and girls in the country. Ms. Akia commended the Government for the commitment to being part of the dialogue, the progress made in human rights, and the measures taken to tackle sexual violence. Could the State party provide specific information on the different forms of conflict-related sexual violence currently being committed against women and girls?

An urgent political response was needed to ensure peace and security in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Given the complexity of the conflict, fuelled by the exploitation of minerals and the existence of armed groups, what strategies was the State party undertaking to push for peace in the country, and ensure the protection of women and girls under international humanitarian law? What was being done to end the illicit exploitation of these minerals? The Committee commended the State party for the actions taken so far; what were the challenges faced in implementing these legal and policy frameworks? What resources would the State party require to implement these frameworks?

A Committee Expert said the Democratic Republic of the Congo was resource-rich, which was often a curse, having fuelled the conflict and sexual violence. Several pieces of legislation had been passed with the aim of regulating the trade of minerals and armed conflict in the area. How were extraterritorial actors, including businesses, being held accountable so they did not avoid impunity?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said the illicit mining was one of the main causes of the crisis in the eastern part of the country. The Government had enacted several measures to turn this situation around, but the major challenge was that the mines were under the control of armed groups as well as foreign States that were involving themselves in the conflict. The Government was taking steps to ensure the certification of certain mining operations, but it was difficult to ensure this was a widespread approach. The Government was hindered by the conflict and its economic pressure and the difficulty of imposing Government initiatives in areas controlled by rebel groups and foreign States, due to the lack of administrative control.

The financial issues were a challenge, including for implementing transitional justice mechanisms, which was why an appeal had been made to States for support in this regard. Impunity needed to be tackled head on; the perpetrators of these crimes could not go unpunished. Steps needed to be taken to bear pressure on other States involved in the conflict, including by sheltering perpetrators. The Democratic Republic of the Congo was calling for an international criminal tribunal to ensure all involved, regardless of their location, could be apprehended. When rapes had occurred in Goma, any measures taken by the Government to deal with this were difficult to enact, as other parties were now in charge of Goma.

In the conflict areas, women were principally being used by armed groups and other combatants to serve as sexual slaves. This could result in forced pregnancies and exposure to sexually transmitted diseases. Women being held by these armed groups also did not have access to relevant and necessary health care. A coordination unit had tracked 10 forms of sexual violence, including rape, human trafficking, sexual mutilation, public sexual violence and humiliation, including women whose sons had been forced to rape them in public, public sexual violence against men and boys, gang rape, transmission of HIV/AIDS as a result of rape, and stigmatisation as a result of the sexual violence, among others.

There was also a form of sexual violence deliberately targeting children, particularly young girls. The State had also seen sexual violence used as a weapon of war, which had been ongoing since 2011, when the country was first described as “the world rape capital”.

To ensure a better management of its natural resources, the Democratic Republic of the Congo participated in multiple inter-State cooperation efforts to ensure the tracing of natural resources, including those exploited via mining. One included the Kimberly Process for the tracing of diamonds. The difficulty lay in the application of these pieces of legislation, as the majority of the areas where these resources were found were occupied by Rwanda in the eastern part of the country. For this reason, it was difficult for the State to exercise its full sovereignty and ensure the traceability of resources.

Questions by Committee Experts

A Committee Expert thanked the members of the delegation for their presence, despite the dire situation. Many women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo faced marginalisation from the peace and security processes. The weak rule of law, and the impunity for perpetrators of violence and gender-based violence, continued to undermine women’s involvement in the peace and security agenda. The Expert was happy to note that the third national action plan on women, peace and security had been adopted in 2024; when did it come into effect? How were women’s organizations and victims engaged in its implementation? What were the key objectives of the plan? What concrete plans existed to address the situation of impunity? What concrete measures were being undertaken to ensure the effective participation of women’s organizations and victims of sexual violence in policies and frameworks relating to women, peace and security?

The State party should be commended for enacting the fund for conflict-related sexual violence. How did it operate and how many victims had benefitted from it? What steps were being undertaken to ensure adequate resources to implement a victim-centred transitional justice mechanism? Given the withdrawal of the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), how would the Government’s transition plan fill this void? Was there any data on women’s direct participation in negotiation processes for peacebuilding?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said victims were active participants in the reparation process. A law implemented in 2022, which provided protection and reparation to victims of sexual violence, mandated a three per cent fixed amount to be sent to organizations for female victims to provide reparations. Work was done with women at the local level to ensure their full participation. More than 220,000 victims had been identified, including displaced persons. The situation of displaced persons had been catastrophic and required immediate assistance, with emergency measures implemented for this group, including holistic care, medical psychosocial care, and legal assistance and support; 49 per cent of people recorded came from North Kivu. The situation was constantly changing which made it difficult to respond to. Rigorous monitoring and management efforts were taken to ensure victims were at the heart of responses, with the majority of resources gathered being dispersed as reparations. Regular consultations were held with victims groups every three months.

The third national action plan on women, peace and security was approved in 2024 and included activities to improve the level of women’s participation. For the first time in the country, there was a female Prime Minister and 32 per cent of those occupying high-level positions in the Government were women. Awareness-raising campaigns were carried out to raise awareness of women’s rights, prevent sexual violence, and protect women and young girls from gender-based violence. The most recent plan had 26 million dollars earmarked, which had been provided by the Government, public and private partners and international partners, including Norway. Innovative aspects had been included within the plan, including an aspect of positive masculinity.

The withdrawal of the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo began in 2021. The withdrawal plan was supported by the Peace Consolidation Fund, to support the country when the Mission withdrew and bolster peace efforts. This approach was inclusive, involving civil society and actively promoting cohesion among women’s organizations.

Since 2018, there had been an increase in women in decision-making positions, due to an introduction of measures to promote gender equality, as well as this being enshrined within the country’s Constitution.

Questions by Committee Experts

A Committee Expert said the Democratic Republic of the Congo had ratified the Convention almost 40 years ago. During this time, how had women’s participation in the political process changed? How many people were in top positions in the country? Women and girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remained underrepresented in all spheres, including in the private sector. Out of 500 members of Parliament, only 14 per cent of them were women.

A roadmap had been adopted up to 2028 to prevent violence in politics. What steps were being taken to guarantee more women taking part in legislative bodies? What was being done to eliminate violence in electoral processes? How were women candidates being protected? Taking into consideration the extreme violence in the eastern part of the country, it seemed difficult to foresee, but when would there be net parity in the representation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said a campaign had been spearheaded for positive masculinity. There was now a female Prime Minister and women occupied key decision-making and ministerial posts within the Government, including as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This year, all party leaders were called upon to ensure 50 per cent of female candidates in their electoral lists in scheduled elections. These lists would be excused from having to pay the electoral fee, which was an incentive to guarantee more female candidates.

Steps had been taken at the electoral and appointed level to push for the stated goal of parity. However, it was another thing to ensure that the female candidates were elected as representatives or senators. The authorities had more control on appointing women to specific posts, rather than ensuring they were elected by voters. A rule had been enacted to ensure parity with Director-Generals and Deputy Director-Generals, whereby every time a man was appointed to this position, so was a woman, and vice versa. To ensure more female members of Parliament, women had to be able to persuade the local population to vote for them. Hearts and minds needed to be changed at the grassroots level, but this was happening gradually. Having more female leaders would go a long way to changing the electoral environment.

During the most recent elections, a programme was rolled out to address electoral violence in the eastern part of the country, and boost capacity for women who wanted to stand as electoral candidates. Programmes were also rolled out targeting key communities and regions at a grassroots level. Awareness-raising was being carried out in villages to address the entrenched views within the country. Women female candidates often lacked resources, so it was important to engage in capacity building so they could undertake fundraising. The process towards the drive towards parity was closely tied to the existence of legal instruments. The Democratic Republic of the Congo was making efforts to promote women’s participation at all levels.

Legal and regulatory frameworks were in place under Congolese electoral law to protect female candidates. A specialised police unit and the military were deployed to regions to ensure violence was not being inflicted on female candidates, and the police received special training in this regard. Special campaigns were carried out to raise awareness of gender-based violence in elections and encourage female candidates to report this phenomenon. The prevailing conflict hampered the opportunities to change the sociological and cultural mindsets within the country. Of the 5,000 judges in the country, around 25 per cent were now women, when previously it had been almost zero. To achieve this goal, women had been prioritised in recruitment drives. There was a lack of trust in women’s competence which needed to be addressed. The State was exhausted by the war which was standing in the way of the process.

Questions by a Committee Expert

A Committee Expert said given the link between armed conflict and the climate crisis, could reparations be expanded to include climate-change related violence against women? In March 2021, the International Criminal Court had issued its first order for reparations for victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Did the reparation fund provide funds for children born out of rape? Last year, a member of the militia was sentenced to imprisonment for life for crimes against humanity, due to forced pregnancy, which was a global first and should be congratulated. Did the Penal Code address the 10 categories of sexual violence previously mentioned? How did the Code help shift the stigma from the victim to the perpetrator? As Goma was under siege, the most pressing issue was water. How would the State install water distribution centres while ensuring the protection of women collecting the water?

Many women trekked from Goma in search of firewood, but instead were found by gunmen and faced rape. Were there park rangers trained in violence prevention, who were gender-sensitive and conscious of the epidemic of violence? The proliferation of small arms and light weapons often claimed the lives of women and girls foraging for food and firewood; how was their illegal trading being addressed? It was estimated that the country faced acute food insecurity and was at the tipping point of famine. How was a humanitarian corridor for access to food, water and medical supplies being established? Unfortunately, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, food insecurity resulted in “famine brides”, particularly women and girls with disabilities, who were denied food and medicine and sold in sexual slavery.

Responses by the Delegation

One speaker from the delegation said she had been raped during the war, and hearing the recent news was triggering many emotions. At the time she had been a child; now she was 28 and it continued to haunt her. It was vital for the reparation fund and other programmes which aimed to provide reparations to victims, to target children born in conflict, children born from rape, and children who witnessed conflict. The Child and Youth Programme granted children who came from conflict or rape administrative documents. Medical care, psychosocial assistance and social support, including access to education, was provided to children. Laws were in place to ensure that those involved in the conflict would not be able to hold decision-making positions or receive any benefits.

M23 and the Rwandan Government had destroyed the displaced persons camps around Goma, depriving these people of their legitimate rights to protection. The Government, with international partners, had made great efforts to help people establish these camps and have the bare necessities, but they were being destroyed. It had become impossible to find a single shelter for displaced people in these areas. So many efforts had been made, with little results, as the Government could not control the area. The speaker asked the international community to speak on behalf of victims, so that their voices were heard.

The State was working with the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Kingdom and others to develop a tool to identify children born from rape. This would not just help children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but also children born from rape in Sudan, Ukraine and other parts of the world. The Democratic Republic of the Congo was expecting a third wave of children born from rape, who would ask who their parents were. There needed to be measures to ensure this did not happen again. It was difficult to bring down the number of light weapons.

There was an undeniable link between sexual violence against women and economisation. Regarding the situation in the nature reserves in the east of the country, this had become a ground for armed groups operating in the area. One of the consequences of climate change was the energy crisis, meaning firewood and charcoal carbon were the energy resources sought by women and girls, who regularly fell victim to the armed groups, and were raped while seeking to meet their energy needs. There were units responsible for protecting the reserves, but the light weapons they were armed with were no match for the firepower of the armed groups, who could then wreak havoc on the nature reserves. The guards in the reserves were not equipped to protect the women searching for firewood and the Government did not have the ability to intervene as these areas were controlled by Rwanda. Many of these parks and forests were registered as national heritage sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The impact of this part of the conflict needed to be properly understood and measured.

A programme had been developed to ensure youths were not tempted by the recruitment of the armed groups, and to provide for the needs of internally displaced persons and ensure their reintegration in their host communities. The programme also targeted ex-combatants but excluded those who had taken arms against the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A woman was a member of the leadership board on this programme.

Programmes were in place to address practical needs, including safe drinking water for persons in internally displaced persons camps, to ensure there was no need to forage further afield. The war had hampered these endeavours, as many internally displaced persons were now fleeing from camps, and it was difficult to identify them. Steps had been taken to strengthen protection in the park areas, with regular security patrolling the areas, and keeping note of where women were located. The State was also seeking to address the issue of reforestation, by encouraging women to engage directly in sustainable forest management.

Awareness raising campaigns were being conducted to highlight the risks women faced when collecting firewood alone. Women were provided with micro-credits to generate alternative income streams, allowing them to pay for resources such as firewood and water, rather than searching for them themselves. A hotline was established, where women could call to report instances of rape or violence, and they were offered psychological assistance and support. Women were also taught how to have access to water and sustainably manage it, and water purification tablets were distributed to women, to ensure their water was drinkable. Work was being done with local and international partners to bolster women’s protection systems and their sustainable natural management systems.

Steps were being taken to tackle food insecurity which was prevalent in the eastern part of the country, including through establishing canteens for displaced persons. The Government placed special emphasis on tackling the trading of small arms and light weapons, but this was often disregarded by States. However, the Government sometimes had to disregard control measures themselves to ensure they were equipped to fight against the Rwandan army and M23. It was important to note that the State was not refusing dialogue with the armed groups, but they would not re-enter former rebel combatants into the armed forces. However, the State was willing to engage in dialogue with these groups, under the Nairobi agreement.

Questions by Committee Experts

An Expert said it was important that women were included in the Nairobi peace process. It was vital to document evidence and women’s narratives for women’s legal action. The Congo basin was “the lungs of Africa” and it was important that it was protected to ensure the Sustainable Development Goals. The Democratic Republic of the Congo had reintroduced the death penalty in January this year to address the wave of gang violence. It was hoped this would be reconsidered.

BRENDA AKIA, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, commended the State party for justice efforts taken to end impunity for conflict-related sexual violence, including the mobile courts which had led to the prosecution of numerous perpetrators. Given the high level of sexual violence, the number of convictions were not commensurate. Was the State party considering other jurisdiction methods to ensure perpetrators who passed through the porous borders in the regions would be prosecuted and held accountable?

The State party should emphasise in the Nairobi peace process negotiations the conflict-related sexual violence experienced by women and girls and the importance of gathering evidence for seeking justice. How was the State party investing in strengthening the rule of law to ensure access to quality and affordable justice, including access to legal aid for victims of conflict-related sexual violence? Could the State party provide data on the number of investigations, arrests, arrest warrants and successful convictions handed down against victims? Ms. Akia commended the State party for the commitment to the peace process

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said that following some complaints received by the Government, a Commission was established to look into alleged violations by members of law enforcement. In Goma, around 30 members of law enforcement had been judged. Given the recent situation of the prison break, the whereabouts of these individuals was currently unknown. The difficulty was related to the international nature of the crisis; even if domestic mechanisms would be established, there were international elements which needed to be addressed. For the Government, the reinstation of the death penalty was an administrative deterrent measure for the situation in the eastern part of the country. No executions had been carried out so far.

Justice was provided free of charge for victims of conflict-related sexual violence, practically and legislatively. Many women did not want to present their cases before courts as they feared stigmatisation, and they also faced difficulty in access to justice, which explained the discrepancy between the number of cases of sexual violence reported and the number convicted. Often times, victims could not pay for legal proceedings and did not understand how the courts operated, which presented further challenges. The State party was aiming to remove some of these barriers, including by making access to the justice system free of charge. Now, in the east of the country, this was the situation. At the same time, legal assistance could be provided to victims.

Questions by a Committee Expert

A Committee Expert expressed solidarity and deep sadness for the tragic loss of life within the State party. Could the State party provide information on what measures were being taken to ensure adequate capacity to strengthen coordination among duty-bearers responsible for preventing conflict-related sexual violence, including judges and prosecutors, among others? What incentives had been applied to increase the recruitment of judges and prosecutors so that they could handle the backlog of conflict-related sexual violence cases, particularly in rural areas? How often were duty-bearers responsible for combatting conflict-related sexual violence? How often was training conducted and what did it entail? How often was the Convention incorporated in the training?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said according to the 2024 law on the status of judges, judges learned about several topics during their training, including sexual violence. From the moment Congolese judges were appointed, they could begin to work on repressing sexual violence. Following the ratification of the Convention, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had had to adapt its legal framework.

In areas of conflict, it would be difficult to provide statistical figures, as courts and legal buildings had been destroyed, meaning it was difficult to follow-up on written cases. The National Strategy to Combat Gender-Based Violence had been rolled out initially in 2010, was revised in 2019, and was being reviewed currently to see if it needed to be tailored to the existing context. In 2019, the National Police drew up a national plan to tackle sexual violence, which contained a chapter outlining the modalities to be followed when it came to interviewing victims and witnesses.

The statue on the recruitment of judges covered lawyers who worked in the Attorney-General’s Office. Around two thirds of magistrates recruited by the Office in 2023 would be reappointed to serve as judges in district courts. There were more than nine instances of action criminalised as sexual violence, which were heard before the Peace Courts. These cases were being heard whenever possible in local district courts. This was a way used by the Government to address the backlog of cases. Female mediators were currently being trained by Member States of the Southern African Community.

Questions by Committee Experts

A Committee Expert said conflict-affected mining grounds saw high levels of sexual slavery, fuelled by money from the mineral trade. Human trafficking remained a worrying phenomenon in certain parts of the country. How did the State party ensure that complaints of trafficking were handled appropriately and that victims themselves were not penalised? How would the State party prevent trafficking of persons by members of the armed groups? Were there plans to increase the number of shelters for female victims of human trafficking?

Another Expert said the Committee encouraged the State party’s efforts in the face of the resurgence of conflict. Between January 2022 and March 2023, more than 100 schools had stopped operating due to the deteriorating security situation. The Committee understood that educational activities were extremely difficult during the ongoing situation. Was there an education policy for displaced women and girls? Was education considered part of the services provided to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence? What were the education plans for all levels of the system? Were school age pregnant girls and mothers able to attend schools and access education? The Expert was pleased to hear of the State party’s approach to positive masculinity. Young males were easy targets for recruitment into armed groups. Did gender-responsive education exist within the school and university systems, the armed forces, and State systems?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said as of last week, there were more than seven million internally displaced persons in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who were lacking aid, which presented a major crisis for the country. Since 2019, the President had set up the National Agency to tackle the issue of human trafficking. An expanded Technical Commission had been established to engage in discussions and debate. In conflict zones, women and children were increasingly vulnerable to sexual exploitation. There was an increasing number of brothels in and around Goma, and in mining areas as well. Those who worked there were victims, who had no other choice. There was a significant amount of forced labour in the mines, with a substantial number being children. There were also many child combatants in the armed groups who had been tricked into joining them.

There was significant corruption surrounding human trafficking; the Government fully understood this issue and was attempting to tackle it head on. The current political instability and the mass of displaced persons gave traffickers cover to carry out their activities. The Government was doing its utmost to combat human trafficking and was working closely with the United Nations Office in Vienna. The State had managed to stabilise the situation, but recognised there was still significant work to be done.

The Government had been able to rebuild around 20 schools which had been destroyed. The approach to education always mainstreamed a gender dimension, and took into account the specific needs of women and girls. The major issue was the sheer number of displaced persons, with more than half of them women and children. The State was doing its utmost to ensure women and girls had access to education.

Questions by Committee Experts

A Committee Expert congratulated the State party for steps taken in the area of healthcare. The Committee hailed the adoption of decree 23/9, which provided for the creation of multisectoral care for survivors of sexual-related violence. The establishment of mobile clinics in camps for internally displaced people should be commended, as well as the distribution of post-rape kits by midwives. Could more data be provided, including the number of health care facilities built, the number of victims treated, the number of kits being distributed, and the training rate of those trained?

Another Expert said in some contexts armed groups used child marriage as a weapon of war to hide human trafficking, with a very small percentage of cases brought to light. What special urgent actions was the State taking to counter this regrettable situation? What were legal institutions doing to prevent child and forced marriages? Was awareness being raised among the families to teach them about their rights? Was current legislation being enforced? How was security being provided to the victims?

NAHLA HAIDAR, Committee Chair, asked about the mass displacement of people; how were these people documented?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said the legal instruments on sexual violence, particularly the law on children, stipulated how the system was regulated. The Government did not have control over this part of the country, and it hurt that they could not answer questions about things happening on their land. The mechanisms existed, but the State could not enforce its own legal instruments because it did not have control over the territory.

Forced marriage carried a sentence of 20 years in prison for anyone responsible, including a parent or head of a tribe. There were also awareness campaigns being carried out on forced marriage and human trafficking. Institutions took cases of forced marriages very seriously. A State official would not grant a marriage license without verifying the age of those seeking marriage. A provincial action plan was in place for areas where there were high rates of early and forced marriages. The police had put together an action plan against sexual violence which considered the child. The Democratic Republic of the Congo had set up free programmes to provide education on child marriage.

The State did not have access to areas under control of the Rwandan army and armed forces. Rehabilitation had been provided to displaced persons, but there were seven million displaced persons, which meant that the Government could not look after everyone. Over 10,000 displaced persons had received medical care under a programme, but unfortunately the Government had to close this programme due to the war. There was a budget in place to assist displaced persons. Before the war, actions had been taken by the Government in land currently under Rwandese occupation.

This dialogue could be an opportunity to appeal to the international community for financial assistance to improve the State’s humanitarian response to the crisis.

Questions by a Committee Expert

A Committee Expert said due to the humanitarian crisis and high levels of poverty, high levels of food insecurity persisted, disproportionately affecting women and girls. In some cases, women were raped, mutilated, killed or burned. Data was needed for the State party to be able to take measures. Could disaggregated data be provided on the number of women and girls who were victims of conflict-related sexual violence in camps in the eastern part of the country? What actions were applied by the State party to upgrade gender-specific security measures in and around these protection sites? How did the State party sustain an emergency response for women and girls fleeing the conflict? What specific education and training had been provided for peace? How was awareness raising undertaken in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, reaffirming peace and tolerance?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said Governments bore the responsibility of protecting their citizens. They should not be persecuting their people. The country had been caught up in a crisis for the past three decades. The programmes put in place demonstrated the commitment of the Government to restore children who had been educated in the culture of killing and war. Before Goma fell, the Government had enacted measures to ensure security of the internally displaced person camps, including preventing people with no business in the camps from entering and installing security controls around the camps. Unfortunately, these efforts had proven to be in vain. An action plan had been rolled out to bolster the humanitarian response, with a key component of the strategy focused on tackling gender-based violence.

Questions by a Committee Expert

A Committee Expert asked what proportion of the extractive industry was owned and led by women? What role did women play in supply chains in key sectors? How was legislation being reformed for companies investing and trading in the extractive industry? How was the State party providing necessary oversight through the licensing of the private sector? How did public and private partnership projects explicitly promote and protect women’s rights? How were appropriate social buffers provided to cushion the impact of war on women?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said the State had begun the process of victim identification, and 54 per cent of victims identified were women. This meant these women could benefit from reparations if they arrived at the end of the process. No woman victim would be deprived of her right to reparation or remedy.

In the Congolese mining agreements and the forestry code, there was a legal mechanism in place, called the social clause. Whatever resources were being exploited, no part of the land escaped this principle. Anyone who wished to exploit resources needed to engage with the community, but the State was the sovereign owner. There were no clauses which prohibited women from working in the private sector or in the extractive industries. In the initiative on human rights, there was a voluntary principle which allowed the State to monitor and intervene in instances of mining to ensure there were no violations of human rights or cases of forced labour. Women played a full role in the private sector and there was a high rate of participation there.

Closing Remarks

CHANTAL CHAMBU MWAVITA, Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and head of the delegation, said it was an honour to be with the Committee to speak about the situation in the country. The Democratic Republic of the Congo needed support. The country had faced the aggression of its neighbour Rwanda for more than 30 years. The dialogue today presented an opportunity to ask for unity and for efforts to respect the United Nations Charter.

NAHLA HAIDAR, Committee Chair, thanked the delegation for the constructive dialogue despite the difficult situation being faced in the country. This was an exceptional report, and the Chair thanked the State party for participating in the dialogue which gave the Committee a chance to better understand the situation faced by women and girls who were victims of conflict-related sexual violence. The Committee expressed its solidarity with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and commended the State party for the efforts it had already taken.

Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the information media;
not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

CEDAW25.002E

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in Lok Sabha

Source: Government of India (2)

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in Lok Sabha

The President’s address clearly strengthens the resolve to build a Viksit Bharat: PM

We have not given false slogans to the poor, but true development, A Government that has worked for all sections of society: PM

We believe in ensuring resources are spent towards public welfare: PM

Our Government is proud of the middle class and will always support it: PM

Proud of India’s Yuva Shakti; Since 2014, we have focused on the youth of the country and emphasized on their aspirations, today our youth are succeeding in every field: PM

We are leveraging the power of AI to build an Aspirational India: PM

An unwavering commitment to strengthening the values enshrined in our Constitution: PM

Public service is all about nation building: PM

Our commitment to the Constitution motivates us to take strong and pro-people decisions: PM

Our Government has worked to create maximum opportunities for people from SC, ST and OBC Communities: PM

Our Government has shown how to strengthen unity as well as care for the poor and downtrodden: PM

Emphasis on saturation is generating outstanding results:PM

In the last decade, unprecedented support has been given to the MSME sector: PM

Posted On: 04 FEB 2025 9:13PM by PIB Delhi

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi replied to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address to Parliament in the Lok Sabha today. Addressing the House, the Prime Minister appreciated the contributions of all honorable MPs who participated in the discussions yesterday and today, noting that the tradition of democracy includes both praise where necessary and some negative remarks where needed, which is natural. Highlighting the great privilege of being given the opportunity by the people to express gratitude for the President’s address for the 14th time, he extended his respectful thanks to the citizens and acknowledged all participants in the discussion for enriching the proposal with their thoughts.

Remarking that as of 2025, a quarter of the 21st century has passed, Shri Modi noted that time will judge the achievements of the post-independence 20th century and the first 25 years of the 21st century. He emphasized that a detailed study of the President’s address reveals that it instills new confidence in the future 25 years and the vision of a developed India. The Prime Minister highlighted that the President’s address strengthens the resolve for a Viksit Bharat, creates new confidence, and inspires the general public.

The Prime Minister highlighted that in the last 10 years, 25 crore people had moved out of poverty, as revealed by many studies. He remarked that this effort was possible due to effective implementation of the schemes with devotion and utmost sensitivity by the Government towards the poor and the needy. He added that when people who are grounded and who know the ground reality, work for the people at the ground level, then change is inevitable and certain on the ground. “Our Government has not given false slogans to the poor, but true development”, said Shri Modi. He added that his was a Government that has worked for all sections of society by understanding the pain of the poor and aspirations of the middle-class with utmost passion, which was lacking in some people.

Noting that it was truly a despair to live in kachcha houses and huts during the monsoons, the Prime Minister said four crore houses were distributed to the poor till now by the Government. Highlighting the difficulties faced by women to defecate in the open, he added that the Government had built more than 12 crore toilets to alleviate the difficulties of women. Emphasising that the Government was focused on ensuring water in the taps of every house through the Har Ghar Jal scheme, the Prime Minister said that even after 75 years of Independence, around 75% or more than 16 crore houses lacked tap-water connections. He added that the Government had ensured 12 crore families tap water connection in the last 5 years and the work was progressing rapidly. Underlining the details of the work done for the poor in the President’s address, Shri Modi said while identifying a problem was not sufficient but was necessary to work with utmost devotion to ensure that a solution was found. He added that his Government, as seen in their work over the last 10 years as well as the President’s address, worked with devotion to ensure solution to the problems.

Highlighting the previous situation when out of every rupee spent, only 15 paise reaches the intended destination, the Prime Minister underscored that the Government’s model of “Bachat bhi, Vikas bhi”, meaning progress with savings, to ensure that the people’s money is used for the welfare of the people. He added that with the JanDhan-Aadhar-Mobile (JAM) Trinity, the Government started Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and deposited around ₹40 lakh Crore in the bank accounts of the people. Underlining that around 10 crore Ghost beneficiaries were benefiting from the welfare schemes of the Government, the Prime Minister said that during the last 10 years, ghost beneficiaries were eliminated to ensure social justice and the actual beneficiaries were added through various schemes. He added that this had saved around ₹3 lakh crore from reaching the wrong hands. Shri Modi highlighted that the Government had extensively utilized technology in public procurement, bringing in transparency through the GeM (Government e-Marketplace) portal, which is now also being used by state Governments. The procurement made through the GeM portal has been more cost-effective compared to traditional procurement methods, resulting in a savings of ₹1,15,000 crore for the Government.

Shri Modi highlighted that the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was initially ridiculed, with many treating it as a mistake or a sin. Despite the criticism, he proudly stated that due to these cleanliness efforts, in recent years, the Government has earned ₹2,300 crore by selling scrap from Government offices. The Prime Minister invoked Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of trusteeship, emphasizing that they are trustees of the public’s property and are committed to saving every paisa and using it properly.

Highlighting that the Government made a significant decision on ethanol blending, the Prime Minister acknowledged that India is not energy independent and relies on external sources. He said that the introduction of ethanol blending reduced the expenditure on petrol and diesel, resulting in savings of ₹1 Lakh crore. The Prime Minister emphasized that this amount has directly benefited the farmers, putting nearly ₹1 lakh crore into their pockets.

The Prime Minister remarked that while he talks about savings, newspapers used to be filled with headlines about scams worth lakhs and crores. He noted that it has been ten years since such scams have occurred, highlighting that the absence of these scams has saved the country lakhs of crores of rupees. These savings have been directed towards serving the public.

Emphasising that the various steps taken have resulted in savings of lakhs of crores of rupees, Shri Modi clarified that these funds were not used to build grand palaces but were instead invested in nation-building. He noted that the infrastructure budget was ₹1.8 lakh crore ten years ago before their tenure while today, the infrastructure budget stands at ₹11 lakh crore which the President in her address described how India’s foundation is being strengthened. The Prime Minister highlighted that strong foundations have been laid for development in areas like roads, highways, railways, and rural roads.

“Savings in the Government treasury are essential, as emphasized through the principle of trusteeship. However, it is equally important that common citizens also benefit from such savings”, said the Prime Minister. He highlighted that schemes should be designed to ensure public savings. Citing the Ayushman Bharat scheme, he mentioned that the expenses borne by citizens due to illnesses have significantly reduced. He stated that the Ayushman Bharat scheme has saved approximately ₹1.2 lakh crore for the people. Underscoring the importance of Jan Aushadhi Kendras, Shri Modi noted that for families with elderly members aged 60-70, medical expenses can be substantial and the Jan Aushadhi Kendras, providing an 80% discount on medicines, have helped families save around ₹30,000 crore on medical expenses.

Shri Modi highlighted UNICEF’s estimation that families with proper sanitation and toilets save approximately ₹70,000 annually. He emphasized the significant benefits that initiatives like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, toilet construction, and access to clean water have brought to ordinary families.

Emphasizing that the “Nal se Jal” initiative has been praised by the WHO, the Prime Minister remarked that according to the WHO report, access to clean water through the initiative has saved families an average of ₹40,000 annually on medical expenses related to other diseases. He highlighted that there are many such schemes that have helped common citizens save on their expenses.

Highlighting that the distribution of free grain to millions of citizens has resulted in significant savings for families, Shri Modi said the PM Suryagarh free electricity scheme has saved families an average of ₹25,000 to ₹30,000 annually on electricity expenses. Additionally, any excess electricity generated can be sold for income. The Prime Minister emphasized the significant savings for common citizens through various initiatives. He mentioned the LED bulb campaign, noting that before their tenure, LED bulbs were sold for ₹400 each. Due to the campaign, the price dropped to ₹40, resulting in electricity savings and increased illumination. He added that this campaign has saved citizens approximately ₹20,000 crore. The Prime Minister highlighted that farmers who have scientifically utilized the Soil Health Card have benefited significantly, with savings of ₹30,000 per acre.

Touching upon the Income tax, the Prime Minister highlighted that over the past ten years, the Government has reduced income tax rates, thereby increasing savings for the middle class. He highlighted that in 2013-14, only ₹2 lakh was exempted from income tax while today, ₹12 lakh is completely exempt from income tax. The Prime Minister noted that throughout 2014, 2017, 2019, and 2023, the Government has continuously worked on providing relief and with the addition of a standard deduction of ₹75,000, salaried individuals will not have to pay any income tax on earnings up to ₹12.75 lakh from April 1st onwards.

Criticizing the previous dispensations for being disconnected from the ground realities and engaging in lofty talks, the Prime Minister further pointed out that the leaders who spoke about the 21st century were not even able to fulfill the needs of the 20th century. He expressed his pain at realizing that the country is 40-50 years late in accomplishing tasks that should have been completed decades ago. Shri Modi added that since 2014, when the public gave the opportunity to serve, the Government has focused extensively on the youth, emphasizing their aspirations and creating numerous opportunities for them. As a result, the youth are now proudly showcasing their talents and achievements. The Prime Minister highlighted the opening of the space sector, defense sector, and the launch of the Semiconductor Mission. To promote innovation, several new schemes have been introduced, and the Startup India ecosystem has been fully developed. Additionally, he highlighted that a significant decision in the current budget is the income tax exemption on incomes up to ₹12 lakh, which has garnered much attention. Furthermore, the Prime Minister announced the opening of the nuclear energy sector, which will have long-term positive impacts and outcomes for the nation.

Emphasizing the importance of AI, 3D printing, robotics, and virtual reality, and underscoring the efforts in the gaming sector, Shri Modi encouraged the nation’s youth to make India the capital of creative gaming worldwide, noting the rapid progress in this area. The Prime Minister remarked that for him, AI stands for not just Artificial Intelligence but also Aspirational India. He highlighted the initiation of 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs in schools, where students are astonishing others with their robotics creations. The current budget includes provisions for 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs. The Prime Minister also noted that India’s AI Mission has generated global optimism, and India’s presence on the world AI platform has become significant.

Underlining that this year’s budget includes investment in the domain of Deep Tech, the Prime Minister emphasized that to progress rapidly in the 21st century, which is entirely technology-driven, it is essential for India to advance quickly in the field of deep tech. He remarked that the Government is continuously working with the future of the youth in mind. However, he criticized certain political parties for deceiving the youth with promises of allowances during elections which they fail to fulfill. He stated that these parties have become a disaster for the future of the youth.

Remarking on the recent developments in Haryana, noting that the promise of providing jobs without any cost or intermediaries was fulfilled immediately upon forming the Government, the Prime Minister highlighted this as a testament to their commitment. He celebrated Haryana’s historic third consecutive victory, marking it as a significant achievement in the state’s history. Similarly, the Prime Minister acknowledged the historic results in Maharashtra, noting the unprecedented number of seats held by the ruling party, attributing this success to the blessings of the people.

The Prime Minister referenced the President’s address, which extensively discussed the completion of 75 years of the Constitution. He emphasized that in addition to the articles of the Constitution, its spirit must be lived and we stand by it. Shri Modi remarked that it is a tradition for the President to outline the Government’s activities of the past year in their address, similar to how Governors present the activities of their respective states in their speeches. He emphasized that the true spirit of the Constitution and democracy was demonstrated when Gujarat celebrated its 50th anniversary, and he was serving as the Chief Minister. He added that during the Golden Jubilee year, he made a significant decision to compile all the speeches given by Governors in the assembly over the past 50 years into a book, which is now available in all libraries. He noted that his administration took pride in publishing these speeches. He underscored their commitment to living by, dedicating themselves to, and understanding the spirit of the Constitution.

The Prime Minister remarked that in 2014, when they came to power, there was no recognized opposition party, as none had secured the required number of seats. Many laws allowed the Government to operate independently, and several committees stipulated the inclusion of the Leader of the Opposition, but there was none. The Prime Minister highlighted that, in adherence to the spirit of the Constitution and the values of democracy, they decided to invite the leader of the largest party in the meetings, despite the absence of a recognized opposition. This demonstrated their commitment to the essence of democracy. Shri Modi remarked that in the past, Prime Ministers would handle files independently. However, his administration has included the Leader of the Opposition in these processes and even enacted laws to ensure their participation. The Prime Minister noted that when the Election Commission is formed, the Leader of the Opposition will be part of the decision-making process, demonstrating their commitment to living by the Constitution.

Highlighting that in Delhi, several places have private museums created by families, Shri Modi noted that when it comes to utilizing public funds, it is important to live by the spirit of democracy and the Constitution. He mentioned the creation of the PM Museum, which showcases the lives and work of all Prime Ministers, from the first to his predecessors. The Prime Minister expressed his desire for the families of the great leaders featured in the PM Museum to visit and suggest additions to enrich the museum further, inspiring the younger generation. He emphasized that living for oneself is common, but living for the Constitution is a higher calling that they are committed to.

“When power is used for service, it leads to nation-building, but when power becomes a legacy, it destroys people”, said the Prime Minister. He emphasized that they adhere to the spirit of the Constitution and do not engage in divisive politics. He highlighted the importance of national unity and recalled the creation of the world’s tallest statue, the Statue of Unity, dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as their commitment to living by the Constitution drives their actions.

Expressing his concern that it is unfortunate that some people are openly using the language of urban Naxals, Shri Modi highlighted that those who speak this language and challenge the Indian State can neither understand the Constitution nor the unity of the country.

Highlighting that for seven decades, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh were deprived of constitutional rights, the Prime Minister noted that this was an injustice to both the Constitution and the people of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. By revoking Article 370, the Prime Minister highlighted that the people of these regions now receive the same rights as other citizens of the country. He emphasized that they understand and live by the spirit of the Constitution, which is why they make such strong decisions.

Stressing that the Constitution does not allow for discrimination, Shri Modi criticized those who live with a biased mindset, pointing out the difficulties imposed on Muslim women. By abolishing triple talaq, the Prime Minister stated that they have given Muslim daughters their rightful equality as per the Constitution.

Emphasizing that whenever their Government has been in power, they have worked with a long-term vision, the Prime Minister expressed concern over the divisive language used by some, driven by despair and hopelessness. He noted that their focus has always been on those who are left behind, as envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi. Shri Modi highlighted the creation of separate ministries, such as for the Northeast and for tribal affairs under Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s leadership, demonstrating their commitment to inclusive development.

Highlighting that India’s southern and eastern coastal states have significant fishing communities, Shri Modi emphasized the importance of considering the well-being of these communities, including those in small inland water areas. The Prime Minister highlighted that it is their Government that created a separate ministry for fisheries to address the needs of fishermen and support their livelihoods.

Pointing out the potential within the marginalized sections of society, the Prime Minister remarked that by focusing on skill development, new opportunities can be created, leading to a new life for their aspirations. This led to the creation of a separate Ministry for Skill Development. He also highlighted that the primary duty of democracy is to provide opportunities to even the most ordinary citizens. To enhance and strengthen India’s cooperative sector, which connects crores of people, the Government has created a separate Ministry for Cooperatives. The Prime Minister noted that this demonstrates their vision.

The Prime Minister remarked that discussing caste has become fashionable for some people and for the past 30-35 years, OBC MPs from various parties have been demanding constitutional status for the OBC Commission. He added that it was their Government that granted constitutional status to the OBC Commission. He highlighted that the Backward Classes Commission is now part of the constitutional framework.

The Prime Minister remarked that they have worked steadfastly to provide maximum opportunities for SC, ST, and OBC communities in every sector. He posed important questions to the nation, asking if there has ever been a time when three MPs from the same SC family served in Parliament simultaneously, or three MPs from the same ST family at the same time. He highlighted the stark difference between the words and actions of some individuals, indicating a vast gap between their promises and reality.

The Prime Minister highlighted there is a need for the empowerment of SC and ST communities while noting the importance of maintaining unity without creating social tensions. He provided an example by noting that before 2014, there were 387 medical colleges in the country. Today, the number has increased to 780, resulting in a rise in available seats. He pointed out that before 2014, there were 7,700 MBBS seats for SC students. After ten years of work, the number has increased to 17,000, thereby significantly improving opportunities for the Dalit community to become doctors, without creating social tensions and while respecting each other’s dignity. Shri Modi highlighted that before 2014, there were 3,800 MBBS seats for ST students. Today, this number has increased to approximately 9,000. He also noted that before 2014, there were fewer than 14,000 MBBS seats for OBC students. Today, this number has risen to approximately 32,000, enabling 32,000 OBC students to become doctors. The Prime Minister highlighted that over the past ten years, a new university has been established every week, a new ITI has been opened every day, and a new college has been inaugurated every two days. He emphasized the significant increase in opportunities for SC, ST, and OBC youth.

“We are committed to ensuring 100% saturation of all schemes so that no beneficiary is left out”, exclaimed Shri Modi. He highlighted that everyone who is entitled to benefits should receive them, rejecting the outdated model where only a few are favored. The Prime Minister criticized the politics of appeasement and stated that to build a developed India, the country must move away from appeasement to a path of satisfaction. He stressed that every section of society should receive their due without any discrimination. According to him, achieving 100% saturation means true social justice, secularism, and respect for the Constitution.

Stressing that the spirit of the Constitution is to ensure better health for all, Shri Modi noted that today is Cancer Day, and health is being discussed extensively across the country and the world. He remarked that some individuals, driven by political selfishness, are obstructing the provision of healthcare services to the poor and elderly. The Prime Minister noted that 30,000 hospitals, including specialized private hospitals, are connected to the Ayushman Bharat scheme, offering free treatment to Ayushman cardholders. However, certain political parties, due to their narrow mindset and flawed policies, have closed the doors of these hospitals to the poor, affecting cancer patients. Citing a recent study by the public health journal Lancet, which stated that timely cancer treatment has begun under the Ayushman scheme, Shri Modi emphasized the Government’s seriousness in cancer screening and treatment, highlighting that early diagnosis and treatment can save cancer patients. The Lancet credited the Ayushman scheme, noting significant progress in this direction in India.

Highlighting the significant step taken in this budget to make cancer medicines more affordable, Shri Modi mentioned it was an important decision that will benefit cancer patients, especially on Cancer Day. He urged all honorable MPs to utilize this benefit for patients in their constituencies. He noted the challenges faced by patients due to the limited number of hospitals and announced the decision to establish 200 daycare centers. These centers will provide substantial relief to both patients and their families.

Touching upon the discussions on foreign policy addressed during the President’s speech, the Prime Minister noted that some individuals feel the need to speak on foreign policy to appear mature, even if it harms the country. He suggested that those truly interested in foreign policy should read the book “JFK’s Forgotten Crisis” by a renowned foreign policy scholar. The book details important events and discussions between India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and then US President John F. Kennedy during challenging times.

The Prime Minister expressed his disappointment at the disrespect shown towards the President, a woman from a poor family, following her address. He emphasized that he understands political frustration, but questioned the reasons behind such disrespect towards the President. Remarking that India is moving forward by embracing the mantra of women-led development, leaving behind regressive mindsets, Shri Modi emphasized that if women, who constitute half of the population, are given full opportunities, India can progress at twice the speed. His conviction has only strengthened after 25 years of working in this field. He highlighted that in the past ten years, 10 crore women, primarily from marginalized and rural backgrounds, have joined self-help groups (SHGs). These women’s capabilities have increased, their social status has improved, and the Government has enhanced their assistance up to ₹20 lakh to help them further their work. The Prime Minister noted that these efforts have had a highly positive impact on the rural economy.

Highlighting the discussion of the Lakhpati Didi campaign in the President’s address, the Prime Minister noted that since the formation of the new Government for the third time, over 50 lakh Lakhpati Didis have been registered. He remarked that since the inception of this initiative, approximately 1.25 crore women have become Lakhpati Didis, and the goal is to make three crore women Lakhpati Didis through economic programs. The Prime Minister noted the significant psychological shift in villages, where women operating drones, known as Namo Drone Didis, have changed the community’s perception of women. These Drone Didis are earning lakhs of rupees by working in fields. He also highlighted the role of the Mudra Yojana in empowering women, with crores of women entering the industrial sector for the first time and taking on entrepreneurial roles.

Emphasising that out of the 4 crore homes provided to families, approximately 75% have been registered in the names of women, the Prime Minister emphasized “this change is laying the foundation for a strong and empowered 21st-century India”. “The goal of a developed India cannot be achieved without strengthening the rural economy”, exclaimed the Prime Minister. He emphasized the importance of agriculture in the rural economy and noted that farmers are a strong pillar of developed India. Over the past decade, the agriculture budget has increased tenfold since 2014, marking a significant jump.

The Prime Minister remarked that before 2014, farmers faced difficulties and even police action when demanding urea. He added that they had to stand in long queues overnight, and fertilizer meant for farmers often ended up in black markets. Shri Modi said today, farmers receive ample fertilizer. He added that during the COVID-19 crisis, supply chains were disrupted, and global prices soared. Shri Modi said that despite India’s dependency on imported urea, the Government managed to bear the cost. He added that a bag of urea costing the Government ₹3,000 is provided to farmers at less than ₹300. He highlighted that their continuous efforts ensure maximum benefits for farmers.

“In the past ten years, ₹12 lakh crore has been spent to ensure affordable fertilizer for farmers and through the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, about ₹3.5 lakh crore has been directly transferred to farmers’ accounts”, said Shri Modi. He highlighted the record increase in MSP and stated that procurement has tripled over the past decade. He noted that farmer loans have been made more accessible and affordable, with a threefold increase in the amount of credit provided. Shri Modi emphasized that during natural disasters, farmers were previously left to fend for themselves, but under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana, ₹2 lakh crore has been disbursed to farmers. He highlighted the unprecedented steps taken in irrigation over the past decade, referencing Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s comprehensive and inclusive vision for water management. He mentioned that over 100 major irrigation projects, pending for decades, have been completed to ensure water reaches farmers’ fields. The Prime Minister noted that Dr. Ambedkar advocated for river linking, a vision that went unfulfilled for years. Today, projects like the Ken-Betwa Link Project and the Parvati-Kalisindh-Chambal Link Project have commenced. He also shared his successful experience in Gujarat with similar river-linking initiatives.

“Every Indian should dream of seeing Made in India food packets on dining tables around the world”, said the Prime Minister. He expressed joy that Indian tea and coffee are now gaining popularity globally, and turmeric has seen a surge in demand post-COVID period. He noted that in the coming times, Indian processed seafood and Bihar’s makhana will also make their mark worldwide. The Prime Minister highlighted that India’s millets, known as Shri Anna, will enhance India’s reputation in international markets.

Stressing the importance of Future Ready cities for a developed India, Shri Modi noted that the country is rapidly urbanizing, which should be seen as an opportunity rather than a challenge. He highlighted that the expansion of infrastructure leads to the creation of opportunities, as increased connectivity boosts possibilities. The Prime Minister mentioned the inauguration of the first Namo Rail connecting Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and expressed his experience of traveling on it. He stressed the need for such connectivity and infrastructure to reach all major cities in India, reflecting the nation’s future direction. He remarked that Delhi’s metro rail network has doubled, and now metro networks are expanding to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. The Prime Minister proudly highlighted that India’s metro network has surpassed 1,000 kilometers, with an additional 1,000 kilometers currently under development, showcasing the rapid progress. He highlighted several initiatives taken by the Indian Government to reduce pollution, including the introduction of 12,000 electric buses across the country, providing a significant service to Delhi as well.

Mentioning the expansion of the Gig Economy in major cities, with lakhs of young people joining, the Prime Minister announced the registration of gig workers on the e-Shram portal and the provision of an ID card upon verification. He also stated that gig workers would benefit from the Ayushman scheme, ensuring they have access to healthcare. He estimated that there are currently around one crore gig workers in the country and emphasized the Government’s ongoing efforts to support this sector.

The Prime Minister highlighted the significant job opportunities presented by the MSME sector, emphasizing its potential for employment. He remarked that small industries symbolize a self-reliant India and contribute immensely to the country’s economy. The Government’s policy focuses on simplicity, convenience, and support for MSMEs, with an emphasis on Mission Manufacturing to boost the manufacturing sector and create jobs for young people through skill development.

Mentioning that several initiatives have been launched to improve the MSME sector, Shri Modi said that the MSME criteria established in 2006 were updated twice in the past decade, with significant upgrades in 2020 and in this budget. He highlighted the financial support provided to MSMEs, addressing the challenge of formal financial resources, and the special support given to the MSME sector during the COVID crisis. The Prime Minister noted the focus on industries like the toy and textile sectors, ensuring cash flow and providing loans without collateral, resulting in job creation and job security. He mentioned the introduction of customized credit cards and credit guarantee coverage to ease the business operations of small industries. He proudly shared that before 2014, India imported toys, but today, Indian toy manufacturers are exporting toys worldwide, with a significant reduction in imports and a 239% increase in exports. The Prime Minister highlighted that various sectors operated by MSMEs are gaining global recognition, with Made in India products like clothing, electronics, and electrical goods becoming part of daily life in other countries.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the dream of a developed India is not just a dream of the Government but the dream of 140 crore Indians. He highlighted that India is moving forward with great confidence and urged everyone to contribute their energy towards realizing this dream. He noted that there are global examples of countries becoming developed within 20-25 years, and India, with its demographic advantage, democracy, and demand, can achieve the same by 2047, when India celebrates 100 years of independence.

The Prime Minister stressed the need to achieve greater goals and remain committed to creating a modern, capable, and developed India for many years to come. He called on all political parties, leaders, and citizens to prioritize the nation above all and work together towards the dream of a developed India. Concluding his address, the Prime Minister expressed his gratitude and thanked the President for the address and extended his appreciation to the members of the House.

[embedded content]

***

MJPS/SR

(Release ID: 2099882) Visitor Counter : 89

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI: Intesa Sanpaolo reports record Net Income of €8.7 billion in 2024, raises 2025 Guidance
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

MILAN, Feb. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Intesa Sanpaolo has posted its best-ever financial results, closing 2024 with a net income of €8.7 billion, up 12% compared to 2023. This outstanding performance enables the bank to distribute €6.1 billion in cash dividends to shareholders for 2024. Additionally, subject to shareholder approval, a new €2 billion share buyback will be launched in June.

With strong profitability and a robust capital position, Intesa Sanpaolo has raised its net income guidance for 2025 to well above €9 billion.

Strong revenue growth and cost efficiency

Intesa Sanpaolo recorded significant growth in commissions, up 9% compared to 2023, with acceleration in Q4. Insurance income reached an all-time high, increasing by 4% year-over-year.

Customer financial assets expanded by €77 billion, reaching around €1.4 trillion, supported by €5.1 billion in net inflows into Assets under Management (AuM) in Q4.

Despite heavy investments in technology, cost discipline remains a priority. The bank achieved a record-low cost/income ratio of 42.7%, one of the best in Europe.

Technology investments and digital transformation

Technology remains at the core of Intesa Sanpaolo’s strategy. The bank has invested €4.2 billion in digital transformation, hiring over 2,300 IT specialists and migrating 62% of its applications to the cloud.

Isybank, the bank’s digital-only platform, saw a surge in new customers in Q4, surpassing a total of 500,000 new sign-ups. This brought the total isybank customer base close to 900,000, reinforcing its position as a key digital player.

Commitment to Social Impact

Intesa Sanpaolo continues to lead in social impact initiatives, having deployed around €340 million in 2024 alone to combat poverty and reduce inequalities, supported by a dedicated team of 1,000 professionals.

Outlook for 2025 and beyond

The bank expects net income to be well above €9 billion in 2025, maintaining strong and sustainable profitability. Plans include returning over €6 billion in cash dividends, with additional distributions to be determined at year-end.

CEO Carlo Messina’s remarks

Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, remarked on the results:
- “We are over-delivering on our commitments as we enter the final year of our Business Plan. We just delivered our best-ever net income, at €8.7 billion. This rises to €9 billion when excluding non-recurring items and the €900 million in gross income managerial actions taken to strengthen future profitability.”
- “This excellent performance allows us to reward shareholders with €6.1 billion in cash dividends for 2024. Our strong profitability and rock-solid capital position also mean that – subject to shareholders’ approval – in June we will launch a new €2 billion share buyback.”
- “Our 2024 results are marked by our best-ever Insurance income and strong growth in commissions. Costs remained stable, asset quality was top-tier, and customer financial assets increased by €77 billion. We leveraged Q4 profitability to reinforce our buffers and sustain future results, while increasing our net income guidance for 2025 to well above €9 billion.”
- “We continue to invest in technology, with €4.2 billion already deployed, more than 2,300 IT specialists hired, and over 60% of applications already cloud-based. Isybank now has over 500,000 new clients, with a strong acceleration in Q4. This brings the total Isybank customer base to nearly 900,000, giving us significant scale.”
- “Our tech investments are also enabling a generational shift in our workforce. In three years, we will see 9,000 exits, allowing us to attract new talent and enhance efficiency. We are generating significant synergies internally, with no need for acquisitions, and avoiding related execution risks.”
- “Looking ahead, we expect net income in 2025 to be well above €9 billion—a level that is sustainable in the coming years. We will return more than €6 billion in cash dividends and evaluate additional distributions at year-end.”
- “Our well-diversified business model, centered on Wealth Management and Protection, will perform under any interest rate scenario. Strong and sustainable performance allows us to reward shareholders while maintaining a rock-solid capital base and contributing to social impact initiatives.”
Click here for more information on Intesa Sanpaolo’s financial results and strategic outlook.

Contact: international.media@intesasanpaolo.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/771c288b-145b-446b-a4ac-87dafc1baee1

The MIL Network –
February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: DRC: history is repeating itself in Lubumbashi as the world scrambles for minerals to go green

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Brandon Marc Finn, Research Scientist at the School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan

Lubumbashi is a city in the mineral-rich Katanga region in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Many people might not have heard of it, but Lubumbashi and its surrounding region have been at the centre of global geopolitics since the start of the 20th century. The area provided immense sources of copper, a metal that helped electrify the planet in the 1900s. It was also the source of all the uranium for the atom bombs used in the second world war.

The global demand for these minerals came at a great price. Lubumbashi grew as a divided city where housing and labour were spatially and racially segregated. Congolese workers were exploited, abused and taxed as urban and mining strategies were used to reshape society.

History is repeating itself. Neocolonialism now shapes the extraction of DRC resources.

Read more: DRC is the world’s largest producer of cobalt – how control by local elites can shape the global battery industry

Today, the southern DRC produces over 70% of the world’s cobalt. Cobalt is a mineral essential to decarbonisation – a strategy to reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions. Cobalt is present in batteries in electric vehicles, mobile phones, laptop computers and renewable energy storage systems.

Like copper and uranium before it, cobalt mining has been linked to widescale exploitation and child labour. Corruption and elite capture remain defining features of mining in the DRC.

We are academics who research urbanisation, mining and sustainability as well as urban planning and environmental management. Our recent paper addresses the fact that African cities like Lubumbashi are at the heart of events that have shaped the modern world, yet they are woefully neglected in global urban theory (thinking about how cities form and develop) and urban geography.

Focusing on the global north and neglecting the south leads to major data gaps and contributes to mismatched and outdated urban policy.

Rock containing cobalt. © Brandon Marc Finn

We also argue that the human rights abuses and perils of today’s cobalt mining are new forms of old colonial practices. They strip the land and people of resources without proper pay. They offer green minerals to the global north at the cost of lives in the global south.

Sustainable cities and global decarbonisation are essential if we are to reduce cities’ carbon footprints and decarbonise economies in the face of the climate crisis.

Lubumbashi’s history, therefore, can offer a fuller understanding of the human and historical costs of minerals that shape cities – and the world.

A brief history of Lubumbashi

Lubumbashi was originally called Elisabethville. It was established by colonial Belgium in 1910 precisely to extract copper for global markets. This was done through a company named Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK).

Concessionary companies made enormous profits in the Congo Free State between 1885 and 1908. The entire country stood under the private ownership of King Leopold II of Belgium. These companies were given the right to extract minerals and rubber through taxes imposed on local people.

A road being built in the Belgian Free State in 1890. PHAS/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

The Belgian Compagnie du Katanga (which later founded UMHK) had the task of establishing the physical and economic infrastructure of the region. In exchange for laying the groundwork for the extractive industries, soon to be headquartered in Elisabethville, the company was given a third of all unoccupied land in Katanga. The Belgians established a copper smelter and constructed roads. Temporary headquarters were established to supervise Elisabethville’s expansion.

One initial method of controlling the local rural people was a “hut tax” that had to be paid to live in Lubumbashi. Later, a “head tax” was introduced to raise funds for colonial management. It forced people into labour as the only means to pay off their newly acquired debt to the colonial state.

Elisabethville served as the device to assert effective occupation. It also staved off the possibility of British occupation of the territory. The Belgians planned Elisabethville by reproducing the urban forms and racial segregation of Bulawayo’s grid in Southern Rhodesia (part of today’s Zimbabwe) and Johannesburg in South Africa.

Elisabethville’s early plan. F Grevisse/Institut Royal Colonial Belge

UMHK dominated the colonial economy as demand for copper increased worldwide. UMHK also stipulated which seeds would be planted where for agriculture. It dissolved local markets and whipped labourers.

Copper was in such high demand because it is a non-corrosive material that conducts electricity well. It lined telegraph and electrical transmission cables across the globe.

Copper mining acted as a springboard from which UMHK could spread its influence. It developed railways, cities, labour camps and mining sites throughout Katanga.

Spatial segregation in Elisabethville. P Vandenbak

This allowed UMHK access to the extraction of another resource that would shape the global geopolitical landscape: uranium – extracted from the Shinkolobwe mine in Katanga.

It was the Belgian colonial presence that allowed the US to have access to uranium deposits as they sought to beat Germany in the race to build atomic weapons. All the uranium used in the two nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki came from Katanga.

This highlights the global significance of, but a neglected focus on, the impacts of mineral supply chains in the global south. Control over Lubumbashi’s minerals cannot be underplayed in this global historical event.

Katanga seceded from the Congo for three years, 11 days after the country gained independence from Belgium in 1960. The fight to gain control over Katanga’s resources led to the US and Belgian-backed assassination of the first independence leader, Patrice Lumumba. He was intent on reunifying Congo.

Mobutu Sese Seko became president of Zaire (today’s DRC) after a coup in 1965. He nationalised UMHK a year later. Mobutu served as president for almost 32 years, and his regime was characterised by autocratic corruption and economic exploitation.

Cobalt and global decarbonisation

The growth of modern technology relies, at least in part, on the extraction of cobalt in the DRC before it is shipped, mainly to China.

Cobalt is extracted as a byproduct of copper mining. Artisanal and small-scale mining and child labour remain a salient feature of cobalt extraction in the DRC. These miners receive little to no support and reflect the historical structural marginalisation created in the region.

Europeans settled in the city centre and locals in camps and informal areas. Junior Kannah/AFP/Getty Images

Lubumbashi serves as the mining headquarters of the southern DRC, and other cities, like Kolwezi, have grown rapidly in response to the surge in cobalt demand. Spatial and labour-related inequalities from the past are being replicated and expanded on in the present.

The DRC’s impoverishment continues apace as South African, Kazakh, Swiss and, with increasing influence, Chinese mining companies maintain their practice of exclusionary extraction, social displacement and political corruption.

Why this matters

Our research shows the importance of understanding the history of extraction and urban settlement in the region to shed light on new forms of old practices associated with decarbonisation. We see this as a continuing form of colonial power – as neocolonialism.

Contemporary debates around global inequalities associated with decarbonisation highlight how African populations must endure poor living conditions while the global north transitions to low-carbon technologies. We must find ways to move away from carbon-based economies that do not reproduce colonial inequalities.

Read more: Patrice Lumumba’s tooth represents plunder, resilience and reparation

Lubumbashi demonstrates the importance of African cities and resources in understanding critical global developmental and geopolitical issues.

For decarbonisation to be socially and environmentally just, it must contend with the people, places, and environments on which the future of low-carbon technology is based. Lubumbashi’s history shows how challenging this task will be.

– DRC: history is repeating itself in Lubumbashi as the world scrambles for minerals to go green
– https://theconversation.com/drc-history-is-repeating-itself-in-lubumbashi-as-the-world-scrambles-for-minerals-to-go-green-248571

MIL OSI Africa –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: DRC: history is repeating itself in Lubumbashi as the world scrambles for minerals to go green

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Brandon Marc Finn, Research Scientist at the School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan

Lubumbashi is a city in the mineral-rich Katanga region in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Many people might not have heard of it, but Lubumbashi and its surrounding region have been at the centre of global geopolitics since the start of the 20th century. The area provided immense sources of copper, a metal that helped electrify the planet in the 1900s. It was also the source of all the uranium for the atom bombs used in the second world war.

The global demand for these minerals came at a great price. Lubumbashi grew as a divided city where housing and labour were spatially and racially segregated. Congolese workers were exploited, abused and taxed as urban and mining strategies were used to reshape society.

History is repeating itself. Neocolonialism now shapes the extraction of DRC resources.

Read more:
DRC is the world’s largest producer of cobalt – how control by local elites can shape the global battery industry

Today, the southern DRC produces over 70% of the world’s cobalt. Cobalt is a mineral essential to decarbonisation – a strategy to reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions. Cobalt is present in batteries in electric vehicles, mobile phones, laptop computers and renewable energy storage systems.

Like copper and uranium before it, cobalt mining has been linked to widescale exploitation and child labour. Corruption and elite capture remain defining features of mining in the DRC.

We are academics who research urbanisation, mining and sustainability as well as urban planning and environmental management. Our recent paper addresses the fact that African cities like Lubumbashi are at the heart of events that have shaped the modern world, yet they are woefully neglected in global urban theory (thinking about how cities form and develop) and urban geography.

Focusing on the global north and neglecting the south leads to major data gaps and contributes to mismatched and outdated urban policy.

We also argue that the human rights abuses and perils of today’s cobalt mining are new forms of old colonial practices. They strip the land and people of resources without proper pay. They offer green minerals to the global north at the cost of lives in the global south.

Sustainable cities and global decarbonisation are essential if we are to reduce cities’ carbon footprints and decarbonise economies in the face of the climate crisis.

Lubumbashi’s history, therefore, can offer a fuller understanding of the human and historical costs of minerals that shape cities – and the world.

A brief history of Lubumbashi

Lubumbashi was originally called Elisabethville. It was established by colonial Belgium in 1910 precisely to extract copper for global markets. This was done through a company named Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK).

Concessionary companies made enormous profits in the Congo Free State between 1885 and 1908. The entire country stood under the private ownership of King Leopold II of Belgium. These companies were given the right to extract minerals and rubber through taxes imposed on local people.

The Belgian Compagnie du Katanga (which later founded UMHK) had the task of establishing the physical and economic infrastructure of the region. In exchange for laying the groundwork for the extractive industries, soon to be headquartered in Elisabethville, the company was given a third of all unoccupied land in Katanga. The Belgians established a copper smelter and constructed roads. Temporary headquarters were established to supervise Elisabethville’s expansion.

One initial method of controlling the local rural people was a “hut tax” that had to be paid to live in Lubumbashi. Later, a “head tax” was introduced to raise funds for colonial management. It forced people into labour as the only means to pay off their newly acquired debt to the colonial state.

Elisabethville served as the device to assert effective occupation. It also staved off the possibility of British occupation of the territory. The Belgians planned Elisabethville by reproducing the urban forms and racial segregation of Bulawayo’s grid in Southern Rhodesia (part of today’s Zimbabwe) and Johannesburg in South Africa.

UMHK dominated the colonial economy as demand for copper increased worldwide. UMHK also stipulated which seeds would be planted where for agriculture. It dissolved local markets and whipped labourers.

Copper was in such high demand because it is a non-corrosive material that conducts electricity well. It lined telegraph and electrical transmission cables across the globe.

Copper mining acted as a springboard from which UMHK could spread its influence. It developed railways, cities, labour camps and mining sites throughout Katanga.

This allowed UMHK access to the extraction of another resource that would shape the global geopolitical landscape: uranium – extracted from the Shinkolobwe mine in Katanga.

It was the Belgian colonial presence that allowed the US to have access to uranium deposits as they sought to beat Germany in the race to build atomic weapons. All the uranium used in the two nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki came from Katanga.

This highlights the global significance of, but a neglected focus on, the impacts of mineral supply chains in the global south. Control over Lubumbashi’s minerals cannot be underplayed in this global historical event.

Katanga seceded from the Congo for three years, 11 days after the country gained independence from Belgium in 1960. The fight to gain control over Katanga’s resources led to the US and Belgian-backed assassination of the first independence leader, Patrice Lumumba. He was intent on reunifying Congo.

Mobutu Sese Seko became president of Zaire (today’s DRC) after a coup in 1965. He nationalised UMHK a year later. Mobutu served as president for almost 32 years, and his regime was characterised by autocratic corruption and economic exploitation.

Cobalt and global decarbonisation

The growth of modern technology relies, at least in part, on the extraction of cobalt in the DRC before it is shipped, mainly to China.

Cobalt is extracted as a byproduct of copper mining. Artisanal and small-scale mining and child labour remain a salient feature of cobalt extraction in the DRC. These miners receive little to no support and reflect the historical structural marginalisation created in the region.

Lubumbashi serves as the mining headquarters of the southern DRC, and other cities, like Kolwezi, have grown rapidly in response to the surge in cobalt demand. Spatial and labour-related inequalities from the past are being replicated and expanded on in the present.

The DRC’s impoverishment continues apace as South African, Kazakh, Swiss and, with increasing influence, Chinese mining companies maintain their practice of exclusionary extraction, social displacement and political corruption.

Why this matters

Our research shows the importance of understanding the history of extraction and urban settlement in the region to shed light on new forms of old practices associated with decarbonisation. We see this as a continuing form of colonial power – as neocolonialism.

Contemporary debates around global inequalities associated with decarbonisation highlight how African populations must endure poor living conditions while the global north transitions to low-carbon technologies. We must find ways to move away from carbon-based economies that do not reproduce colonial inequalities.

Read more:
Patrice Lumumba’s tooth represents plunder, resilience and reparation

Lubumbashi demonstrates the importance of African cities and resources in understanding critical global developmental and geopolitical issues.

For decarbonisation to be socially and environmentally just, it must contend with the people, places, and environments on which the future of low-carbon technology is based. Lubumbashi’s history shows how challenging this task will be.

Brandon Marc Finn has received funding from the University of Michigan and Harvard University to conduct this research.

Patrick Brandful Cobbinah has received research funding from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. He is a member of the Planning Institute of Australia.

– ref. DRC: history is repeating itself in Lubumbashi as the world scrambles for minerals to go green – https://theconversation.com/drc-history-is-repeating-itself-in-lubumbashi-as-the-world-scrambles-for-minerals-to-go-green-248571

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NCDHHS Invests $3 Million to Expand Child First, Strengthening Support for Young Children and Families Across North Carolina

Source: US State of North Carolina

Headline: NCDHHS Invests $3 Million to Expand Child First, Strengthening Support for Young Children and Families Across North Carolina

NCDHHS Invests $3 Million to Expand Child First, Strengthening Support for Young Children and Families Across North Carolina
hejones1
Fri, 01/31/2025 – 10:51

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is investing $3 million to expand access to Child First, an evidence-based, early childhood intervention program proven to reduce the risk of child maltreatment and prevent young children and families from entering the foster care system. This investment, awarded to Alliance Health, Trillium Health Resources and Vaya Health, will expand Child First services to additional counties across the state, providing critical, community-based access to behavioral health care and family support services.

Child First is a nationally recognized, two-generation care model that provides home-based clinical therapy for young children (prenatal through age five) and their parents or primary caregivers while also connecting families to essential resources in their communities. The program has been proven to strengthen parent-child relationships, reduce maternal depression and build resilience for families experiencing challenges like poverty, domestic violence, substance abuse, homelessness or incarceration.

Child First is a front-end, upstream resource that can support young families before abuse or neglect occurs, preventing the need for intervention through child welfare services in the future.

“We know that the earliest years of life set the foundation for a child’s future health and well-being,” said North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai. “By expanding access to Child First, we are ensuring that more families receive the support they need to create stable, nurturing environments where young children can thrive.”

The goal of NCDHHS’ $3 million investment is to expand access to evidence-based programs in underserved communities in North Carolina to improve outcomes for children and families. Trillium Health Resources and Alliance Health have been awarded $1 million each to expand Child First into a combined 22 additional counties across the state. Vaya Health has dedicated $350,000 to expanding Child First in western North Carolina, and the remainder of their $1 million award will support other evidence-based behavioral health programs, including Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Child First is currently available in 31 North Carolina counties through providers such as Children’s Home Society, RHA Health Services, Easter Seals PORT Health and Coastal Horizons. With this expansion, more families will have access to trauma-informed, family-focused care and support in their own homes.

“Investing in early intervention and prevention services is one of the most effective ways we can support children and families, helping them build stability and resilience before a challenge becomes a crisis,” said NCDHHS Deputy Secretary for Opportunity and Well-Being Susan Osborne. “By expanding access to Child First, we are ensuring more families receive comprehensive, evidence-based support – laying the foundation for lifelong health and well-being.”

To strengthen the overall impact of the program across the state, NCDHHS is launching a Child First Learning Collaborative. The collaborative will bring together providers, the participating LME/MCOs and Child First NC partners to assess the program’s effectiveness, support successful implementation and help to inform the department’s future investments in evidence-based, community-based services.

This initiative is part of the department’s broader $835 million investment to transform behavioral health in North Carolina. Of these funds, $80 million is committed to building a child behavioral health system that improves outcomes for children and families through trauma-informed, family-centered care. The goal is to integrate a continuum of services into North Carolina’s homes, communities and schools to meet children and families where they are, ensuring access to the right services at the right time to meet their needs.

For more information, go to the Child First NC website.

El Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Carolina del Norte está invirtiendo $3 millones para ampliar el acceso a Child First, un programa de intervención en la primera infancia basado en la evidencia que ha demostrado reducir el riesgo de maltrato infantil y evitar que los niños pequeños y las familias ingresen al sistema de cuidado de crianza. Esta inversión, otorgada a Alliance Health, Trillium Health Resources y Vaya Health, ampliará los servicios de Child First a condados adicionales en todo el estado, proporcionando acceso crítico y basado en la comunidad a la atención de salud conductual y los servicios de apoyo familiar.

Child First es un modelo de atención de dos generaciones reconocido a nivel nacional que proporciona terapia clínica en el hogar para niños pequeños (prenatales hasta los cinco años) y sus padres o cuidadores principales, al tiempo que conecta a las familias con recursos esenciales en sus comunidades. Se ha demostrado que el programa fortalece las relaciones entre padres e hijos, reduce la depresión materna y desarrolla la resiliencia de las familias que experimentan desafíos como la pobreza, la violencia doméstica, el abuso de sustancias, la falta de vivienda o el encarcelamiento.

Child First es un recurso inicial y ascendente que puede apoyar a las familias jóvenes antes de que ocurra el abuso o la negligencia, evitando la necesidad de intervención a través de los servicios de bienestar infantil en el futuro.

“Sabemos que los primeros años de vida establecen los principios básicos para la salud y el bienestar futuros de un niño”, dijo el secretario de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Carolina del Norte, Dev Sangvai. “Al ampliar el acceso a Child First, nos aseguramos de que más familias reciban el apoyo que necesitan para crear entornos estables y enriquecedores donde los niños pequeños puedan prosperar”.

El objetivo de la inversión de $3 millones de NCDHHS es ampliar el acceso a programas basados en evidencia en comunidades desatendidas en Carolina del Norte para mejorar los resultados para los niños y las familias. Trillium Health Resources y Alliance Health han recibido $1 millón cada una para expandir Child First a un total combinado de 22 condados adicionales en todo el estado. Vaya Health ha dedicado $350,000 a expandir Child First en el oeste de Carolina del Norte, y el resto de su subvención de $1 millón apoyará otros programas de salud conductual basados en evidencia, incluida la terapia de interacción entre padres e hijos y la terapia cognitiva conductual centrada en el trauma.

Child First está actualmente disponible en 31 condados de Carolina del Norte a través de proveedores como Children’s Home Society, RHA Health Services, Easter Seals PORT Health y Coastal Horizons. Con esta expansión, más familias tendrán acceso a atención y apoyo informados sobre el trauma centrados en la familia y en sus propios hogares.

“Invertir en servicios tempranos de intervención y prevención es una de las formas más efectivas en que podemos apoyar a los niños y las familias, ayudándoles a desarrollar estabilidad y resiliencia antes de que un desafío se convierta en una crisis”, dijo Susan Osborne, Secretaria Adjunta de Oportunidades y Bienestar de NCDHHS. “Al ampliar el acceso a Child First, nos aseguramos de que más familias reciban un apoyo integral y basado en la evidencia, sentando las bases para la salud y el bienestar de por vida”.

Para fortalecer el impacto general del programa en todo el estado, NCDHHS está lanzando una Colaboración de Aprendizaje Infantil Primero (Child First Learning Collaborative). La colaboración reunirá a los proveedores, las entidades locales de administración/organizaciones de asistencia administrada (LME/MCO, por sus siglas en inglés) participantes y los socios de Child First NC para evaluar la efectividad del programa, apoyar la implementación exitosa, y ayudar a informar las inversiones futuras del departamento en servicios comunitarios basados en evidencia.

Esta iniciativa es parte de la inversión más amplia del departamento de $835 millones para transformar la salud del comportamiento en Carolina del Norte. De estos fondos, $80 millones se comprometen a construir un sistema de salud conductual infantil que mejore los resultados para los niños y las familias a través de una atención centrada en la familia e informada sobre el trauma. El objetivo es integrar una gama continua de servicios en los hogares, comunidades y escuelas de Carolina del Norte para satisfacer a los niños y las familias donde se encuentran, asegurando el acceso a los servicios adecuados en el momento adecuado para satisfacer sus necesidades.

Para obtener más información sobre Child First NC, visite childfirst.org.

Feb 4, 2025

MIL OSI USA News –

February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Secretary of State: “One year on from restoration – the challenge ahead”
Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

Transcript of the Secretary of State’s keynote address at Ulster University on 4 February 2025
I am delighted to be speaking here today, in these wonderful surroundings. My thanks to Ulster University; indeed The Times’ UK University of the Year 2024, no less.

This institution does so much fantastic work and is truly “a force for good in fostering peace, prosperity and cohesion”, as the judges of that illustrious award so eloquently described you. And it has been a privilege for me to meet some of your remarkable students this morning.

This week, of course, we are marking the one year anniversary of the return of devolved government in Northern Ireland.

But before I come to that, I just want to say this about Storm Eowyn.

At its peak, over 280,000 properties were without electricity including acute hospitals and other essential services. But since the winds abated, there has been an extraordinary effort to deal with the damage, to clear fallen trees and to get electricity supplies up and running again.

And I know that lots of people have worked really hard over long hours to restore services and I’m glad to say that NIE Networks is now very nearly there with the last electricity reconnections, and it has been a long time for some people to wait.

It’s been a team effort which shows the strength of the United Kingdom in offering practical support. When trouble strikes, we come to the aid of each other.

The restoration of power-sharing a year ago was a significant moment. It followed yet another unacceptably long time without a functioning government.

When I was first appointed as shadow Secretary of State in September 2023, I said to Chris Heaton-Harris that my priority was to see the Executive restored.

I want to pay tribute to Chris for the pivotal role he played in bringing back the institutions, to the leadership of the DUP for deciding to go back into powersharing, and to them and the leadership of Sinn Fein, the Alliance Party and the UUP for the great start tht the Executive has made. We all hope that its restoration is for good – the good of the people of Northern Ireland.

By its very nature, power-sharing is difficult – very difficult – but just over a quarter of a century ago we saw extraordinary political leadership make it possible.

Courage and compromise triumphed over bitter stalemate, as political leaders agreed the principles of power-sharing that endure to this day.

I have great faith in Northern Ireland’s system of government. Indeed, there were long periods of relative Executive stability prior to 2017 in which we saw the devolution of policing and justice, and the establishment of the PSNI – which today enjoys significant cross-community support. Who could have imagined that 26 years ago? It’s a tribute to the work that Naomi Long and her predecessors have done in the role of Justice Minister.

There was also significant economic growth, helped by Northern Ireland’s success in attracting inward investment. All examples of what can be achieved by sharing power.

The people of Northern Ireland need and deserve an Executive that works for them all the time, along of course with an Opposition that holds the Executive to account, an important role being undertaken by Matthew O’Toole and the SDLP. And it is vital that all of us do all we can to ensure that the stability of devolved government endures.

We have to put the days of collapse behind us and move forward.

Now I say that not because I am worried about a return to instability. On the contrary, I have been so impressed by the leadership shown by Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly as First and deputy First Minister.

The Executive has worked constructively together to negotiate an Interim Fiscal Framework, publish a Fiscal Sustainability Plan, bring forward a strategy to end violence against women and girls and a childcare and early learning plan, and agree a draft Programme for Government.

It’s been a successful start, and I believe the conditions are now in place for the Executive to grasp the opportunities that beckon for Northern Ireland.

The largest budget settlement since devolution with a funding formula that now reflects Northern Ireland’s level of need.

Certainty, after the uncertainty that immediately followed the EU referendum in 2016, about Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market.

Advantageous trading arrangements through the Windsor Framework, which can help draw in foreign direct investment.

And finally – after too many years in which Northern Ireland was too often treated by the previous government as an afterthought – this Executive has a partner in this UK Government that is committed to working together to generate investment and economic growth and to help improve the delivery of public services.

We all understand the scale of the challenge and the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland, where poverty, paramilitarism and the past are entwined. And where the pain and trauma wrought by the terrible violence that shook this place continue – for many – to be deeply felt.

And all our thoughts this week, and in the weeks to come, are with those family members taking part in the commemorative hearings in the Inquiry into the Omagh Bombing – a monstrous and despicable act of terrorist violence.

We now must all play our part in building a more inclusive society which is at peace with itself as it looks to the future.

And this is the moment for Northern Ireland’s devolved government to address the concerns that citizens have about their lives and their wish to see public services improve.

My first six months or so in office as Secretary of State has reminded me about what Mo Mowlam once said:

“People working together can overcome many obstacles, often within themselves, and by doing so can make the world a better place.”

We are all aware of the acute challenges which we are grappling with right across the United Kingdom.

Today I want to talk about three of these.

First, reform and delivery of public services.

Second, how to ensure the smooth flow of goods across the UK, while seeking to deepen our trade ties with Europe.

And third, the need for sustained and sustainable economic growth, which is essential if we are to see raised living standards, and more money in people’s pockets on which subject, today the UK Government has announced a 6.7% increase in the National Living Wage from 1 April, which will benefit millions of people across the UK, including in Northern Ireland.

The challenge for public services is particularly acute in Northern Ireland, and nowhere is this more urgent or obvious than in health.

The facts are frankly shocking.

Waiting time performance against cancer care targets continues to deteriorate, corridor care is becoming more frequent and it is striking how many people in Northern Ireland are now going private.

More than a quarter of people in Northern Ireland are on a waiting list. That is more than double the figure in England.

53% of people waiting for a first appointment with a consultant are waiting for more than a year in Northern Ireland.

In England, that figure is 4%. That’s right, 53% compared to just 4%.

That’s why the First Minister recently described the state of the health service as “dire and diabolical”.

I agree. And this is despite UK Treasury data showing that spending per head on health is nearly £300 a year higher in Northern Ireland than it is in England.

It is absolutely not that health and social care staff are somehow not doing all they can. On the contrary, they are working really, really hard to treat patients, but they are doing so in a system that clearly isn’t working.

And why isn’t it working? Because – over many years – the decisions necessary for systemic and not piecemeal reform to the health and social care system in Northern Ireland simply haven’t been taken.

Now the Health Minister Mike Nesbitt is developing a long term plan to stabilise, reconfigure and reform the health service. This is really encouraging and I sincerely wish him well.

And the challenge now for the Executive is to take the difficult collective decisions that are required to enable this change to succeed.

Doing so is now unavoidable.

The task of transforming public services won’t be without cost. I get that. And I know that talk of transformation of public services inevitably leads to the issue of funding.

So, allow me to say this.

The Autumn Budget provided £18.2 billion for the Executive in 2025/2026 – the largest settlement in real terms in the history of devolution.

This includes a £1.5 billion increase through the Barnett formula, with £1.2 billion for day-to-day spending and £270 million for capital investment.

The independent Northern Ireland Fiscal Council has calculated that the relative need in Northern Ireland is 24% more per head than in England for equivalent spending. This rightly reflects the greater needs that there are in Northern Ireland.

That is why, as part of the restoration agreement last year, a structural change was made to funding by adding a 24% needs-based factor to the Barnett formula, so as to ensure the Executive gets the level of funding it needs, now and in the future.

This financial year and next financial year, funding for Northern Ireland will actually exceed this level.

I frequently hear it said, however, that more funding is required from the UK Government and that that is the reason why public services are in such a state. But given the needs-based formula that is now in place, and given the increase in funding that the government has given, a lack of funding is not the impediment to public service transformation.

The real impediment has been the failure to reform the system. The many missed opportunities to take decisions, or to apply lessons, from other parts of the UK where reform has happened.

Of course, this has at times been down to there being no Executive in place to take those decisions, which is why it’s essential that the institutions do their job every day of the year.

At other times, there has simply been a lack of agreement among Executive Ministers on the steps that need to be taken, or on the allocation of resources, or on the revenue that needs to be raised.

I believe strongly in devolution in Northern Ireland – where decisions are made as close to the people they affect as possible, by the representatives the people have chosen.

It is only right that the Executive makes decisions about its own spending and revenue raising priorities.

However, it must take responsibility for balancing its budget and living within its means. Just as all other governments must.

Now, the Executive has nine priorities set out in its draft Programme for Government, and the work of this UK Government is guided by our five Missions and our Plan for Change. These objectives are in many ways complementary, and I firmly believe the two need to work together.

Since Fleur Anderson and I took office, we’ve been clear that we want to help ensure that the Executive has the support it needs.

We want the UK Government to be an active partner and to encourage greater collaboration and sharing of expertise, so helping Northern Ireland to make progress for itself.

And it is in this spirit that the Public Sector Transformation Board was conceived of, as part of the restoration deal, to bring together experts from across different sectors, and to enable the sharing of best practice from across the UK to support change.

We have also made available £235m of funding for projects proposed by the Executive departments to transform the delivery of public services.

I look forward to seeing the first tranche of this funding being allocated soon, followed, I hope, by the Executive -and I want to say that Caoimhe Archibald has done a great job as Finance Minister – bringing forward plans in the Budget for how the Executive will deploy its resources to deliver the wider transformation that is so urgently required in the health service.

Let me now turn to the second matter I want to address.

This UK Government will always uphold – in good faith – the Good Friday Agreement and the principle of consent on which it rests. And for as long as the people of Northern Ireland wish it to be so, Northern Ireland’s place in the Union is secure.

The task now for us as politicians is to ensure that the Union continues to improve the lives of all communities, regardless of their constitutional ambition.

Now, of course, I couldn’t come here today and speak about the restoration of the Northern Ireland institutions without recognising the issues that led to them not functioning in the first place, and the arrangements that enabled them to get back up and running.

The concerns that people in Northern Ireland – particularly but not exclusively those from a Unionist background – had about the old Northern Ireland protocol were genuine. I shared many of them. It proved to be unworkable and damaging, and I supported the Windsor Framework that replaced it.

The Framework brought significant improvements in the arrangements in Northern Ireland, thanks to the pragmatic approach the EU took in the negotiations.

It recognised that goods staying within the UK’s internal market should not be subject to the full panoply of EU rules and checks.

It ensured that medicines continue to be available on a UK-wide basis, and it enshrined an important new democratic safeguard in the form of the Stormont Brake.

The Brake has received quite a bit of attention of late. There are some who have said that because the outcome recently was not as they wished, it doesn’t have any value.

That isn’t true.

The main criterion for use of the Brake – namely, that the proposed new EU rule would have a significant and lasting impact on communities in Northern Ireland – and that is quite a high bar – is clearly set out in law. The fact that this bar was not met on this occasion, does not have any bearing on whether it might be met on any future occasion. Why? Because each case must be considered on its merits. That’s the responsibility on me in law.

But the Brake notification by MLAs – which reflected genuine concerns – did lead to a clear commitment by the UK Government to take the steps necessary to avoid new regulatory barriers in respect of chemicals. Which was the issue that had given rise to the application.

I think this was a positive outcome, and precisely what the Brake was designed to do.

More generally, I am not going to rehash old debates about Brexit. My views during the referendum and subsequently are fairly well known.

But I hope that the experience of what has happened since the referendum taught us all something important. And that is that we should beware those offering simplistic soundbites rather than grappling with difficult and complex questions, like the one which lies at the heart of this debate. How do you deal with trade between two countries with different rules but an open border between them?

Serious leadership and the questions it has to deal with – such as that provided by those sitting around the Executive table, or operating in constructive opposition in the Assembly, or by the UK Government – requires serious answers.

And when it became clear that the Windsor Framework was not the final word, through painstaking months, the Democratic Unionist Party worked through the remaining issues to secure some important new commitments in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper.

They engaged in the detail and achieved changes for their constituents when it might have been politically safer or easier to demand the impossible from the sidelines.

Some others did take that latter path – I would say with absolutely no benefit to anyone that they represented.

So, I commend the role that the leader of the DUP, Gavin Robinson, and the now deputy First Minister, played in that process – and for the courage and commitment to Northern Ireland that they demonstrated in leading their party back into the Executive.

And for my part, let me say that I am committed to continuing to work in good faith to implement the basis on which devolution was restored.

We have clearly made good progress:

an Independent Monitoring Panel is in place to report on how it’s going on meeting the new Internal Market Guarantee

every public authority implementing the Windsor Framework must now look to statutory guidance on the importance of Northern Ireland’s place in the Union in discharging their duties

every Government department must set out the impact of major regulatory changes on the functioning of the UK’s internal market, including Northern Ireland.

an Independent Review has been established recognising that the democratic vote to continue the Framework’s application was not supported by Unionist MLAs

we have new working groups on Veterinary Medicines and horticulture up and running – acknowledging that there is still important work to be done

we will shortly establish Intertrade UK.

But most important of all, goods are flowing back and forth between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

This is a process, it is not a destination.

And my commitment, as we continue to take forward Safeguarding the Union, is to continue working with all parts of the community and with all the political parties, to address concerns and problems.

It certainly won’t always be smooth, but I am really grateful to all those who are willing to engage in the hard slog each day to improve things further for the people of Northern Ireland.

And as we honour the commitments we have made in the Windsor Framework, as we must, this Government is also working to secure a stronger and better relationship with the European Union.

An SPS and veterinary agreement just to take that example would produce tangible benefits for businesses and traders in Northern Ireland and indeed across the UK by helping animal and plant products to flow freely across the Irish Sea. So there is light at the end of this tunnel.

Beyond strengthening Northern Ireland’s place in the Internal Market, investments being made by this UK Government will help to strengthen Northern Ireland’s economy.

We all know the particular challenges facing the economy in Northern Ireland, not least on productivity, but Northern Ireland’s economic output is now 9.7% above its pre-pandemic level, which is significantly higher than the rest of the UK.

In the last decade the total number of employee jobs is up 15%. And as we know Northern Ireland now has the lowest level of unemployment in the UK.

I am determined to ensure that Northern Ireland benefits from UK Government initiatives designed to generate economic growth and power the green transition.

Central to this will be our new modern industrial strategy – Invest 2035 – and our commitment to make the whole of the UK a clean energy superpower with GB Energy, a publicly owned company, at its heart.

We will work closely with the Executive and the other devolved governments on our 10-year Infrastructure Strategy and the National Wealth Fund to ensure the benefits are felt UK-wide.

Alongside the Industrial Strategy, we will mobilise billions of pounds of investment in the UK’s world-leading industries, including Northern Ireland’s strengths in areas like fin-tech and the creative industries.

I was delighted that last month, Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, announced that Belfast is one of this Government’s priority regions for the Creative Industries, and this Spring will see the full opening of Studio Ulster – a truly unique facility that will not just support the growing creative industry in Northern Ireland, but will also take it into the next era of screen innovation, making it a global player in performance technology. Fleur and I had a sneak preview before we came into this hall today, and I’m looking forward to visiting the new Studio Ulster itself.

And of course, the Belfast City Deal has helped to fund Studio Ulster.

And as we move full steam ahead with the City and Growth Deals right across Northern Ireland, these will demonstrate the significant impact of a partnership that has been developed between the Executive, the UK Government, local councils and businesses to make things happen.

It is also fantastic that shipbuilding is returning to Belfast. As announced in December, a commercial deal has been reached that will see Navantia UK – a specialist in shipbuilding – purchase Harland and Wolff, thus ensuring the delivery of the Ministry of Defence’s three Fleet Solid Support Ships.

This deal, which will protect around 500 jobs in Belfast, demonstrates the Government’s unwavering commitment to UK shipbuilding, and to Harland and Wolff.

Throughout the process, the Government worked with devolved governments, local MPs and the relevant trade unions, on the commitments on jobs that are part of the deal.

And let’s not forget all of the other strengths of Northern Ireland. Farming, its fantastic universities, including this wonderful institution we’re meeting in today, the voluntary and community sector, advanced manufacturing, thriving life sciences, and a world-leading cybersecurity industry which, with UK Government investment here in Northern Ireland, is so important for UK-wide national resilience.

Investment is vital for Northern Ireland, but to maximise potential it needs to get its infrastructure right. To take just one example, last year NI Water confirmed that there are 19,000 applications for development that cannot go ahead due to the outdated and at capacity sewage network.

And, of course, political stability is crucial to encourage investors to put their money into Northern Ireland.

As I look at all of this, what strikes me most forcefully about Northern Ireland is the energy, the enterprise, the imagination and the innovation of the people and businesses and the local authorities and the politicians that I have met.

To take just one example of a firm I visited in October – I could tell you of many others – Edge Innovate designs, manufactures and exports its material handling and recycling equipment – and you have to see the size of it, some of those bits of kit are enormous- from their factory in Dungannon all over the world.

It was so impressive, so let us all tell their and other stories of Northern Ireland’s success.

Because measured by what went before, the last 26 years really have been a success. Your success. Northern Ireland has been transformed.

So, as we look towards the 30th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in 2028, I am so encouraged that a majority of people here continue to view power-sharing as the best form of government.

Of course, there is a debate about reform of the institutions – it would be surprising if there were not – but my view is this.

Just as it took agreement between the parties to establish power-sharing in the first place, so it will require agreement between the parties to reform the current arrangements. And the task for now for today is to make them work for the people of Northern Ireland.

So in doing so, let us take inspiration from the words of the great George Mitchell, I had the privilege of meeting him a couple of months ago, who – on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Agreement – said:

“The answer is not perfection, or permanence. It is now, as it was then, for the current and future leaders of Northern Ireland to act with courage and vision, as their predecessors did 25 years ago. To find workable answers to the daily problems of the present.”

That is the responsibility that each of us takes on when we stand for elected office, whoever we are, and when the people say they want us to get on with the task.

Let me assure you. The Executive will be in the lead but it will not be alone.

And at this moment in history and at this time, I believe that Northern Ireland has all it needs to be a success and to be a beacon of hope to the world by showing that peace is truly the foundation on which progress is built.

Updates to this page

Published 4 February 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
February 5, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Energy bills: Labour urged to rule-out price cap hike

Source: Scottish Greens

04 Feb 2025 Energy

Fuel poverty and a broken energy market must become history.

More in Energy

Sky high energy bills are punishing households and families and plunging them into totally avoidable fuel poverty, say the Scottish Greens.

The party has called on the Labour government to mitigate any further hikes to the price cap and to commit to ending the brutal Winter Fuel Payment cut.

The call comes as Martin Lewis and others have warned that bills are likely to increase by as much as 5.7 per cent in April.

The Scottish Greens’ climate spokesperson, Mark Ruskell MSP, said:

“At a time when so many are struggling to make ends meet, households and families across our country will be dreading any further price hikes.
“Labour promised to make energy bills cheaper, but they have only gone up. Keir Starmer and his colleagues must step in to halt a further rise and to support people who are feeling stretched to their limits.

“We badly need to fix a broken energy market that is plunging people into poverty while keeping our reliance on climate-wrecking fossil fuels.

“Renewable energy has helped to cut the cost of generating electricity, but that hasn’t been reflected in the bills that people are paying.”

Mr Ruskell added:

“This winter has been even harder than it needed to be for pensioners all over the UK.

“Keir Starmer’s move to cut Winter Fuel Payments is looking more punishing and cruel by the day. It is long past time for Labour to reverse this toxic decision.”

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

February 5, 2025

Category: Child Poverty

IMF Communications Department

MEDIA RELATIONS

Going global

More in Culture

What’s happened so far?

A more unequal and unstable world

A power that’s no longer super

Australia needs to help fill the gap

Headquarters

News from Country Offices | 05 February 2025

SHARE THIS PAGE

Media Contact

SHARE THIS PAGE

Countries

Subjects

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in Lok SabhaThe President’s address clearly strengthens the resolve to build a Viksit Bharat: PM

A brief history of Lubumbashi

Cobalt and global decarbonisation

Why this matters

A brief history of Lubumbashi

Cobalt and global decarbonisation

Why this matters

Updates to this page

More in Energy

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in Lok Sabha

The President’s address clearly strengthens the resolve to build a Viksit Bharat: PM