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Category: Child Poverty

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: How UK-France ‘one in, one out’ migration deal will work – and what the challenges could be

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Matilde Rosina, Assistant Professor in Global Challenges, Brunel University of London

    After weeks of rising Channel crossing figures, the UK government has agreed on a long-awaited migration deal with France. Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron announced a “one in, one out” pilot – and the UK prime minister said the “groundbreaking” scheme could start returning migrants to France within weeks. The deal was announced alongside a separate agreement to coordinate the use of French and British nuclear weapons.

    The migration agreement will allow the UK to return selected numbers of small boat arrivals to France. In exchange, the UK will admit an equal number of asylum seekers with legitimate ties to the UK (such as family), who have not previously attempted to enter the country illegally.

    The plan will start as a pilot, with initial reports suggesting the UK could return up to 50 people per week (2,600 per year). That is roughly 6% of small boat arrivals in 2024. The remaining arrivals will continue to be processed under the UK’s existing system.

    The “one in, one out” system appears similar to an agreement in 2016 between the EU and Turkey. Under that scheme, for every irregular migrant returned from the Greek islands to Turkey, one Syrian refugee who had stayed in Turkey could be legally resettled in the EU. Under the EU–Turkey deal, only 2,140 migrants were returned to Turkey by 2022, compared with over 32,000 who were resettled in the EU.

    The British government’s hope is that this pilot will lay the groundwork for a broader EU-UK return framework that would allow it to return more people. Before Brexit, the UK was part of the EU’s asylum framework, the Dublin regulation. This allowed any EU country, including the UK, to return asylum seekers to the first EU country they entered or passed through.

    From 2008 to 2016, the UK was a net sender of asylum seekers: it returned more people to EU states than it accepted, receiving fewer than 500 people annually. The trend reversed after 2016, with the UK accepting more migrants than it returned.

    But southern EU countries could complicate any expansion or permanent implementation of the pilot. Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus have opposed a UK–France agreement, fearing it would lead to more people being sent back to them – southern European states are where migrants typically arrive in the EU first.

    Challenges ahead

    The deal is a significant step for a UK government that has struggled to control the narrative on migration. Losing ground to Reform, the government has recently proposed tightening legal immigration rules, including by making it harder and longer to acquire British citizenship, and by cutting legal migration routes.

    It also marks a notable shift in the UK’s post-Brexit migration strategy. But questions remain about the details and implementation.

    The French president hailed it as a “major deterrent” to Channel crossing, as migrants would not remain in the UK but be returned to France. Macron said that one-third of arrivals in France are heading towards the UK. So it follows that any deterrent from Channel crossings would also lead to a reduction in people coming to France.

    Yet, as I have shown in my research, deterrence is rarely effective. This is because information about deterrence factors does not necessarily reach the asylum seekers or stop smugglers. It also does not address the underlying drivers of migration, such as poverty, conflict and corruption.

    Moreover, returns are notoriously difficult to enforce. Many asylum seekers lack documentation, and complex legal processes raise administrative and financial costs.

    Scalability also poses a challenge, given EU countries’ divided stances on an EU-wide deal.

    It is, however, promising that the UN refugee agency has given the agreement its backing, stating: “If appropriately implemented, it could help achieve a more managed and shared approach, offering alternatives to dangerous journeys while upholding access to asylum.”

    The last UK government’s attempts to deter Channel crossings, such as the Rwanda scheme, had led to the agency raising serious concerns.

    How many asylum seekers does the UK take?

    This deal comes amid an increase in asylum applications in the UK. Annual applications rose from 38,483 in 2018 to over 108,000 in 2024.

    In just the first half of 2025, small boat arrivals increased 48% compared with the same period in 2024, exceeding 20,000. By contrast, irregular arrivals to the EU decreased by 20% in the first half of 2025, mainly driven by a drop in arrivals to Greece and to Spain’s Canary Islands.

    When accounting for population, the UK receives fewer asylum applications – 16 for every 10,000 people living in the UK – than the EU average (22 per 10,000).

    Data shows that between 2018 and 2024, 68% of small boat asylum applications processed in the UK were approved, indicating that most were made by people in genuine need.

    UK–France migration cooperation dates back to the 1990s, but since 2019, the focus has been on addressing the rise in Channel crossings.

    A significant step was the UK-France joint declaration of March 2023, under which the UK committed €541 million (approximately £476 million) between 2023 and 2026. Funds were allocated for assets including drones, helicopters and aircraft, and for the creation of a migration centre in France. Importantly, the agreement sought to increase surveillance along the French border, rather than return migrants.

    This cooperation deepened in February 2025, when both countries agreed to extend their partnership to 2027 and reallocate €8 million for new enforcement measures.

    Joint maritime activities have played a role too: since October 2024, UK Border Force vessels have entered French waters on three occasions to assist boats in distress and return people to the French coast.

    Overall, this new agreement represents a milestone in UK–France migration cooperation, and the UK’s first significant post-Brexit returns scheme with an EU country. While questions remain over its scalability – given the modest return numbers, legal and logistical hurdles, and European political divides – it is a crucial step in cross-Channel cooperation on migration and asylum, making progress on what has been an intractable problem for UK governments.

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

    – ref. How UK-France ‘one in, one out’ migration deal will work – and what the challenges could be – https://theconversation.com/how-uk-france-one-in-one-out-migration-deal-will-work-and-what-the-challenges-could-be-260864

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Inequality has risen from 1970 to Trump − that has 3 hidden costs that undermine democracy

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Nathan Meyers, Ph.D. candidate in sociology (September 2025 degree conferral), UMass Amherst

    Demonstrators march outside the U.S. Capitol during the Poor People’s Campaign rally at the National Mall in Washington on June 23, 2018. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

    America has never been richer. But the gains are so lopsided that the top 10% controls 69% of all wealth in the country, while the bottom half controls just 3%. Meanwhile, surging corporate profits have mostly benefited investors, not the broader public.

    This divide is expected to widen after President Donald Trump’s sweeping new spending bill drastically cuts Medicaid and food aid, programs that stabilize the economy and subsidize low-wage employers.

    Moreover, the tax cuts at the heart of the bill will deliver tens of billions of dollars in benefits to the wealthiest households while disproportionately burdening low-income households, according to analyses by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation. By 2033, the bottom 20% will pay more in taxes while the top 0.1% receive $43 billion in cuts.

    I am a sociologist who studies economic inequality, and my research demonstrates that the class-based inequalities exacerbated by the Trump bill are not new. Rather, they are part of a 50-year trend linked to social cleavages, political corruption and a declining belief in the common good.

    The roots of class-based inequality

    The decades following World War II were broadly prosperous, but conditions began changing in the 1970s. Class inequality has increased enormously since then, according to government data, while income inequality has risen for five decades at the expense of workers.

    Economists usually gauge a country’s economic health by looking at its gross domestic product as measured through total spending on everything from groceries to patents.

    But another way to view GDP is by looking at whether the money goes to workers or business owners. This second method – the income approach – offers a clearer picture of who really benefits from economic growth.

    The money that goes to labor’s share of GDP, or workers, is represented by employee compensation, including wages, salaries and benefits. The money left over for businesses after paying for work and materials is called gross operating surplus, or business surplus.

    The share of GDP going to workers rose 12% from 1947 to 1970, then fell 14% between 1970 and 2023. The opposite happened with the business surplus, falling 18% in the early postwar decades before jumping 34% from 1970 to today.

    Meanwhile, corporate profits have outpaced economic growth by 193% since 1970. Within profits, shareholder dividends as a share of GDP grew 274%.

    As of 2023, labor had lost all of the economic gains made since 1947. Had workers kept their 1970 share of GDP, they would have earned $1.7 trillion more in 2023 alone. And no legislation or federal action since 1970 has reversed this half-century trend.

    When more of the economy goes to businesses instead of workers, that poses serious social problems. My research focuses on three that threaten democracy.

    1. Fraying social bonds and livelihoods

    Not just an issue of income and assets, growing class inequality represents the fraying of American society.

    For instance, inequality and the resulting hardship are linked to worse health outcomes. Americans die younger than their peers in other rich countries, and U.S. life expectancy has decreased, especially among the poor.

    Moreover, economic struggles contribute to mental health issues, deaths of despair and profound problems such as addiction, including tobacco, alcohol and opioid abuse.

    Inequality can disrupt families. Kids who experience the stresses of poverty can develop neurological and emotional problems, putting them at risk for drug use as adults. On the other hand, when minimum wages increase and people begin saving wealth, divorce risk falls.

    Research shows inequality has many other negative consequences, from reduced social mobility to lower social trust and even higher homicide rates.

    Together, these broad social consequences are linked to misery, political discontent and normlessness.

    2. Increasing corruption in politics

    Inequality is rising in the U.S. largely because business elites are exercising more influence over policy outcomes, research shows. My related work on privatization explains how 50 years of outsourcing public functions – through contracting, disinvestment and job cuts – threatens democratic accountability.

    Research across different countries has repeatedly found that higher income inequality increases political corruption. It does so by undermining trust in government and institutions, and enabling elites to dominate policymaking while weakening public oversight.

    Since 2010, weakened campaign finance laws driven by monied interests have sharply increased corruption risks. The Supreme Court ruled then in Citizens United to lift campaign finance restrictions, enabling unlimited political spending. It reached an apex in 2024, when Elon Musk spent $200 million to elect Trump before later installing his Starlink equipment onto Federal Aviation Administration systems in a reported takeover of a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon.

    Research shows that a large majority of Americans believe that the economy is rigged, suggesting everyday people sense the link between inequality and corruption.

    Demonstrators gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington as the court heard arguments on campaign finance in 2013.
    AP Photo/Susan Walsh

    3. Undermining belief in the common good

    National aspirations have emphasized the common good since America’s founding. The Declaration of Independence lists the king’s first offense as undermining the “public good” by subverting the rule of law. The Constitution’s preamble commits the government to promoting the general welfare and shared well-being.

    But higher inequality historically means the common good goes overlooked, according to research. Meanwhile, work has become more precarious, less unionized, more segmented and less geographically stable. Artificial intelligence may worsen these trends.

    This tends to coincide with a drop in voting and other forms of civic engagement.

    The government has fewer mechanisms for protecting community when rising inequality is paired with lower taxes for the wealthy and reduced public resources. My research finds that public sector unions especially bolster civic engagement in this environment.

    Given increasing workplace and social isolation, America’s loneliness epidemic is unsurprising, especially for low earners.

    All of these factors and their contribution to alienation can foster authoritarian beliefs and individualism. When people become cold and distrustful of one another, the notion of the common good collapses.

    Inequality as a policy outcome

    News coverage of the Trump bill and policy debate have largely centered on immediate gains and losses. But zoomed out, a clearer picture emerges of the long-term dismantling of foundations that once supported broad economic security. That, in turn, has enabled democratic decline.

    As labor’s share of the economy declined, so too did the institutional trust and shared social values that underpin democratic life. Among the many consequences are the political discontent and disillusionment shaping our current moment.

    Republicans hold both chambers of Congress through 2026, making significant policy changes unlikely in the short term. Democrats opposed the bill but are out of power. And their coalition is divided between a centrist establishment and an insurgent progressive wing with diverging priorities in addressing inequality.

    Yet democratic decline and inequality are not inevitable. If restoring broad prosperity and social stability are the goals, they may require revisiting the New Deal-style policies that produced labor’s peak economic share of 59% of GDP in 1970.

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

    – ref. Inequality has risen from 1970 to Trump − that has 3 hidden costs that undermine democracy – https://theconversation.com/inequality-has-risen-from-1970-to-trump-that-has-3-hidden-costs-that-undermine-democracy-259104

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: AMERICA/BRAZIL – Missionary life is itinerant: Consolata novices between rivers and hopes

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Friday, 11 July 2025

    IMC

    Manaus (Agenzia Fides) – “The mission not only leads to Jesus, but also discovers him already present in every smile, in every stroke of the oar, in every simple gesture of love.” Sérgio Warnes, a novice at the IMC Novitiate in Manaus, recounts the experience shared by a group of Consolata Missionary (IMC) novices, who found themselves, as he himself says, “living one of the most demanding and enriching experiences of our formation: visiting the ‘ribeirinhas’ communities of the Amazon.”“The greatest lesson of this experience was the time shared with the community, with creation, and with God,” he writes. “The generosity of people is something that moves the soul. They offered us the little they had, and that little became much.” Despite the difficulties they face, their faith is alive and dynamic, expressed in fraternity, devotion, and hospitality,” the novice emphasizes.“They are witnesses that poverty is not synonymous with sadness and that spiritual wealth is real and abundant even in the midst of the jungle.”“In this Jubilee Year, we recognize with profound admiration the journey of so many men and women who, even in the midst of the jungle, walk, row, and cross entire rivers just to encounter the mystery of our existence: Jesus in the Eucharist. It is our duty as Christians to bring Jesus to the riverbanks, to the wooden houses, in the middle of the jungle, crossing rivers, enduring the heat, mosquitoes, and humidity,” adds Sérgio. “It is difficult, yes, but it is worth it. So that the Gospel may not remain confined within four walls, but may travel and reach the ends of the earth, to proclaim salvation to humanity.”“Missionary life is itinerant. In this mission, we sleep in one house, drink coffee in another, celebrate in different places, and bathe in the river water. We will return, without a doubt. Because the mission continues. And the river never stops. Where there is a community waiting, Jesus also waits for us.” (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 11/7/2025)
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    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: President Ramaphosa calls for citizen-led national dialogue

    Source: Government of South Africa

    President Cyril Ramaphosa has convened the inaugural meeting of the Eminent Persons Group to kickstart a critical national dialogue aimed at addressing South Africa’s persistent challenges 31 years after democracy.

    Speaking at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Friday, President Ramaphosa candidly acknowledged the country’s ongoing struggles. 

    “There can be no doubt that we have begun to transform our society and our economy. And yet, the vestiges of our apartheid past remain,” he said, pointing to persistent issues of inequality, poverty and unemployment that continue to plague the nation.

    “Our economy has not been growing, and the number of unemployed people has been rising.” 

    He also acknowledged the deterioration in governance, a decline in the delivery of services, and widespread corruption and wastage of public resources.

    “At the same time, we have seen an increasing disengagement by many people from the democratic process, as witnessed by the turnout in the May 2024 elections.” 

    According to the country’s Commander-in-Chief, the national dialogue represents a bold attempt to unite South Africans across political, cultural, and social divides. 

    READ | National Convention to set agenda for the National Dialogue

    President Ramaphosa used Friday’s meeting to call for a process that is inclusive and citizen-led.

    “It cannot be partisan. It cannot favour one group or perspective over any other.

    “It needs to be citizen-led, and the outcomes need to reflect the collective views of the South African people.”

    The President said the national dialogue represents a strategic effort to mobilise South Africans and restore the country’s developmental trajectory. 

    “The national dialogue is neither government-driven nor directed,” President Ramaphosa stressed, underlining the importance of genuine public participation.

    “Citizens must be able to freely and fully participate in the national dialogue as individuals, in organised formations, and through representative bodies.

    “That is why the Eminent Persons Group is so important.” 

    Highlighting the nation’s rich tradition of collaborative problem-solving, President Ramaphosa noted that “dialoguing is not a new phenomenon to South Africans”. 

    He also pointed to previous successful national conversations like drafting the Constitution, the National Peace Accord, and the country’s response to the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. 

    However, the President emphasised that the dialogue is not intended to replace existing democratic processes. 

    Instead, President Ramaphosa pointed out that it aims to create a social compact that outlines clear commitments for government, political parties, business, labour, civil society, and citizens. 

    President Ramaphosa stated that a carefully selected Eminent Persons Group will champion the dialogue, tasked with ensuring its authenticity and effectiveness. 

    He challenged these leaders to be critical guardians of the process, not mere cheerleaders.

    “We are asking you, Eminent Persons, to be champions of the national dialogue, not cheerleaders.

    “We expect that you will critically consider the progress and the conduct of the national dialogue, and provide advice where correction is required.

    “If there is confusion or misunderstanding, or disarray, we ask you to help correct it. If there are groups that seek to commandeer the process, we ask that you alert us.” 

    Strengthening social cohesion

    The First Citizen announced that the first national convention is scheduled for August, with the hopes of generating a collective vision for South Africa’s future. 

    “South Africans want to be heard, they want to participate; they want to be included in whatever process is meant to improve their lives.”

    With scepticism and political tensions already emerging, President Ramaphosa believes that the success of this national dialogue remains to be seen. 

    “We have already been confronted by the challenge of misinformation and misrepresentation, whether on the cost of the national dialogue or on who is running it.

    “But that should not distract us from the work we have to do to give a platform to the millions of voices in our country, so that they may be heard and so that they may be counted.

    “We should not fear criticism. We should welcome it.”

    Despite criticism, the President strongly believes this platform represents a potentially crucial step in addressing the country’s deep-seated challenges. – SAnews.gov.za

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Xinhua think tank report outlines China’s approach to poverty alleviation management

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) — The Xinhua Institute, a high-level national think tank affiliated with the Xinhua News Agency, on Friday released a report on China’s experience in poverty reduction.

    The document, titled “Striving for a Better Life for the People: China’s Practical and Theoretical Innovations in Consolidating and Expanding Achievements in Intensive Poverty Alleviation,” was simultaneously released in Chinese and English for worldwide distribution.

    It describes the fundamental principles of the theory of poverty alleviation with Chinese characteristics, which becomes a key intellectual asset for the progress of human civilization.

    The report systematizes fundamental guiding principles in five aspects: firm leadership by the Communist Party of China as the basic guarantee; putting the people’s interests first as the supreme value; pooling common efforts as the distinguishing feature; self-reliance and self-strengthening as the fundamental principle; and step-by-step advancement as the key strategy.

    The theoretical basis of poverty alleviation management in China has been continuously enriched, and the methodological approaches have been consistently refined through years of practical exploration and empirical verification. This includes the implementation of targeted poverty alleviation strategies and the effective combination of work to consolidate the achievements of poverty alleviation with the implementation of the rural revitalization program.

    “This theoretical system is not only deeply rooted in China’s national reality, but also absorbs global experience and wisdom in poverty reduction, elevating local experience to the level of global value,” the report emphasizes.

    As noted in the document, this system acknowledges the multiplicity of development paths and offers the global community, especially developing countries, replicable, scalable and transformable solutions in the field of governance. -0-

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Boost for GP practices to help people back to work

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    Boost for GP practices to help people back to work

    A new pilot programme will support people with health conditions back into employment and ease pressure on doctors.

    • 15 pioneering regions to trial groundbreaking approach to reduce GP pressure and help local people back to work
    • Pilot scheme to transform how fit notes are issued
    • Part of Plan for Change to grow the economy, get Britain back to work and make an NHS fit for the future

    15 regions will benefit from a new pilot programme to support people with health conditions back into employment, while reducing pressure on GPs in the area.

    The WorkWell Primary Care Innovation Fund, backed by £1.5 million across 15 regions, will combat the practice of immediately writing people off with a fit note, and instead look to find other ways to help people back into work. Workwell is expected to support up to 56,000 disabled people and people with health conditions into work by Spring 2026 and forms part of this government’s wider efforts to get the NHS back on its feet, reduce economic inactivity, and grow the economy by supporting more people into work and out of poverty as part of its Plan for Change.

    This fresh approach addresses a critical challenge facing both patients and the NHS. Currently, of the 11 million fit notes issued electronically in primary care across England last year, 93% simply declared people “not fit for work” – offering no constructive alternative or support pathway.

    The new funding will enable WorkWell sites – funded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) – to connect patients to local support services to provide work and health advice to more patients receiving a fit note.

    Patients will receive targeted and timely support to manage their health condition whilst exploring realistic options for staying in or returning to work, rather than facing a dead-end “not fit for work” declaration.

    Interventions via the WorkWell Primary Care Innovation Fund could include:

    • Hiring work and health coaches, social prescribers, or occupational therapists for GP teams to refer patients to for holistic support, help and advice, from gym memberships to career coaching.
    • Supporting and upskilling occupational therapists or physiotherapists to issue fit notes and improve the quality of work and health advice given to a patient.
    • Upskilling GPs and wider GP teams to improve their ability to support patients with local work and health advice.

    Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:

    This pilot is a step towards transforming a broken system that’s been failing people for years.

    It isn’t just about freeing up GPs to treat patients rather than fill in forms. It’s about fundamentally changing the conversation from ‘you can’t’ to ‘how can we help you?’ When someone walks into their doctor’s surgery worried about their job, they should walk out with a plan, not just a piece of paper that closes doors.

    We can’t afford to keep writing people off. Every person we help back into work isn’t just transforming their own life – they’re contributing to our communities, our economy, and breaking the cycle that’s been holding Britain back. This is what building an NHS fit for the future through our Plan for Change looks like.

    WorkWell sites have already been exploring ways to get patients back into work. For example, June, a patient in the West Midlands, had been on sick leave following a period of poor mental and physical health suffering from anxiety, PTSD and arthritis. She had sessions with a Work and Health Coach via her local WorkWell site, getting support to communicate her needs to her employer and seek reasonable adjustments. This allowed her to return to work with amended hours and responsibilities, avoiding the need for her to be signed off work.

    Though a range of healthcare professionals can issue fit notes, 90% of fit notes issued electronically in primary care in England last year were issued by doctors – adding to GP workload pressures.

    Instead GPs spending valuable consultation time on administrative fit note processes, WorkWell sites will use this funding to explore how specialist professionals like pharmacists and occupational therapists can provide comprehensive support that benefits patients, employers, and reduces pressure on primary care services.

    The initiative directly supports the commitment in the government’s 10 Year Health Plan to embed employment advice within new Neighbourhood Health Services, shifting care from hospitals to communities. This government has recruited over 1900 extra GPs in the last year in a bid to fix the front door of the NHS.

    Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said:

    We know that good work is good for people’s health and good for the economy too, but the current system is holding too many people back – denying many the dignity and self-respect this work brings.

    WorkWell is transforming lives by helping people stay in and get back to work, and this significant investment will help even more people unlock good jobs and boost living standards.

    With 2.8 million people currently out of work due to health conditions, this pilot will take a crucial step toward breaking the cycle of poor health and poverty that holds back people’s lives and economic growth.

    It is a key part of the government’s pledge to cut waiting lists – crack teams of clinicians have already been sent to areas where more people are out of work, and new community diagnostic centres are opening 12 hours a day, 7 days a week across the country. Overall waiting lists have fallen by over 260,000 since last July.

    This also comes on the same day as an £100 million funding boost to Connect to Work programmes, which will help thousands of people who are out of work due to health conditions, disabilities or other reasons to find and stay in jobs.

    As part of a significant package of support to reform to the broken welfare system, the government is making changes to genuinely support sick or disabled people and those with health conditions into work, amounting to £1 billion per year by the end of the decade, while the Get Britain Working White Paper is overhauling Jobcentres, and empowering Mayors and local leaders to tackle inactivity.

    Evidence from the pilot scheme will be used to inform our wider approach to work, health and skills, as this government gets Britain working through the Plan for Change, backed by an NHS fit for the future.

    Notes to editors:

    • The WorkWell Primary Care Innovation Fund will provide a share of £1.5 million to each of the 15 WorkWell pilot sites – £100,000 per site.
    • The WorkWell pilot programme is expected to support up to 56,000 disabled people and people with health conditions into work by Spring 2026.
    • This innovative model brings together Integrated Care Boards, local authorities and Jobcentre Plus to provide a single, coordinated gateway to work and health support services.
    • The regions in the pilot are: Birmingham and Solihull; Black Country; Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly; Coventry and Warwickshire; Frimley; Herefordshire and Worcestershire; Greater Manchester; Lancashire and South Cumbria; Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland; North Central London; North West London; South Yorkshire; Surrey Heartlands

    Updates to this page

    Published 11 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: £100 million cash boost to help thousands into work across the country

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    £100 million cash boost to help thousands into work across the country

    Thousands of disabled people and people with complex health conditions to receive help finding secure, well-paid jobs

    • Latest cash boost will be delivered to four areas in England as part of the Connect to Work programme  
    • Comes as part of £3.8 billion employment support package over this parliament for sick or disabled people, unlocking work and boosting living standards through the Plan for Change

    Thousands of people who are out of work due to health conditions, disabilities or other reasons will be helped to find and stay in jobs thanks to a £100million funding boost announced by the Department for Work and Pensions today [Friday 11 July].  

    It’s part of the Government’s plan to Get Britain Working again including changing Jobcentres so staff have more time to support people, using better technology, and making sure there are good jobs across the whole country.  The Get Britain Working plan gives towns and cities the powers they need to grow and help more people into work.

    The £103.6 million funding package will go towards the Connect to Work programme in Kent & Medway, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire and Greater Lancashire, supporting nearly 30,000 people.

    With 2.8 million people out of work due to ill-health – one of the highest rates in the G7 – the government is taking action to tackle the pressing challenge, and Connect to Work is part of the government’s wider efforts to reduce economic inactivity and grow the economy by supporting more people into work and out of poverty as part of its Plan for Change. 

    Minister for Employment Alison McGovern said: 

    For too long, our country has been held back as towns and cities were left on their own to deal with the consequences of people being out of work. This government is investing to create good jobs, and our plan to Get Britain Working will make sure no one is left on the scrap heap any more.

    Changing Jobcentres and providing funding for towns and cities will make sure everyone is included in our economic plan. No more abandoned places.

    This latest funding will make a real difference in the lives of people across the country and give them the chance they deserve as part of our Plan for Change.

    Connect to Work is being delivered across England and Wales, with the government already providing more than £150 million which will help to support around 41,000 people. In all more than 300,000 people will be supported by the programme over the next five years. 

    The programme comes as part of a major investment in employment support for sick and disabled people across this parliament – worth £3.8 billion over the course of this Parliament, and includes £2.2 billion delivered for support announced in our Pathways to Work Green Paper over the next four years, to help people find good, secure jobs. 

    The Connect to Work funding will be used to provide services including: 

    • Individual support from an employment specialist 
    • Profiling to identify the work aspirations of participants and development of a plan for them to achieve their goals 
    • Matching jobseekers with opportunities that suit their needs and circumstances 
    • Support for both participants and employers during the early employment period to help recruit and retain participants 
    • Practical support including coaching 

    The programme is just one of the ways disabled people, those with health conditions or complex barriers to employment can access support – including assistance provided through Jobcentres.  

    The latest funding support was announced as the Minister for Employment visited a Jobcentre in Preston to meet people already helped into work by existing employment support.  

    Under the Connect to Work programme Greater Lancashire – which includes Lancashire County Council, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and Blackpool Council – is to receive up to £38.8 million to support 11,000 participants. 

    The Minister for Employment met with:  

    • Julie, who came to the Jobcentre on Universal Credit and faced significant personal challenges to finding work, including mental health struggles and self-doubt. Thanks to the support she received, including access to the Seasiders Traineeship and the Prince’s Trust Explore course, Julie was able to develop her confidence and is now employed as a cleaner at Dunelm – a job she hugely enjoys.  

    As announced earlier this year, through Connect to Work, up to £42.8million has been allocated to West London Alliance to support 10,800 people, and up to £11.1 million to East Sussex to assist 2,900 people.  

    It comes as 15 regions will benefit from a share of £1.5 million in funding to launch a pilot for the WorkWell Primary Care Innovation Fund. The pilot could transform how local people with health conditions are supported back into employment rather than writing them off with a fit note, reducing pressure on GPs in the area. 

    Additional Information

    • Connect to Work is a locally-delivered programme and will follow internationally recognised and successful Supported Employment frameworks which support people who are long-term unemployed or facing complex barriers to work, including those with mental health challenges and learning disabilities. 

    • The funding figures, rounded to the nearest decimal point, for each delivery area in this latest tranche are as follows: 

    • Greater Lancashire £38.8 million 
    • Kent and Medway £34 million 
    • Hertfordshire £19.7 million 
    • Gloucestershire £11.1 million

    Updates to this page

    Published 11 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Xinhua Analytical Center Releases Report on China’s Experience in Poverty Alleviation

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhua) — The Xinhua Institute, a think tank affiliated with the Xinhua News Agency, on Friday released a report on China’s experience in poverty reduction.

    The report, titled “Striving for a Better Life for the People: China’s Practical and Theoretical Innovations to Consolidate and Expand Achievements in Intensive Poverty Alleviation,” was released simultaneously in Chinese and English for worldwide distribution. -0-

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Oxfam reaction to ICIJ investigation exposing the World Bank’s harmful privatization of healthcare in Africa

    Source: Oxfam –

    In response to the investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealing how World Bank-backed healthcare investments are deepening poverty and denying care in Africa, Oxfam International’s Health Policy Manager Anna Marriott said:

    “Oxfam is deeply alarmed by the ICIJ’s findings, which once again show how the World Bank Group and other publicly funded development banks—including the UK’s—are bankrolling a brutal model of private healthcare that excludes and exploits patients and prioritizes profits over human lives.

    “The report exposes how millions in development funds are going to pay exorbitant management fees to private equity firms who are investing in expensive for-profit hospitals that leave patients indebted, denied care, and even imprisoned for being too poor to pay.

    “Despite repeated scandals, oversight of these investments remains shamefully weak. For over two years, Oxfam has urged the World Bank Group and high-income governments like the UK to halt these harmful investments and fully investigate and remedy the damage caused. Their failure to act makes them complicit in ongoing abuse.” 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: UNICEF – 70 per cent of children in Ukraine lack access to basic goods and services as material deprivation soars

    Source: UNICEF

    Urgent investment in critical services and systems for children is vital to protecting and building the country’s future.

    Around 70 per cent of children in Ukraine – or 3.5 million – now lack access to basic goods and services, including adequate food or shelter, according to new data published by UNICEF. This proportion of children experiencing ‘material deprivation’ increased from some 18 per cent in 2021, prior to the escalation of the war in February 2022.

    Material deprivation is a stark indicator of poverty and includes a lack of access to nutritious food, appropriate clothing, heating at home, and educational materials, among other essentials. It deprives children of a minimum standard of living and affects their long-term development, education, health, and future opportunities.

    “The war in Ukraine continues to devastate the country’s children. Investing in them and the services they rely on, is the best way to secure Ukraine’s future,” said UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell. 

    “The ongoing humanitarian response is tailored to meet immediate needs while supporting lasting results. But it must not be at the expense of investing in Ukraine’s long-term recovery that will benefit children today and generations to come.”

    Some 2,786 children have been killed or maimed since February 2022. A third of Ukraine’s children live in homes without functioning water supply and sewage and nearly half of children lack access to an area to play at home or outside. Continued and relentless attacks on critical water, sanitation, and energy infrastructure, children’s homes, schools and healthcare facilities, combined with rising poverty, have caused an increase in material deprivation.

    Ukraine is also facing serious demographic challenges, with a 35 per cent birthrate decline and millions of women and children having fled the country.  

    Continuous access to quality and inclusive social services, education and health care for all children and their families is essential, especially for children living near the frontlines, children with disabilities, those in institutions and foster families, and children displaced from their homes.

    “The opportunity to protect and nurture Ukraine’s children and young people – from the early years through adolescence – is now. The country’s future dep

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UN warns of record civilian casualties in Ukraine

    Source: United Nations 2

    Russian forces launched an attack overnight focused on Kyiv, deploying 397 Shahed unmanned attack and decoy drones, along with 18 high-powered missiles, killing two and injuring at least 16, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).

    UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric noted during his daily briefing in New York that four Kyiv districts were hit, damaging residential buildings, a clinic and a TV station, while an outpatient clinic was destroyed during the bombardment.

    Mr. Dujarric also relayed reports from local authorities of recent attacks in other regions which left more than nine dead and at least ten civilians injured.

    Grim June record

    These attacks come after June saw the highest monthly civilian casualty count in Ukraine since the Russian invastion began in February 2022, with 232 people killed and 1,343 injured.

    This data reflects a worsening trend: 6,754 civilians were killed or injured in the first half of 2025 – a sharp 54 per cent rise compared to the same period in 2024, when 4,381 civilian casualties were documented.

    This breaks down to a 17 per cent increase in civilian deaths and a 64 per cent increase in injuries.

    Russia’s increased use of long-range missiles and drones in urban areas – and their enhanced destructive power – were key drivers behind the spike in casualties.

    The growing number of attacks also played a crucial role, as Russia launched ten times more missile and unmanned drone strikes in June 2025 than in June 2024.

    “Civilians across Ukraine are facing levels of suffering we have not seen in over three years,” said Danielle Bell, Head of HRMMU. “The surge in long-range missile and drone strikes across the country has brought even more death and destruction to civilians far from the frontline.”

    Child suffering intensifies

    Also on Thursday, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that an estimated 70 per cent of children in Ukraine (3.5 million) are experiencing “material deprivation” – up from 18 per cent in 2021.

    Material deprivation refers to a lack of essential goods and services, including nutritious food, appropriate clothing, heating at home and access to education.

    According to UNICEF’s report, one in three children in Ukraine lives in a home without a functioning water supply or sewage system, and nearly half lack access to a space to play.

    This deprivation is driven by continued attacks on infrastructure – including water, sanitation, and energy systems – as well as on homes, schools, and healthcare facilities, along with rising poverty across the country.

    Looking towards recovery

    These warnings come as the fourth Ukraine Recovery Conference opened in Rome on Thursday. It aims to build global awareness and maintain momentum for international support and investment in Ukraine’s recovery, rebuilding, reform, and modernisation.

    The Director General of the UN migration agency (IOM), Amy Pope, is among those attending. The agency plays a major role in Ukraine, where nearly four million people remain internally displaced, and another five million refugees reside across Europe.

    “Displacement on this scale imposes numerous challenges for Ukraine and its people,” she said.

    “Recovery must begin with a focus on the people in need – connecting them to services and restoring their livelihoods, so it becomes more than just returning home, but about regaining their place in society.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: She fought for the girl the world left behind: Natalia Kanem’s UN legacy

    Source: United Nations 2

    She returns, over and over, to a single image: that of a ten-year-old girl – standing on the edge of adolescence, her future uncertain, and her rights still in grave doubt.

    “Will she be able to stay in school, graduate, and make her way through the world?” Dr. Kanem wonders. “Or is she going to be derailed by things like child marriage, female genital mutilation, or abject poverty?”

    That seismic question and that girl – not one child in particular, but an emblem of the millions worldwide whose future is at risk – have become the touchstone of Dr. Kanem’s nearly eight-year tenure as Executive Director of the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, formally known as the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

    © UNFPA Vanuatu

    UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem (centre) visits the Mamas Market in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

    From her early days working on the frontlines in East Africa to overseeing a $1.7 billion agency with operations in more than 150 countries, Dr. Kanem has shepherded UNFPA through global shifts, political headwinds, and ideological pushback.

    Most of all, she has led a fierce revolution in the lives of millions of women and girls.

    This month, she is stepping down from her post ahead of schedule. “It’s time to pass on the baton,” the 70-year-old told her staff – a 5,000-strong workforce – in a videotaped address earlier this year. “I have pledged to do everything in my capacity to keep positioning UNFPA to continue to do great things.”

    Roots and ascent

    Born in Panama and trained as a medical doctor, Dr. Kanem joined UNFPA in 2014 after a career in philanthropy. Her decision to serve “the noble purpose of the United Nations” first led her to East Africa and Tanzania, where she was struck by the quiet heroism of field staff. “It’s really at the country level where we prove our worth,” she told UN News.

    But the job was not easy. In 2017, when she took the reins of the agency, Dr. Kanem inherited an organization grappling with waning visibility, unstable funding, and persistent pushback from conservative viewpoints. Still, UNFPA grew – not just in budget, but in stature.

    “When I came, the narrative was, ‘We’re a small organization, beleaguered, nobody understands what we do,’” she said. “Now, I think it’s clearer.”

    That clarity came, in part, from what Dr. Kanem calls “thought leadership.”

    Whether challenging misconceptions about fertility or confronting gender-based violence enabled by technology, she pushed UNFPA to the frontlines of global discourse. “We exist in a marketplace of ideas,” she explained. “And we have to tell the truth in a way that’s compelling enough so we can garner the allies this movement requires.”

    UNFPA Executive Director, Natalia Kanem (right), visits Sudan in March 2021.

    Under her leadership, the agency trained hundreds of thousands of midwives, distributed billions of contraceptives, and expanded humanitarian operations to reach women and girls in the most fragile settings – from the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar to war-scarred Ukraine and cholera-stricken Haiti.

    UNFPA’s presence in crisis zones was not only logistical, but symbolic. In Sudan, Syria, and Gaza, a simple tent stocked with menstrual pads, a blanket, and a bar of soap could serve as sanctuary. “It represents the respite that a woman needs in a time of crisis,” she said. “You know, we call our kits ‘dignity kits’ for that reason.”

    Shifting the conversation

    Beyond delivering services, Dr. Kanem elevated UNFPA’s role as a thought leader in a polarised world. She steered the agency into difficult public conversations – about teen pregnancy, climate anxiety, fertility rates, and online harassment – with an unflinching insistence on rights.

    “The 10-year-old girl exists,” she said. “What her parents and her religious leaders and her community think is vital for her to be well prepared, for her to know what to do when she’s challenged by coercive practices.”

    That leadership extended to data. Under Dr. Kanem, UNFPA invested heavily in supporting national censuses and building dashboards to help lawmakers shape reproductive health policy with real-time insight.

    This year’s State of World Population report, the agency’s annual deep dive into demographic trends, reframed conventional narratives around so-called “population collapse” – noting that many women and men delay having children not out of ideology, but because they cannot afford to raise them.

    Dr. Kanem praised the altruism of young people who say they’re choosing not to have children for fear of worsening the climate crisis. But that’s not what the data shows.

    “The world replacement fertility rate is not endangering the planet,” she explained. “The facts really say: you can have as many children as you can afford.”

    A rights-based compass in turbulent times

    Dr. Kanem’s tenure coincided with mounting attacks on reproductive rights, rising nationalism, and growing scepticism of multilateral institutions. She faced years of US funding cuts – including under the current administration – even as demand for UNFPA’s services surged.

    “UNFPA has more money than we’ve ever had,” she noted. “But it’s never going to be enough to stop the flow of need.”

    Dr. Natalia Kanem, head of the United Nations Population Fund (left) talks to UN News and Media Deputy Director Mita Hosali.

    Resources alone won’t secure the agency’s future – credibility and persistence are just as vital. “The multilateral system itself has come under question at a time when it is needed now more than ever,” she warned. “We do have to prove ourselves each and every day. And when we make mistakes, we’ve got to get up and rectify them and find partners who are going to be allies.”

    One such partner has been the private sector. In 2023, UNFPA teamed up with tech firms to launch a development impact bond in Kenya, delivering mobile-based sexual health services to prevent teenage pregnancy and new HIV infections among adolescent girls.

    Changing mindsets

    UNFPA has long worked to end harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage. Under Dr. Kanem, that work became as much about shifting mindsets as changing laws.

    “Yes, absolutely,” she said when asked if progress was real. “It’s been very important to see religious leaders and traditional leaders standing against certain practices… and to work with school systems so that the girls themselves will understand the risks and be able to take better decisions about their options.”

    The coronavirus“>COVID-19 pandemic, she admitted, was a setback. With schools closed, some communities increased the number of weddings and FGM ceremonies. But in many countries – including populous Indonesia – UNFPA has seen the practice decline, in part thanks to youth advocates speaking out from within their own communities.

    New generation, next chapter

    Looking ahead, Dr. Kanem didn’t dwell on uncertainty. She spoke instead of possibility. “We’ve transformed ourselves, modernized ourselves,” she said. “There’s just unlimited possibility for UNFPA.”

    Her own future includes what she calls a “mini-sabbatical” – more time for music, her family, and, finally, herself. But she won’t stay silent for long. “I know that my passion for issues of women and girls is not going to recede,” she said. “It’s been a labour of love.”

    Her parting thought? One final return to the girl at the centre of it all.

    “When that 10-year-old girl succeeds, everyone succeeds,” she said. “It is a better world.”

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: UK: DWP’s ‘unhealthy obsession’ with AI discriminates against people with disabilities

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Report finds DWPs use of AI traps disabled people, those in poverty and the digitally excluded in ‘bureaucratic limbo’ 

    The report highlights how intrusive data practices have led to disproportionate monitoring of disadvantaged communities  

    ‘Have some form of sort of compassion, make the forms and things easier’ – Claimant 

    ‘While people struggle to make ends meet and put food on the table due to inadequate social security, the DWP is still spending millions of pounds on costly, experimental systems designed to profile and surveil claimants’ – Imogen-Richmond Bishop 

    People with disabilities, limited digital skills, digital illiteracy, serious health concerns, or living in poverty are being pushed into bureaucratic limbo and subjected to immense stress caused by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) unchecked roll-out of technologies, Amnesty International said today in a new report. 

    The 67-page report, “Too Much Technology, Not Enough Empathy”, exposes how the DWP’s constant cycle of testing, deploying, and withdrawing costly artificial intelligence (AI) and digital systems for Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has created an inaccessible and exclusionary social security system – disproportionately harming the most marginalised.  

    The tech-driven systems for applications and management are causing relentless dehumanisation and psychological distress for people already struggling to meet their basic needs. These systems are accompanied by intrusive data collection, resulting in excessive surveillance and profiling of disadvantaged groups – contributing to the emergence of an all-seeing state.  

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for the UK to become an ‘AI superpower,’ with plans to accelerate AI across the public sector in a bid to boost economic growth.   

    Imogen-Richmond Bishop, Amnesty International Researcher on Technology, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, said: 

    “The DWP’s mission to reduce ‘costs’ is an unhealthy obsession and overreliance on flawed technology. But urgent questions remain: Is the tech rollout truly cost-effective – or simply cutting corners at the expense of vulnerable people? 

    “With the UK’s National Audit Office expressing serious doubts about these technologies, it’s deeply concerning that while people struggle to make ends meet and put food on the table due to inadequate  social security, the DWP is still spending millions of pounds on costly, experimental systems designed to profile and surveil claimants,”. 

    ‘Dehumanising and discriminatory’ 

    The report follows Amnesty’s earlier publication this year, ‘Social Insecurity’, which found the UK’s social security system to be “consciously cruel”, with widespread dehumanisation and discrimination. It revealed significant barriers to access:   

    Digital exclusion is not fixed. People may experience it to varying degrees, and it can fluctuate based on factors such as living conditions, education, health, and income. 

    Furthermore, limited access to digital technologies, including the internet or internet connected devices, and their affordability are key factors contributing to digital exclusion caused by the DWP’s systems. Language barriers and excessively long wait times on telephone services offered for UC claimants add a strain, often resulting in significant psychological stress. 

    For one of the claimants interviewed by Amnesty, literacy level, gender, and socio-economic status all represented barriers to her being able to access services online. 

    One claimant told Amnesty: “Have some form of sort of compassion, make the forms and things easier. I mean, I’m quite illiterate. I mean, a lot of women are, are men of my age, can’t use them […] So they’re stuffed. They send me. Letters on my phone. I can’t open them. So I ring up. I can’t open it. I haven’t got an iPad. I can’t afford an iPad.” 

    Imogen Richmond-Bishop added: 

    “The DWP’s experimentation with tech systems has reduced people to data points, where the success of a claim often depends more on fitting into rigid digital categories than actual eligibility.  

    “Technology in this instance has oversimplified people’s complex realities by creating narrow and opaque processing that demeans people’s needs especially when they are unable to get the support from a human case worker that they need. 

    “The DWP’s data collection practices are alarmingly invasive and deeply opaque. Requiring applicants to surrender vast amounts of sensitive personal data – including health, disability, housing, marital status, and detailed financial records like bank statements – raises serious red flags. This excessive data harvesting calls into question the proportionality, legality, and fairness of how information is collected, processed and potentially exploited.”   

    The UK must ensure AI doesn’t contribute to human rights violations and Amnesty is calling for: 

    The report interviewed 783 people between October 2024 to January 2025. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Overlooked and underestimated: Sand and dust storms wreak havoc across borders

    Source: United Nations 2

    That’s how much sand and dust enters the atmosphere on an annual basis according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)’s annual report on the storms which scatter such particles across borders worldwide.

    The UN weather agency’s reports warns that while the amount of dust decreased marginally in 2024, the impact on humans and economies is increasing.

    WMO estimates that over 330 million people across 150 countries are affected by sand and dust storms, leading to premature deaths and other health consequences in addition to steep economic costs.

    More than just a dark sky 

    “Sand and dust storms do not just mean dirty windows and hazy skies. They harm the health and quality of life of millions of people and cost many millions of dollars,” said Celeste Saulo, the Secretary-General of WMO.

    While the movement of sand and dust is a natural weather process, increased land degradation and water mismanagement have, in the past few decades, exacerbated the prevalence and geographic spread.

    Dust and sand particles – 80 per cent of which come from North Africa and the Middle East – can be transported thousands of kilometres across borders and oceans.

    “What begins in a storm in the Sahara, can darken skies in Europe. What is lifted in Central Asia, can alter air quality in China. The atmosphere does not recognize borders,” said Sara Basart, WMO Scientific Officer, at a briefing in Geneva.

    And this is precisely what happened in 2024. Dust and sand from the Western Sahara travelled all the way to Spain’s Canary Islands. And fierce winds and drought in Mongolia brought dust to Beijing and northern China.

    Fast-growing challenge

    “These extreme weather events are not local anomalies. Sand and dust storms are fast becoming one of the most overlooked yet far-reaching global challenges of our time,” said a senior official on Thursday morning speaking on behalf of Philémon Yang, President of the General Assembly.

    The storms can obscure sunlight, altering ecosystems on land and in the ocean. In addition to environmental impacts, these weather occurrences have profound impacts on humans and their economies.

    “Once considered seasonal or localised, sand and dust storms have escalated into a persistent and intensifying global hazard,” said Rola Dashti, the co-chair of the UN Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms.

    Between 2018-2022, over 3.8 billion people were exposed to dust particles, with the worst-affected regions experiencing dust exposure 87 per cent of the time during that same period.

    These particles exacerbate cardiovascular diseases and have other adverse health effects, leading to 7 million premature deaths each year especially among already vulnerable populations.

    Mr. Yang referred to this as the “staggering human toll”: from an economic perspective, storms can lead to a 20 per cent reduction in crop production among rural communities, pushing them towards hunger and poverty.

    In the Middle East and North Africa alone, economic losses in 2024 as a result of sand and dust storms accounted for 2.5 per cent of the regional GDP.

    Can’t go it alone

    WMO is calling on the international community to invest more in early warning systems and data tracking.

    “No country, no matter how prepared, can face this challenge alone. Sand and dust storms are a trans-boundary threat that demands coordinated, multisectoral and multilateral action,” said Ms. Dashti.

    With 2025-2034 declared the Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, Mr. Yang said this should prove a turning point. He urged Member States to move from awareness to action – and fragmentation to coordination. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Office of the Governor – News Release – Gov. Green Signed 313 Bills Into Law

    Source: US State of Hawaii

    Governor Josh Green, M.D., took action on 313 of the 321 bills enrolled during the 2025 regular session of the Hawai‘i State Legislature. Of those, Governor Green conducted 13 bill signing ceremonies to bring together community leaders and stakeholders to discuss and highlight impactful legislation. Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke led efforts for broadband access and expanded Preschool Open Doors through two bill signing ceremonies as acting governor.

    Significant milestones during this legislative bill signing session include the enactment of the state budget:

    On June 30, Governor Green signed House Bill 300 (Act 250, SLH 2025), the executive biennium budget, which appropriates $19.8 billion across all means of financing in fiscal year 2026 and $19.7 billion in fiscal year 2027. It includes $10.53 billion in general funds in fiscal 2026 and $10.58 billion in fiscal 2027.

    CIP funding within the budget comprises $3.3 billion across all means of financing in fiscal 2026 and $2.3 billion in fiscal year 2027. General obligation bonds to support statewide construction projects allocates $1.4 billion for fiscal 2026 and $432 million for fiscal 2027.

    Governor Green line-item vetoed $110 million across the fiscal biennium, representing less than half a percent of the roughly $40 billion state budget. These reductions demonstrate fiscal prudence in maintaining a stabilized state budget amid emerging federal funding uncertainty.

    Additional key legislation enacted includes:

    On May 27, Governor Green signed Senate Bill 1396 (Act 96, SLH 2025) into law, establishing the nation’s first Green Fee to combat the ever-evolving climate crisis that threatens the state. Guided by recommendations from the Climate Advisory Team (CAT), established by Governor Green, comprehensive climate and community-based policies identified the need for a sustainable funding source to support climate resiliency. Dialogue between key stakeholders and the tourism industry contributed to a collaborative effort to find solutions to safeguard the environment.

    The signing of this bill strengthens infrastructure and funds initiatives through the revenue generated by a 0.75% increase to the transient accommodation tax. Revenues will fund environmental stewardship, climate and hazard mitigation and sustainable tourism.

    On May 30, Governor Green signed Senate Bill 1300 (Act 139, SLH 2025), expanding access to free school meals for Hawai‘i public school students. The legislation aims to eliminate barriers for students experiencing food insecurity, allowing keiki to focus on learning and extracurricular activities. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, free school meals will be available to all qualifying students under the National School Lunch Program. The following school year, eligibility will expand to include ‘ohana with income below 300% of the federal poverty level. The act appropriates $3.3 million to the Department of Education over the two school years to subsidise free school meals.

    On June 30, Governor Green signed House Bill 1483 (Act 243, SLH 2025), strengthening legislation relating to fireworks crimes and increasing the criminal penalties for violators. These newly enacted provisions aim to safeguard Hawai‘i residents and communities by setting stronger deterrences and implementing additional regulatory measures to support the prosecution of fireworks-related crimes.

    To further enhance enforcement, the legislation works to streamline the judicial process by amending the traffic and emergency period infractions adjudication system to include fireworks infractions. The addition shall expedite the handling of the high-volume fireworks violation and reduce the burden on the courts.

    On July 7, Governor Green signed Senate Bill 1044 (Act 296, SLH 2025), reactivating the Hawaiʻi Hurricane Relief Fund (HHRF) to provide insurance coverage in scenarios where the private market fails to do so. To provide additional insurance coverage options, the bill enhances the powers of the Hawaiʻi Property Insurance Association (HPIA) and establishes the Condominium Loan Program to help buildings remain insurable, and mandates the Insurance Commissioner to conduct a comprehensive study aimed at developing sustainable strategies for market stabilization.

    On July 8, Governor Green signed House Bill 1001 (Act 301, SLH 2025), establishing the Maui Wildfires Settlement Trust Fund to support the funding for the claims of settlement arising from the 2023 Maui wildfires. The bill appropriates $807.5 million to support the state’s portion of the total $4.037 billion settlement agreement. This funding provides timely compensation for survivors as an alternative to lengthy litigation.

    To prioritize victims and their families, provisions in Act 301 specify that property and casualty insurance companies can only recover payments made to a policyholder through a statutory lien.

    Additionally, Governor Green signed House Bill 1064 (Act 302, SLH 2025), effectuating the Phase Three report provided by the Fire Safety Research Institute, to improve the state’s fire preparedness and response following the 2023 Maui wildfires. The recommendations provided intent to set improvements to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

    Under Act 302, the Office of the State Fire Marshal is transferred to the Department of Law Enforcement and is to be led by the State Fire Marshal, the first in the state in nearly 46 years. The measure establishes roles, duties and discretionary authority for both the Office and the State Fire Marshal. To further integrate this role into the state, organizational structure amendments clarify responsibility and reporting requirements for the State Fire Marshal and the State Fire Council.

    Part of the State Fire Marshal’s responsibility is to provide centralized analysis of fire occurrences from across the state using the annual records submitted by each county’s fire chief. The legislation establishes the biennial statistical report requirement to keep the public informed and to provide the legislature with reports regarding the office’s operations.

    Governor Green signed more than 300 additional bills, separate from the public bill signing ceremonies.

    “This legislative session delivered many important wins, and I’m deeply grateful to the Hawai‘i State Legislature for championing measures that serve our people and protect our ‘āina,” said Governor Green. “At the same time, we faced real challenges, especially the uncertainty of federal funding, which put critical lifelines for our communities at risk.”

    It was the foresight and resilience of our communities — and our willingness to listen — that helped move many of these bills across the finish line. I remain committed to advocating for key administrative priorities, including housing, homelessness, healthcare, wellness and resilience, and climate action. Together, we will continue to build a stronger, healthier and more sustainable future for all of Hawai‘i.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Transport poverty in rural areas and the need for regional strategies – E-001629/2025(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    Transport poverty is indeed a serious problem in many rural areas. In its Recommendation on transport poverty[1], the Commission puts forward different policy measures to Member States that should, if implemented, contribute to mitigating transport poverty in rural areas.

    The Commission shares the view that improvement in transport services can further benefit the economic development of rural and structurally weak regions.

    The Commission’s long-term vision for Europe’s rural areas[2] calls on Member States and regions to develop sustainable rural mobility strategies, with the overall objective of creating ‘stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous rural areas by 2040’.

    Preventing and mitigating transport poverty is also one of the priorities in the development of the European transport network, and for EU support instruments such as Cohesion policy funds including Interreg, Recovery and Resilience Facility, and the Social Climate Fund, to ensure seamless mobility and accessibility for all users.

    • [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reco/2025/1021/oj/eng.
    • [2] COM (2021) 345 final, https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/newsroom/news/2021/06/30-06-2021-long-term-vision-for-rural-areas-for-stronger-connected-resilient-prosperous-eu-rural-areas.
    Last updated: 10 July 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UK-France Leaders Declaration

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    UK-France Leaders Declaration

    The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the President of the French Republic met today in Downing Street for the 37th UK-France Summit.

    The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the President of the French Republic met today in Downing Street for the 37th UK-France Summit.

    The United Kingdom and France share a commitment to peace, democracy, the rule of law, the rules-based international order, and human rights. In an international context in which these values are increasingly jeopardised, France and the United Kingdom share a responsibility to stand up for these aims and values, as major European countries, permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, major world economies, and open democracies. Our relationship and cooperation are fundamental.

    Our two countries share a unique friendship, an intertwined history and profound connections between our people, businesses, and communities. As we open a new chapter in our bilateral and European ties, also building on the outcome of the first EU-UK Summit held in May 2025, we want to make our people safer and more secure, champion fair and lasting peace worldwide, deepen our defence and security collaboration, support competitiveness and growth for our economies, providing jobs, and prosperity to our countries.

    Foreign Policy/Global Issues

    We reaffirm our determination to ensure Russia does not prevail in its illegal war of aggression, as well as our commitment to lasting support to Ukraine, including security assurances that safeguard its independence and sovereignty. Today we convened the Coalition of the Willing bringing together more than thirty nations committed to Ukraine’s long-term security. We welcomed the development of mature operational plans to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased, and to help secure Ukraine’s skies and seas and regenerate Ukraine’s armed forces. We have agreed to launch a Counter-Shadow Fleet Partnership to crack down on dangerous Russian-backed vessels in the Channel, reduce Russian oil revenues via these vessels, and safeguard our maritime security. Alongside this, we commit to seeking a lowering of the crude oil price cap, further depriving Russia of the oil revenues it uses to fund its barbaric war. We will strengthen our joint efforts to prevent the supplying of dual-use components and weapons to Russia by third countries’ entities. We reiterate our readiness to step up pressure on Russia as it refuses to commit to peace. We are committed to defending democracy and stability in the wider European neighbourhood and have agreed to work together on new support to strengthen resilience in the Western Balkans and Moldova. We welcome the conclusion of the negotiations on a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and urge the parties to sign this agreement as soon as possible

    We reaffirm our determination that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. We will continue our cooperation, including in the E3 format with Germany, working with the US to ensure a robust deal on Iran’s nuclear programme that takes into account our shared security interests. We will continue to advocate for the resumption of Iran’s full cooperation with the IAEA. We are committed to addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, pushing for an immediate ceasefire, and the release of all remaining hostages. We reaffirm our commitment to recognising a Palestinian state, as a contribution to a peace process. We will work together to support its development and the realisation of a Two-State Solution. We are also stepping up our coordination on security and humanitarian challenges in support of wider regional stability in Syria and Lebanon.

    Beyond Europe, we share a responsibility and resolve to defend our values and interests. As demonstrated by the actions of Russia’s enablers, our security is inextricably linked to the Indo-Pacific. We will strengthen our coordination and work together for a free, open, and sovereign Indo-Pacific through new joint maritime security training, reciprocal base access, and joint support to regional organisations. We will launch a Global Maritime Security Dialogue. We jointly reaffirm our commitment to peace and stability in the Korean peninsula, in the South and East China Seas, and in the Taiwan Strait, where we call for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues. We will keep coordinating efforts and initiatives to address peace and security challenges in Africa and their humanitarian consequences, in particular regarding Sudan and the Great Lakes.

    We will continue to act through the European Political Community to respond to common security challenges, including irregular migration, and promoting stability and democratic resilience, competitive and economic growth throughout the continent.

    We share a commitment to strengthening the multilateral system and working together for reform across the three pillars of the UN. We have today agreed to expand our cooperation on humanitarian disaster preparation and responses, and to coordinate our work on global issues such as climate change, poverty and promotion of sexual and reproductive health rights. We support the next phase of the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits by each committing seed funding to unlock philanthropic finance and sustainable nature-positive outcomes.

    Defence And Security

    The return of conventional warfighting at scale in Europe, combined with hostile state actors, hybrid warfare and disinformation, requires a new, whole of society and government approach. As Europe’s two nuclear powers and leading militaries, we share responsibility for the continent’s defence and security. We are united in the face of profound security threats and challenges, in particular the immediate and pressing threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security.

    Today we announced Lancaster House 2.0 to modernise our cooperation. Through this we agree to deepen and broaden our unique defence and security partnership enshrined in the 2010 Lancaster House Treaties, a core pillar of security in Europe, complementing our cooperation in NATO and reinforcing Europe’s contribution to it, as well as the UK-EU Security and Defence Partnership.

    Deepening our longstanding and resolute commitment to cooperation of our independent nuclear deterrents, we have agreed to set out, in a specific statement, our contribution to the defence of European partners and NATO allies, and that whilst our nuclear forces are independent, they can be coordinated. We have decided to establish a UK-France Nuclear Steering Group that will coordinate policy, capability and operation.

    We will launch the Combined Joint Force, to build a shared capability of sufficient scale for warfighting, and ready to operate in all domains, including space and cyber, in the defence of Europe. This evolution of the existing Combined Joint Expeditionary Force will continue to be at the forefront of Coalition of the Willing planning. We have also agreed the path for new military capability projects, including the next generation of our Deep Strike and Air-to-Air missiles.

    We will deepen our cooperation on cyber issues, tackling the proliferation and irresponsible use of commercial hacking capabilities. We will address emerging threats, including in the hybrid domain, whilst harnessing the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies. We will maximise our impact against the highest-threat terrorist groups including deepening our counter-terrorism cooperation in Syria.

    We are committed to redoubling our collaboration to ensure the Euro-Atlantic security architecture remains fit for purpose, with European allies both shouldering their existing obligations and fully involved in shaping any new arrangements. We will intensify our cooperation with Germany and other partners to this end.

    Irregular Migration

    The cruelty of organised gangs who smuggle individuals across the Channel at great risk to life blights both our societies. Today, we announce a strengthening of our cooperation to tackle illegal Channel crossings, focused on reducing the risk to life at sea, breaking the criminal gang networks through law enforcement cooperation, and working upstream to tackle the root causes and smuggling networks.

    We continue to work together on novel and innovative approaches to intercept boats, exemplified by the ongoing French Maritime Review supporting enhanced Maritime co-operation, to ensure we adapt as the criminal gangs change their approach. We seek to use all the tools at our disposal, including both existing and new sanctions, to tackle people smuggling, trafficking, and organised immigration crime. In parallel, the United Kingdom is intensifying its efforts to reform its domestic asylum system, deliver on increasing returns and tackle illegal working.

    France and the UK have agreed to trial a pilot to deter illegal journeys across Europe to the UK and dangerous small boat crossings while saving lives, as an innovative approach to break the business model of organised gangs. It will provide for the readmission of migrants directly to France after an illegal journey by small boat to the United Kingdom and will also offer a reciprocal legal route to the UK for migrants in France, with a principle of equivalence between the number of readmissions to France and the number of legal admissions to the UK. The agreement will be finalised and signed subject to completing prior legal scrutiny in full transparency and understanding with the Commission and EU Member states as this initiative is related to an EU external border, and implemented within a few weeks, subject to the above processes, with real-time monitoring. We are pursuing an ambitious approach that complements wider European cooperation on irregular migration, including working together to prevent irregular Channel crossings within the Common Understanding agreed at the UK-EU Summit on 19 May.

    In this context, building on the Sandhurst Agreement, the United Kingdom reaffirms its commitment to fund Maritime action, increased law enforcement response onshore and inland, alongside new joint upstream working to tackle the issue at source and in transit, through the existing financial agreement through to March 2026, and through the finalisation of a new three year cycle (2026-2029) as soon as possible.

    Growth

    We will ensure continued cooperation and leadership on economic sectors of the future, leading to more growth, skills, and high-quality jobs for our people. This collaboration will make us stronger, remove barriers, and boost our collective resilience and cooperation on economic security, including on critical minerals. We will lead Europe on safely harnessing AI to the benefit of our people and economies, partnering our supercomputers and incubators, and combining the forces of our world-leading universities and research.

    We are committed to protecting our Critical National Infrastructure that underpins our thriving economies. Satellite connectivity is strategically important to Europe’s security and resilience and the UK’s investment in the Eutelsat Group is a demonstration of our commitment to this important technology, alongside the French Government and other existing shareholders. The UK will thus join, prorated to its current stake, the capital increase led by the French State and other existing shareholders of Eutelsat announced on June 19 – taking the total amount of capital raised to €1.5 billion. In the context of European Space Projects, we welcome UK suppliers bidding for supply chain commercial contracts when conditions are met. We will also work towards a resilient terrestrial alternative to Global Navigation Satellite Systems.

    Together, we will lead the way for Europe’s transition to net zero, creating the green jobs of the future and securing affordable energy supplies for our people. Today we reassert our resolve to diversify civil nuclear supply chains from Russia, upskill our nuclear workforces, and manage a responsible nuclear legacy. We welcome the confirmation by EDF of a 12.5% stake in Sizewell C post Financial Close and the proposed issuance of a €6 billion/£5 billion debt guarantee facility to Sizewell C from Bpifrance Assurance export.

    Today, we have agreed that our regulators will move forward in assessing interconnection projects under proportionately-agreed cost and revenue sharing arrangements between beneficiaries, aiming at delivering 1GW further interconnection by 2035. The delivery of further interconnection will be considered in line with national strategic plans. We will continue to work together on key technologies, including offshore wind, carbon capture, usage and storage, and hydrogen.

    We agree to deepen our collaboration on transport, particularly across the Channel, seeking ways to support decarbonisation, protect maritime workers’ pay and conditions, and support growth in the international rail sector. We also welcome the newly-adopted full bilateral framework on the Channel Tunnel, supporting the continued flow of passengers and goods.

    People-to-People

    We are delighted to announce an exceptional cultural partnership with the unprecedented loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK, for an exhibition in the British Museum between September 2026 and July 2027, and the loan of the Sutton Hoo Treasures among other masterpieces from the British Museum, for exhibitions in the Museums of Rouen and Caen, recalling the deep historical ties between our two countries. This exchange will feature as part of the 2027 European Year of the Normans which will celebrate the millennium of William the Conqueror, through cooperation, cultural and educational activities that will recall the strength of our links, past, present, and future. We will celebrate artistic, educational, and community-driven activity through events and initiatives that will support our creative industries. We will also work together to celebrate the 2027 Grand Départ of the Tour de France from the UK.

    We welcome the decision by the French government to facilitate the recognition by local authorities of UK blue badges throughout France for disabled drivers. We will expand connections between UK and French schools, supported by an extension of the arrangements we have made to facilitate school trips in both directions. We will maintain our working relationships on the introduction of the Schengen Entry/Exit System (EES) within the agreed EU framework and timetable to assure security and fluidity across our common border crossing points. Finally, we welcome further constructive exchanges between our Parliaments.

    Updates to this page

    Published 10 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Edinburgh to launch innovation team to help reduce poverty and reach net zero

    Source: Scotland – City of Edinburgh

    View of Edinburgh from Arthur Seat – a Getty image

    Edinburgh is one of 19 new local authorities joining the international Bloomberg Philanthropies i-team initiative, which provides support and expertise to tackle pressing local challenges.

    The City of Edinburgh Council today announced plans for an Innovation Team which will work towards tackling the city’s ambitions of reaching net zero and ending poverty.

    The i-team, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, will include three specialised staff charged with helping the Council and civic and community-based partners design and implement services that improve people’s lives. They will receive technical assistance from regional and global specialists, and benefit from learnings from peers in local authorities across the region and around the world.  

    City of Edinburgh Council Leader Jane Meagher said:

    Edinburgh is one of the most successful cities in the world and yet we face unprecedented pressures. Our population growth, and appeal as a fantastic place to live and visit, makes it challenging to provide the best quality housing and support to residents who need it most. Likewise, Edinburgh’s world-famous environment, both built and natural, needs to be managed sustainably and protected from the effects of climate change.

    The support from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ international i-team initiative will provide a huge boost towards our aims of tackling poverty and hitting net zero, by helping us to establish a brand-new innovation team within the Council. I look forward to working with this team, and all our partners, as we work to deliver a fairer and stronger capital city.

    James Anderson, who leads the Government Innovation program at Bloomberg Philanthropies, said:

    Realising efficient, effective government is an inside job—and the Innovation Teams we support around the world are critical to building that engine within the city halls they serve. We are glad to expand this model to 19 new municipal teams in Europe, who will join the growing number of public officials working locally, creatively, and ambitiously to break down silos, break through problems, and deliver results residents see and feel.

    To date, the Bloomberg Philanthropies i-team initiative has reached over 100 cities across 16 countries and four continents—representing more than 100 million residents—and inspired hundreds of other local governments to embrace innovation systems and practices.

    Published: July 10th 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Sara Jacobs Introduces Landmark Bill to Decrease Her Inheritance to Fund Affordable Child Care

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53)

    July 10, 2025

    Following Republicans’ passage of a budget that slashes the social safety net for children and families to pay for a bigger tax cut for the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations, Rep. Sara Jacobs (CA-51) introduced legislation to do the opposite: raise more funds from the estate tax to pay for affordable child care. The LEGACY Act, or the Leveraging Estate Gains for America’s Children and Youth Act, would cut the newly passed federal estate tax exemption by more than half to $7 million and dedicate 15 percent of the generated revenue to address the nation’s ongoing child care crisis. The LEGACY Act, if passed, would decrease the inheritance of Rep. Sara Jacobs – one of the wealthiest Members of Congress – and of her future children.

    Rep. Sara Jacobs said: “Wealthy families like mine didn’t build our wealth alone, and we shouldn’t hoard the benefits of success that’s not only ours. I believe it’s our responsibility to fix the systems that worked for us – but leave too many people in poverty or on the edges of poverty while corporate profits and income inequality skyrocket. The answer isn’t what Republicans proposed in their budget: to gut the social safety net so rich people can get a bigger tax break. That’s why I introduced the LEGACY Act, which would lower the estate tax exemption for wealthy people like me so we can give all kids the foundation they need. It shouldn’t be predetermined at birth whether or not a child can grow up happy, healthy, and with endless opportunities – and by expanding child care to all, we can help all kids succeed and build and leave behind their own legacy.”

    Erin S. Erenberg, Chief Executive Officer, Chamber of Mothers said: “Chamber of Mothers pools the will of 40 million mothers monthly in 43 state chapters nationwide to urge lawmakers to pass paid leave, affordable childcare, and maternal health legislation. We know that the lack of affordable childcare costs the US economy an estimated $122 billion annually. And yet, the question remains in nearly every Congressional office we visit: How will we pay for it? Congresswoman Sara Jacobs offers a smart, creative, solutions-driven answer. Her proposal would direct 15% of tax revenue from high-value estates toward easing the childcare burden on American families. Time and again, we hear bipartisan interest in using the tax code to relieve the burden on mothers and families. We’re proud to support this thoughtful and innovative approach.”

    “With our country facing a child care crisis that’s causing enormous hardship for moms, families, businesses, and our economy, and child care costing more than public college in most states, we urgently need more federal funding to make quality, affordable care available to every family that needs it,” said Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO of MomsRising. “Using revenues from estate taxes to stabilize and bolster our child care system – and to make it possible to pay child care workers living wages – would strengthen the child care workforce, allow more moms and parents to hold jobs, help kids thrive, and make it possible for more of us to contribute to our communities. That’s why MomsRising supports the LEGACY Act. We thank Rep. Sara Jacobs for introducing it and urge leaders in both chambers to prioritize its passage. We need measures like this one that support moms and working families, not more tax breaks for billionaires!”

    “Since 2017, Trump and his billionaire-backed congressional allies have declared war on the estate tax, limiting its scope and percentage so the ultra-wealthy can funnel millions and billions to their children without paying their fair share of taxes as Congressional Republicans cut healthcare, nutrition, and education programs for middle and working-class children across the country,” said ATF Executive Director David Kass. “We applaud Representative Jacobs for introducing legislation that makes our broken tax code fairer while investing in future generations of Americans.”

    The LEGACY (Leveraging Estate Gains for America’s Children and Youth) Act would: 

    • Amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create an Early Childhood Education Trust Fund through the transfer of 15% of revenue generated from the estate tax 
    • Require funds to be used as a third revenue source to supplement the Child Care Development Fund 
    • Require 25% of the trust be used for “stabilization” grants to address the supply-side of the child care crisis 
    • Adjust and lower the current estate tax threshold to inflation, almost half of what was passed in the Republicans’ budget bill

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Superman wasn’t always so squeaky clean – in early comics he was a radical vigilante

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By John Caro, Principal Lecturer, Film and Media, University of Portsmouth

    Superman was the very first superhero. He debuted in Action Comics issue #1 which was released in June 1938. Over time, the character has been assigned multiple nicknames: “The Man of Steel”, “The Man of Tomorrow” and “The Big Blue Boy Scout”. However, in his first appearance in ravaged Depression-era America, the byline used to announce Superman’s debut was: “The Champion of the Oppressed”.

    Created by the sons of Jewish immigrants, writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Superman is an example of youthful male wish fulfilment: an all-powerful figure dressed like a circus strong man, who uses brawn to right wrongs. However, Siegel and Shuster’s initial version of the character was a more flawed character.

    Appearing in a 1933 fanzine, Siegel’s prose story The Reign of the Superman with accompanying illustrations by Shuster, featured a reckless scientist whose hubris is punished when he creates the telepathic “super man” by experimenting on a drifter plucked from the poverty lines. Echoing Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the creator is dispatched by his creation.

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    Siegel and Shuster had some early success selling stories to National Allied Publications, the forerunner of DC Comics. At this time, comic books were mainly collections of newspaper cartoons – the “funnies” – pasted together to create more portable anthologies. They featured the escapades of characters like Popeye and Little Orphan Annie.

    Inspired by the heroic tales of derring do of pulp fiction adventurers such as Johnston McCulley’s Zorro (1919) and Philip Wylie’s 1930 science fiction novel Gladiator, Siegel and Shuster further developed their Superman character. They transformed him into a hero and added the now familiar cape and “S” logo.

    Having no luck selling their superhero to the newspapers, they eventually sold the rights to Superman to DC Comics, where Superman achieved huge success. Within a year, there was a syndicated newspaper strip and a spin-off Superman comic book featuring the first superhero with their own exclusive title. Along with extensive merchandising, there was a 1940 radio show, followed by an animation series in 1941, with the inevitable live action serial in 1948.

    In this early example of a property crossing multiple media platforms, Superman’s apparent appeal lay with the fantastical aspects, as he battled mad scientists, criminal masterminds and giant dinosaurs.

    But in the early issues, Superman’s enemies were noticeably more earthbound and reflected the concerns of an audience reeling from the effects of the Great Depression. In an early story, War in Sante Monte, Superman confronts a corrupt Washington lobbyist, Alex Greer, who is bribing a greedy senator. It transpires that Greer represents an arms dealer who is profiteering by manipulating both sides in an overseas war.

    In a later tale, Superman Battles Death Underground, our hero challenges the owner of a dangerous mine who is cutting corners with safety precautions.

    In 1932 Siegel’s father, a tailor, died following the attempted robbery of the family shop – so it is no surprise that Superman had a low tolerance for crime and its causes. In the story Superman in the Slums, dated January 1939, the social commentary is plain. When teenager Frankie Marello is sentenced to reform school, Superman acknowledges the impact of the boy’s social environment:

    It’s these slums – your poor living conditions – if there was only some way I could remedy it!

    His solution is to raze the dilapidated buildings to the ground, forcing the authorities to replace them with modern cheap-rental apartments. In creating new construction work, here is Superman’s extreme version of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.

    In the 1998 forward to Superman: The Action Comics Archives Volume 2, former DC Comics editor Paul Kupperberg comments this is a Superman “who fought (mainly) guys in suits out to screw over the little guy”. The form that the fight took is of interest, for this Superman has no time for niceties or due process, as he gleefully intimidates and bullies anyone who gets in his way.

    A man caught beating his wife is thrown into a wall and warned that there is plenty more where that came from. The corrupt lobbyist is dangled over power cables until he reveals who he is working for. Any police officers that attempt to obstruct Superman’s personal quest for justice are brushed aside with annoyance.

    Refining Superman

    Through his appearances on mainstream radio and cinema, Superman softened and became more patient. In popular culture, concerns about the depression and social injustice shifted to efforts to encourage a national consensus as the United States moved to a war footing in the early 1940s.

    Post-war, there were occasional returns to the more radical interpretations of Superman, but generally it is the clean cut, fantastical Big Blue Boy Scout perception of the character that has dominated.

    The new Superman film appears to be maintaining that image. In the trailer, actor David Corenswet’s Superman tackles various super-villains and a destructive Kaiju (a Godzilla-like skyscraper-sized monster) – although there is the suggestion that behind them all is the corrupt industrialist, Lex Luthor.

    The trailer for the latest Superman film.

    Fittingly, it is in the pages of comic books that a more progressive, militant representation of Superman has emerged. In 2024 DC rebooted its familiar superheroes with its new grittier “Absolute” universe.

    Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval’s Absolute Superman comic (2024) emphasises the character’s status as an isolated blue-collar immigrant from the doomed planet of Krypton. This is a youthful, less seasoned Superman who is quick to anger and less likely to pull his punches. Their interpretation is closer to Superman’s early vigilante roots, including a storyline where he liberates the workers in a Brazilian mine from the clutches of exploitative big business.

    Perhaps – in the comic books at least – the Champion of the Oppressed has finally returned.

    This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

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

    – ref. Superman wasn’t always so squeaky clean – in early comics he was a radical vigilante – https://theconversation.com/superman-wasnt-always-so-squeaky-clean-in-early-comics-he-was-a-radical-vigilante-260721

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: England’s family hubs plan aims to build on Sure Start’s success – but may struggle to overcome today’s child poverty levels

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Sally Pearse, Strategic Lead for Early Years and Director of the Early Years Community Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University

    Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

    The government has announced its strategy for “giving every child the best start in life”, laying out proposals covering early years care, education and support in England.

    The strategy builds on the current local family hub model of services, which offer a range of support aimed at babies and young children. Best Start family hubs will further bring together early years and family services in a similar way to the previous Sure Start programme. The government’s commitment includes £1.5 billion in investment to implement these reforms.

    The Best Start Hubs will be a one-stop shop to support families with their child’s early development, from breastfeeding advice to speech and language support and stay and play sessions. The hubs will also support families with wider challenges such as housing and benefits, and provide courses for parents.

    The attempt to bring services together to deliver local, holistic support to families is understandable given the impact of the original Sure Start initiative, introduced by Tony Blair’s Labour government.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    The Sure Start Local Programmes that were established from 1999 onwards had a significant positive effect on those families who had access to them. From 2010, though, when the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition came into power, funding was cut and many Sure Start centres closed.

    In May 2025 the Institute for Fiscal Studies published a summary report on the short- and medium-term effects of Sure Start on children’s lives.

    They found that the impact of the Sure Start services for under-fives was remarkably long-lasting, with improvements during their teenage years in educational attainment and behaviour in school, and reductions in hospital admissions. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that these long-term benefits significantly outweigh the cost of the Sure Start programme.

    Like Sure Start, the Best Start strategy has the potential to be transformational for young children and their families.

    However, the current range of challenges faced by families and the depth of child poverty in the country will make bringing about this transformation challenging. A 2023 report from charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimates that there are one million children growing up destitute in the UK, without the means to stay warm, dry, clean and fed.

    The challenge of poverty

    The day after the Best Start strategy was launched, the children’s commissioner for England published a research report on children’s experience of growing up in a low-income family. Based on interviews with 128 children, the report outlines the “almost-Dickensian” levels of poverty experienced by children whose basic needs are not being met. Children described poor housing conditions, mouldy food and lack of hot water.

    The significant impact that poverty has on children’s educational attainment, health and future lives will be difficult for the benefits that the Best Start programme may provide to negate.

    I have witnessed these financial challenges and the wider range of issues families are dealing with on a daily basis in my own role as the director of the Early Years Community Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, and through my wider research with families.

    In March 2024 I was part of a team of researchers who were commissioned by the Ministry for Housing, Community and Local Government to explore how multiple insecurities, such as financial difficulties, health problems, precarious work, poor housing and lack of support networks affected people’s lives.

    Parents described the difficulties of making ends meet. They talked about having to deal with many different national and local agencies, the stress this created within their family and the toll on their health and wellbeing.

    Even working full-time did not necessarily make families more secure. In one family, the working pattern the parents had to adopt to make ends meet meant that they only had one day a fortnight to be together.

    We have to do stupid hours. I mean my partner, she works nights. I work mainly days … we’re kind of like passing ships in the night.

    The places these families turned to were local community centres run by a range of organisations. The common themes about why they accessed these centres were the warm, welcoming, non-judgemental approach taken by staff, trusting relationships with staff and the range of services and support that were offered.

    This bodes well for the Best Start strategy – if it is able to deliver the full range of services the government has outlined in a local trusted space. However, this will be a significant challenge in communities that have lacked support over recent years, are suffering the hardships of poverty and that may have lost trust in government services.

    Sally Pearse received funding from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government

    – ref. England’s family hubs plan aims to build on Sure Start’s success – but may struggle to overcome today’s child poverty levels – https://theconversation.com/englands-family-hubs-plan-aims-to-build-on-sure-starts-success-but-may-struggle-to-overcome-todays-child-poverty-levels-260630

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: How China’s green transition is reshaping ethnic minority communities

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Reza Hasmath, Professor in Political Science, University of Alberta

    China has emerged as a global front-runner in the fight against climate change, with sweeping policies aimed at curbing environmental degradation and building a more sustainable future.

    Yet behind these green ambitions lies a more complicated human story. Ethnic minority communities — who make up roughly nine per cent of China’s total population and often inhabit ecologically sensitive regions like Tibet, Xinjiang, Yunnan and Inner Mongolia — are experiencing the transition in ways that involve significant trade-offs.

    Where they live, how they work and the cultural practices they depend on have all been shaped by state environmental policies, often without meaningful input or representation.

    My ongoing research examines the lesser seen consequences of China’s environmental agenda, focusing on how it affects the lives of ethnic minority communities across four critical dimensions: traditional livelihoods, internal migration, economic well-being and cultural identity.

    Disruptions to traditional livelihoods

    For centuries, many ethnic minorities in China have built their livelihoods around the land. Tibetan nomadic herders, Uyghur and Kazakh farmers and communities like the Yi, Qiang or Tu have long depended on agriculture, grazing and forest products not just for economic survival, but as a way of life deeply tied to ancestral customs and ecological knowledge.

    That fabric is now fraying. Climate change, rising temperatures and desertification have degraded pasturelands in Tibet and farmland in Xinjiang, undermining herding and agriculture.

    At the same time, state policies like the Grain for Green program, which converts farmland into forest to reduce erosion, have displaced upland farmers and restricted access to traditional lands.

    These disruptions are compounded by restrictions on small-scale logging and non-timber forest product collection. These practices have long sustained communities such as the Hani, Dai and Yi.

    Although these initiatives aim for environmental conservation, they often lack provisions for alternative livelihood options, rendering affected ethnic minority communities vulnerable to economic hardship.

    Internal migration

    As China’s environmental and development policies reshape rural regions, ethnic minority communities are increasingly affected by internal migration. Some ethnic minority families move voluntarily for work, while others are displaced by large-scale infrastructure or conservation projects.

    In Tibet, expanded rail and road networks have boosted trade, but contributed to the migration of herding communities. In Yunnan, dam construction has displaced villages inhabited by ethnic groups such as the Nu, Lisu, Hani and Bai, often with minimal consultation.

    Relocation into urban areas introduces new pressures: overcrowded infrastructure, limited services and increased competition for employment. These conditions can exacerbate the marginalization of ethnic minorities and heighten social tensions.

    The effects are especially stark in Xinjiang. Uyghur communities have been relocated to new urban zones where efforts framed as economic development often fracture social structures and push assimilation.

    Coupled with securitization measures, such transitions risk eroding cultural identity and deepening socio-economic disparities, particularly among ethnic minority women.

    Ultimately, internal migration fragments extended family networks, an essential characteristic for many ethnic minority cultures. Without inclusive planning, these relocations can entrench the very inequities that sustainability efforts seek to address.

    A double-edged economy

    Green transition policies promise new livelihoods through eco-tourism, conservation work and renewable energy sectors. For some communities, these transitions have created new pathways.

    Pilot programs in ecologically sensitive zones such as Qinghai have involved Tibetan herders as conservation workers, combining ecological protection with livelihood maintenance.

    These examples remain exceptions. Most affected communities lack training and access to green jobs. The Grain for Green program offers short-term land conversion subsidies, but little in the way of long-term retraining. As a result, some households plunge deeper into poverty after losing access to their farmland or pasture.

    Ironically, relocated families sometimes end up in low-paid construction jobs tied to the very projects that displaced them. This circular dependency — displaced by green projects, then employed in their construction — offers no route to upward mobility and deepens socio-economic marginalization.

    Cultural displacement

    Perhaps the most intangible impact of China’s green transition is cultural. In many ethnic minority communities, livelihoods are intertwined with the environment; rituals follow the seasons and sacred sites mark the land.

    Conservation bans and resettlement disrupt ancestral customs and erase mobility patterns, as seen with the sedentarization of Tibetan nomads.

    Eco-tourism campaigns and “heritage villages” try to preserve culture. However, they often turn it into a spectacle. Traditions become performances curated for tourists, while the deeper practices — language, inter-generational teaching and land-based rituals — fade.

    Well-meaning efforts to promote ethnic minority festivals in the name of boosting tourism have also sometimes led to the standardization of diverse traditions into single narratives, minimizing internal variation in customs and flattening community voices.

    A more inclusive green transition?

    There is no doubt that China’s climate ambition is transforming its economy and the daily lives of millions. From the Tibetan Plateau to the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang and across the vast grasslands of Inner Mongolia, environmental protection is impacting the people whose lives are rooted in these fragile ecosystems.

    Making this transition equitable means ensuring ethnic minorities shape, not merely receive, state policy. That includes integrating local ecological knowledge into conservation planning, providing long-term training for displaced populations and ensuring that relocation compensation reflects economic losses, as well as social and cultural costs.

    China frames its environmental vision through the concept of “ecological civilization,” a philosophy rooted in Confucian ideals and socialist principles that seeks to harmonize human development with nature. At its best, this model aspires to align economic growth with ecological balance.

    For ecological civilization to fulfil its promise, it must be inclusive and prioritize cultural rights alongside environmental goals. Environmental policymakers must recognize that sustainability is about both reducing emissions and preserving the dignity, heritage and agency of all communities.

    China’s green transition has the potential to be a global model. To lead by example, however, it must confront not only the climate crisis, but also the deeper challenge of inclusion.

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

    – ref. How China’s green transition is reshaping ethnic minority communities – https://theconversation.com/how-chinas-green-transition-is-reshaping-ethnic-minority-communities-259793

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Boost for British consumers and Developing Countries

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    Boost for British consumers and Developing Countries

    Boost for British consumers and Developing Countries as UK launches new trade measures

    • New measures will make it easier for developing countries to trade, supporting jobs and economic growth in the UK overseas. 

    • UK businesses and consumers to benefit from more competitively priced imports as part of upgrades to the Developing Countries Trading Scheme. 

    • Part of the UK’s Plan for Change and recently launched Trade Strategy to grow trade with markets of the future, strengthen global partnerships and deliver for British households. 

    British consumers and businesses are set to benefit from a package of new trade measures unveiled today (10 July), which will simplify imports from developing countries — helping to lower prices on everyday goods while supporting jobs and growth in some of the world’s poorest nations.

    The measures will give UK consumers greater access to competitively priced imports — from clothes to food and electronics — as upgrades to the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) make it easier for businesses to trade with the UK, helping to lower prices on the high street.

    Upgrades include simplified rules of origin, enabling more goods from countries like Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines to enter the UK tariff-free — even when using components from across Asia and Africa. They also ensure countries such as Bangladesh and Cambodia continue to benefit with zero tariffs on products like garments and electronics.

    This will open up new commercial opportunities for UK businesses to build resilient supply chains, invest in emerging markets, and tap into fast-growing economies.

    Ministers briefed British business leaders and Ambassadors from around the world on the changes at a joint Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) reception in London today.

    Minister for International Development Jenny Chapman, said: 

    The world is changing. Countries in the Global South want a different relationship with the UK as a trading partner and investor, not as a donor.

    These new rules will make it easier for developing countries to trade more closely with the UK. This is good for their economies and for UK consumers and businesses.

    Minister for Trade Policy Douglas Alexander, said: 

    No country has ever lifted itself out of poverty without trading with its neighbours.

    Over recent decades trade has been an essential ingredient in lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty around the globe.

    The DCTS allows some of the world’s poorest countries to export to the UK duty and quota-free, with over £16 billion in UK imports benefiting from tariff savings since its launch in June 2023.

    In addition to the DCTS changes, the UK will:

    • offer targeted support to help exporters in developing countries access the UK market and meet import standards; and
    • make it easier for partner countries to trade services — such as digital, legal, and financial services — by strengthening future trade agreements. This will create new opportunities for UK businesses to collaborate and invest in fast-growing sectors. 

    The reforms will support trade with emerging markets in Asia and Africa, strengthening the UK’s global partnerships, with major retailers such as M&S and Primark expected to benefit.  

    Director of Sourcing, Marks & Spencer PLC, Monique Leeuwenburgh said:

    We are supportive of changes to the DCTS rules of origin for garments.

    The ongoing collaboration between the government and retail industry has provided clarity and certainty for businesses in good time.

    This change will enable us to maintain our long-standing and trusted relationships with our key partners in Bangladesh, to deliver the same great quality Clothing & Home products at great value for our customers.

    Interim Chief Executive at Primark, Eoin Tonge said:

    We welcome the changes to the DCTS rules of origin for garments which remove the potential cliff edge when a country graduates from Least Developed Country status.

    This will help us to maintain our existing supply chain strategy in our key sourcing markets in Asia, such as Bangladesh and Cambodia.

    We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the government on these changes and their responsiveness to the concerns of UK retailers in this very technical area of trade policy.

    Adam Mansell, CEO, The UK Fashion & Textiles Association said said:

    UKFT welcomes these additional changes to the Rules of Origin under the DCTS, which will bring real benefits to the fashion industry in the UK and in DCTS countries.

    The new rules demonstrate a genuine commitment from the government to modernise trade policy to support global economic growth.

    At a time of such uncertainty in international trade, these reforms are especially welcome.

    Yohan Lawrence, Secretary General of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), Sri Lanka, said:

    We warmly welcome the UK’s Trade Strategy.

    The new rules allowing greater regional sourcing for garments while retaining duty-free access to the UK are a game-changer.

    With the UK as our second-largest apparel market, this will boost exports, support livelihoods, and help us compete more fairly with global competitors.

    The updated rules are part of the UK’s wider Trade for Development offer which aims to support economic growth in partner countries while helping UK businesses and consumers access high-quality, affordable goods. 

    And just last month, the UK’s Trade Strategy was published in further support of the Plan for Change to grow the economy, strengthen international ties, and deliver for households across the UK. 

    Notes to editors: 

    • Launched in 2023, following the UK’s exit from the EU, the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) is the UK’s flagship trade preference scheme, covering 65 countries and offering reduced or zero tariffs on thousands of products. 

    • The UK is committed to growing services trade with developing countries, supporting digital trade and professional services. 

    • The announcement follows engagement with UK businesses and international partners, major importers and trade associations.

    Updates to this page

    Published 10 July 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Devil worship, muti and murder: what’s behind the growth of occult gangs in South Africa?

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Ashwill Ramon Phillips, Lecturer and Postgraduate Supervisor, Department of Criminology, University of the Free State

    Gang-related crime in South Africa is widespread, but is under-reported outside hotspots such as the Cape Flats in Cape Town or Westbury in Johannesburg. In these areas gangs are deeply rooted and contribute to ongoing violence, drug trafficking and territorial conflict.

    But gangs have continued to evolve and gang violence has consistently increased throughout South Africa, particularly in the Gauteng and Free State provinces. In the Free State in the east-central part of the country, devil-worshipping and witchcraft-related gang practices have been reported.

    Gang-related violence is fuelled by poverty, social exclusion, unemployment and the need for protection from rival gangs.



    Read more:
    Here’s how some of Cape Town’s gangsters got out – and stayed out

    In my doctoral study in criminology, I explored the phenomenon of occult-inspired gangs in the Free State. I interviewed 23 active gang members, 16 offenders who weren’t affiliated to gangs, and 18 service providers like social workers and correctional officials working with these groups.

    In a more recent study I developed a typology of occult gangs: a framework that captures their structure, symbolism, hierarchy and spiritual practices.

    This matters because in order to prevent gang-related crime it is essential to understand how they operate.

    The rise of Free State occult gangs

    In 1997, a South African Police Service investigation uncovered a so-called devil worshipping group or “evil church” that had migrated from parts of northern Africa and established itself in Maseru, Lesotho (South Africa’s neighbour). This group reportedly blended occult practices with traditional African witchcraft. This led local communities to label it as a devil-worshipping gang.

    Since 2011, groups like this have expanded across the Free State. There are now about 40 such gangs active in the province, as reported by the police and confirmed in my research. Some of the better known gangs are the Triple 6 (666), Born-To-Kill (BTK), Natural Born Killers (NBK), International Junior Portuguese (IJP), and Maroma (Romans/Romas).

    More typical street gangs are mostly known for expanding their territory through profit from the drug trade and extortion. But these Free State gangs incorporate spirituality and esoterism (special hidden knowledge) to assert dominance, foster cohesion and generate fear within communities.

    They engage in serious crimes including murder, organ trafficking and rape. They are particularly known for acts such as ritual stabbings, cannibalism, and alleged communication with demonic forces.

    The communities in which these groups operate, and gang members themselves, refer to them as “devil worshipping gangs”. This is because of the explicit link between certain gang-related practices and satanism, or the worship of the devil as depicted in the Christian bible.

    Some groups merge beliefs and rituals related to Satan and anti-Christianity with witchcraft. Or they use symbols commonly associated with satanism such as “666” and inverted crosses. But labelling all such groups as “devil worshipping gangs” is misleading. The term “occult gangs” better captures the range of practices involved.

    While both devil worshipping and witchcraft-related practices can play a role in criminal gang activity, they differ in origin and form. Devil worshipping draws from western occult traditions, using symbols and rituals to strengthen gang identity. Witchcraft-based practices typically involve the malicious use of muti (traditional African medicine) and muti murders (murders for body parts to use in muti). As one participant told me:

    Yes, there are gangs that believe in muti. There are also gangs that believe in the devil. IJP and Roma believe in muti, while BTK and Triple 6 believe in getting power from the devil. They say they speak to Lucifer to give them powers.

    So, infamous gangs in the Free State are not only dreaded for their brutality but also for their reported links to ritual murder, blood oaths, the use of muti and the consumption of human organs and blood. According to my research these activities have progressed from being viewed as urban legends and community myths to becoming lived realities.

    Inside the gangs

    My gang typology study sample consisted of 39 male offenders, aged 14 to 38. Participants were either serving sentences or awaiting trial for serious offences such as murder, rape and armed robbery.

    The gang members spoke openly about seeking power through supernatural means. Some believed that consuming blood and participating in occult rituals could make them invisible to police and invincible against their enemies. As one told me:

    The minute you drink blood you are invoking spirits to become part of you, demons to become part of you, and give you the powers that you need to do what you have to do…

    Ritual stabbings, inverted crosses, and the “mark of the beast” (“666”) were part of their gang symbolism – seen in gang graffiti and tattoos and furthered by involvement in spiritual gatherings and the use of muti.

    These elements form part of a shared gang ideology that offers meaning, identity and purpose to marginalised young people. I found that the gang members in my studies often lacked family support, social support or significant formal education.

    To prevent young people from joining gangs, it is crucial to understand what pulls them in. Several participants described joining gangs not only for wealth, protection or status, but for a sense of spiritual power. Especially in communities where traditional religion, ancestral beliefs and Christian teachings coexist and sometimes collide.

    My typology of occult gangs has the potential to inform targeted prevention programmes, rehabilitation efforts and policing strategies that take the spiritual realities of gang members seriously.

    A new approach to fighting crime is needed

    The rise of occult gangs has now progressed beyond the Free State. Similar trends are observed in the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Gauteng and Western Cape provinces.

    The intersection of faith, fear and violence in these gangs challenges mainstream approaches to crime prevention. Traditional anti-gang strategies assume that gangs are driven mainly by socioeconomic factors or rational incentives. They fail to account for spiritual motivations and metaphysical beliefs.

    The presence of ritual elements complicates investigations and amplifies fear. It makes gangs seem more powerful than they are.

    At the same time, public institutions such as the police and social workers often lack the frameworks and cultural sensitivity to address the spiritual dimensions of the offences perpetrated by these groups.

    The struggle with the occult gangs in South Africa mirrors similar challenges in other countries, like Nigeria, the DRC and Haiti, where spiritual symbolism and ritualised violence are central to gang identity.

    Effective interventions must include culturally grounded strategies to help members disengage from gangs, involving traditional leaders, healers, faith-based actors and mental health professionals.



    Read more:
    Rituals, rites and rumours: how women claim power in Zimbabwe’s informal gold mines

    By addressing the spiritual, social, and psychological dimensions of gang involvement, more sustainable pathways out of these groups can be created.

    Gang violence in South Africa is evolving, and so must the response. It shouldn’t just punish young offenders, but offer them a genuine alternative.

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

    – ref. Devil worship, muti and murder: what’s behind the growth of occult gangs in South Africa? – https://theconversation.com/devil-worship-muti-and-murder-whats-behind-the-growth-of-occult-gangs-in-south-africa-260141

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Must Lead the Charge to Reverse Global Fossil Fuel Financing Bans

    Source: APO


    .

    The African Energy Chamber (AEC) (www.EnergyChamber.org) – the voice of the African energy sector – is urging OPEC member states and their allies to take decisive action to reverse global bans on fossil fuel financing and champion Africa’s right to develop its oil and gas resources. As the 9th OPEC International Seminar convened on Tuesday in Vienna, the Chamber reiterated that it is time to urgently put upstream financing back on the table and push back against policies that deny African nations the capital needed to industrialize, grow and lift millions out of poverty.

    For too long, Africa has borne the brunt of contradictory global energy policies. While developed nations continue to fast-track public and private investments into natural gas to bolster their own energy security, multilateral institutions enforce blanket bans on upstream oil and gas financing that disproportionately restrict African countries. In 2019, the European Investment Bank announced it would end fossil fuel financing by 2021, a position echoed by several European development agencies and financial institutions. The World Bank followed suit, gradually phasing out support for oil and gas and culminating in a near-total exclusion of upstream fossil fuel investments. While these policies may align with net-zero targets in wealthy economies, in Africa, they are actively obstructing access to energy, job creation and industrial growth.

    Yet even as development finance dries up abroad, Europe has made clear exceptions for itself. Under its 2022 Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities, the EU classified certain natural gas and nuclear investments as “transitional” – opening the door for continued funding within its borders. The result is a glaring double standard: natural gas is deemed essential for energy security in Berlin and Brussels, but off-limits in Lagos or Dakar. This hypocrisy must be addressed if the global energy transition is to be just and equitable.

    Africa holds more than 125 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and over 620 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, yet over 600 million Africans lack access to electricity, and more than 900 million lack access to clean cooking fuels. In this context, African nations need robust investment in oil and gas infrastructure – not ideological restrictions that ignore the realities on the ground.

    “What Africa needs right now is to drill, baby, drill. Most of our multilateral institutions don’t finance oil and gas – they say it’s wrong. It’s extremely hypocritical. Denying fossil fuel investment is denying economic justice, food security and a pathway out of poverty for millions,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the AEC. “We can’t keep apologizing for oil. No country in the world has developed through renewables alone. OPEC members must pressure institutions like the World Bank to lift their financing bans and support Africa’s right to industrialize.”

    At the OPEC Seminar, the AEC urged producing countries to rally around three urgent financial priorities. First, OPEC members must press the World Bank and other multilateral institutions to lift harmful financing restrictions on fossil fuels. It is untenable that the World Bank – originally established to support post-war reconstruction and global development – continues to deny funding for upstream oil and gas projects across Africa. With recent signals from Bank leadership hinting at a possible policy shift, now is the time for oil-producing nations to push for a reversal that puts energy access and economic transformation in the Global South at the center of development finance.

    Second, OPEC countries – with their sovereign wealth funds and surplus revenues – are uniquely positioned to create a dedicated investment vehicle for fossil fuel development in underfunded markets. An OPEC-led facility focused on financing strategic upstream projects could prove instrumental in unlocking capital for bankable ventures across Africa. Such a fund would not only accelerate production but also help stabilize global supply and pricing.

    Finally, the Chamber emphasizes the need for a pragmatic, dual-track approach to the energy transition that recognizes the differing realities of the Global North and South. While developed nations move toward decarbonization, Africa must prioritize industrialization and energy security. Natural gas – abundant, reliable and cleaner-burning than coal – offers a critical bridge fuel to power fertilizer production, manufacturing, petrochemicals and regional electricity networks.

    True climate justice must include energy justice, which means recognizing Africa’s right to harness its resources, grow its economies and meet the needs of its people on its own terms. Africa does not need charity; it needs capital. As the voice of Africa’s energy sector, the Chamber stands firm in its call for OPEC producers and the World Bank to help deliver it.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Devil worship, muti and murder: what’s behind the growth of occult gangs in South Africa?

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Ashwill Ramon Phillips, Lecturer and Postgraduate Supervisor, Department of Criminology, University of the Free State

    Gang-related crime in South Africa is widespread, but is under-reported outside hotspots such as the Cape Flats in Cape Town or Westbury in Johannesburg. In these areas gangs are deeply rooted and contribute to ongoing violence, drug trafficking and territorial conflict.

    But gangs have continued to evolve and gang violence has consistently increased throughout South Africa, particularly in the Gauteng and Free State provinces. In the Free State in the east-central part of the country, devil-worshipping and witchcraft-related gang practices have been reported.

    Gang-related violence is fuelled by poverty, social exclusion, unemployment and the need for protection from rival gangs.

    Read more: Here’s how some of Cape Town’s gangsters got out – and stayed out

    In my doctoral study in criminology, I explored the phenomenon of occult-inspired gangs in the Free State. I interviewed 23 active gang members, 16 offenders who weren’t affiliated to gangs, and 18 service providers like social workers and correctional officials working with these groups.

    In a more recent study I developed a typology of occult gangs: a framework that captures their structure, symbolism, hierarchy and spiritual practices.

    This matters because in order to prevent gang-related crime it is essential to understand how they operate.

    The rise of Free State occult gangs

    In 1997, a South African Police Service investigation uncovered a so-called devil worshipping group or “evil church” that had migrated from parts of northern Africa and established itself in Maseru, Lesotho (South Africa’s neighbour). This group reportedly blended occult practices with traditional African witchcraft. This led local communities to label it as a devil-worshipping gang.

    A BTK gang tattoo. Ashwill Ramon Phillips

    Since 2011, groups like this have expanded across the Free State. There are now about 40 such gangs active in the province, as reported by the police and confirmed in my research. Some of the better known gangs are the Triple 6 (666), Born-To-Kill (BTK), Natural Born Killers (NBK), International Junior Portuguese (IJP), and Maroma (Romans/Romas).

    More typical street gangs are mostly known for expanding their territory through profit from the drug trade and extortion. But these Free State gangs incorporate spirituality and esoterism (special hidden knowledge) to assert dominance, foster cohesion and generate fear within communities.

    They engage in serious crimes including murder, organ trafficking and rape. They are particularly known for acts such as ritual stabbings, cannibalism, and alleged communication with demonic forces.

    NBK gang tattoo. Ashwill Ramon Phillips

    The communities in which these groups operate, and gang members themselves, refer to them as “devil worshipping gangs”. This is because of the explicit link between certain gang-related practices and satanism, or the worship of the devil as depicted in the Christian bible.

    Some groups merge beliefs and rituals related to Satan and anti-Christianity with witchcraft. Or they use symbols commonly associated with satanism such as “666” and inverted crosses. But labelling all such groups as “devil worshipping gangs” is misleading. The term “occult gangs” better captures the range of practices involved.

    While both devil worshipping and witchcraft-related practices can play a role in criminal gang activity, they differ in origin and form. Devil worshipping draws from western occult traditions, using symbols and rituals to strengthen gang identity. Witchcraft-based practices typically involve the malicious use of muti (traditional African medicine) and muti murders (murders for body parts to use in muti). As one participant told me:

    Yes, there are gangs that believe in muti. There are also gangs that believe in the devil. IJP and Roma believe in muti, while BTK and Triple 6 believe in getting power from the devil. They say they speak to Lucifer to give them powers.

    So, infamous gangs in the Free State are not only dreaded for their brutality but also for their reported links to ritual murder, blood oaths, the use of muti and the consumption of human organs and blood. According to my research these activities have progressed from being viewed as urban legends and community myths to becoming lived realities.

    Inside the gangs

    My gang typology study sample consisted of 39 male offenders, aged 14 to 38. Participants were either serving sentences or awaiting trial for serious offences such as murder, rape and armed robbery.

    The gang members spoke openly about seeking power through supernatural means. Some believed that consuming blood and participating in occult rituals could make them invisible to police and invincible against their enemies. As one told me:

    The minute you drink blood you are invoking spirits to become part of you, demons to become part of you, and give you the powers that you need to do what you have to do…

    A drawing by a Triple 6 gang member. Ashwill Ramon Phillips

    Ritual stabbings, inverted crosses, and the “mark of the beast” (“666”) were part of their gang symbolism – seen in gang graffiti and tattoos and furthered by involvement in spiritual gatherings and the use of muti.

    These elements form part of a shared gang ideology that offers meaning, identity and purpose to marginalised young people. I found that the gang members in my studies often lacked family support, social support or significant formal education.

    To prevent young people from joining gangs, it is crucial to understand what pulls them in. Several participants described joining gangs not only for wealth, protection or status, but for a sense of spiritual power. Especially in communities where traditional religion, ancestral beliefs and Christian teachings coexist and sometimes collide.

    My typology of occult gangs has the potential to inform targeted prevention programmes, rehabilitation efforts and policing strategies that take the spiritual realities of gang members seriously.

    A new approach to fighting crime is needed

    The rise of occult gangs has now progressed beyond the Free State. Similar trends are observed in the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Gauteng and Western Cape provinces.

    The intersection of faith, fear and violence in these gangs challenges mainstream approaches to crime prevention. Traditional anti-gang strategies assume that gangs are driven mainly by socioeconomic factors or rational incentives. They fail to account for spiritual motivations and metaphysical beliefs.

    The presence of ritual elements complicates investigations and amplifies fear. It makes gangs seem more powerful than they are.

    At the same time, public institutions such as the police and social workers often lack the frameworks and cultural sensitivity to address the spiritual dimensions of the offences perpetrated by these groups.

    A drawing by a BTK gang member. Ashwill Ramon Phillips

    The struggle with the occult gangs in South Africa mirrors similar challenges in other countries, like Nigeria, the DRC and Haiti, where spiritual symbolism and ritualised violence are central to gang identity.

    Effective interventions must include culturally grounded strategies to help members disengage from gangs, involving traditional leaders, healers, faith-based actors and mental health professionals.

    Read more: Rituals, rites and rumours: how women claim power in Zimbabwe’s informal gold mines

    By addressing the spiritual, social, and psychological dimensions of gang involvement, more sustainable pathways out of these groups can be created.

    Gang violence in South Africa is evolving, and so must the response. It shouldn’t just punish young offenders, but offer them a genuine alternative.

    – Devil worship, muti and murder: what’s behind the growth of occult gangs in South Africa?
    – https://theconversation.com/devil-worship-muti-and-murder-whats-behind-the-growth-of-occult-gangs-in-south-africa-260141

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Over 1.6 million children live in families made poorer by the two-child limit on benefits – new data

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ruth Patrick, Professor in Social Policy, University of Glasgow

    New government statistics released today show the reach of the two-child limit. There are 1,665,540 children in England, Scotland and Wales living in households affected by the two-child limit, an increase of over 35,000 from the same time in 2024.

    The two-child limit restricts means-tested child benefits to the first two children in a household, subject to some exceptions.

    Its sister policy, the benefit cap, affects over 115,000 households, including 300,000 children. It routinely pushes families into deep poverty, far below the standard poverty line of 60% of median income.

    The benefit cap places a limit on the total amount a household can receive if no-one in the household earns a minimum amount, again subject to some exceptions linked to receipt of disability benefits.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

    Over the past five years, we have been part of a team of academic researchers investigating the impact of both policies on families with three or more children. We’ve found that these policies drive up poverty, creating deprivation and hardship. This in turn causes sustained and severe harm to children and their families.

    The two-child limit and benefit cap leave many families living with extreme financial insecurity. They harm parental mental health, as mothers and fathers struggle to try and make an inadequate income stretch to meet the needs of their children.

    Parents are struggling to make their income go far enough.
    Odua Images/Shutterstock

    In addition, these policies do not fall evenly across the population when looking at ethnicity. Overall, 70% of the families affected by the two-child limit are white, as are 66% affected by the benefit cap. But our new analysis shows that children from an ethnic minority are up to three times as likely as white children to be affected by the two-child limit. They are also up to four times as likely to be affected by the benefit cap.

    Alongside administrative statistics, we have analysed household survey data, published today as a policy brief. We find that one in five children from Pakistani families and one in four children from Bangladeshi families are now affected by the two-child limit.

    Rising poverty

    Our analysis also indicates that these policies are contributing to very high and rising levels of poverty. We estimate that 66% of Bangladeshi children, 60% of Pakistani children, and nearly half (48%) of black children live in poverty. This compares to one in four (24%) white children living below the poverty line – still far too many.

    This new analysis provides us with better understanding of where the damage done by both policies is falling. It’s an important reminder of how the two-child limit and benefit cap directly conflict with ambitions not only to act on child poverty, but also to reduce systematic inequalities linked to ethnicity.

    Scrapping the two-child limit would give larger families access to benefits they currently miss out on – but it would not have any effect on smaller families living in poverty, so isn’t the only policy solution needed.

    Nonetheless, analysis by the Resolution Foundation has shown that getting rid of the two-child limit – which would cost £1.4 billion – is by far the most cost-effective way to reduce the number of children living in poverty. Spending £1.4 billion in other ways – for example by increasing benefits for all families – would make less difference to child poverty than if the two-child limit were ended.

    It’s also important to keep in mind the impact on the depth of poverty. Larger families tend to be living further below the poverty line. Scrapping the two-child limit will make a big difference in many households, even if they are not lifted out of poverty as a result.

    Labour came into government on a manifesto of “change”, and Keir Starmer has promised to be “laser-focused” in his commitment to drive down poverty.

    Labour have already said that they want to get rid of the two-child limit, arguing that they just need to find the money to do so. The government has established a child poverty taskforce, due to report in the autumn, and made a first concrete policy commitment with the extension of free school meals provision for families in England. But there is no alternative to serious action on social security benefits if significant progress is to be made.

    Ruth Patrick receives funding from a range of funders including Nuffield Foundation, AFFT, Trust for London, The Robertson Trust and the Centre for Impact on Urban Health. She is a member of The Labour Party.

    Kitty Stewart has received funding from the Nuffield Foundation and from LSE for the research reported in this article.

    – ref. Over 1.6 million children live in families made poorer by the two-child limit on benefits – new data – https://theconversation.com/over-1-6-million-children-live-in-families-made-poorer-by-the-two-child-limit-on-benefits-new-data-260449

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • MIL-OSI: Odin Stem Cells Becomes First Nationwide In Home Stem Cell Company Infused with Love Through Groundbreaking Partnership with The World’s Greatest Experiment

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MIAMI, July 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In a bold move set to redefine the future of wellness, Odin Stem Cells has announced a transformative partnership with The World’s Greatest Experiment—a global initiative known for uplifting communities in poverty by teaching them to meditate and send love to people, products, and organizations around the world. With this alliance, Odin becomes the first stem cell company in the world whose treatments and clients receive daily love meditations from a global network of meditators, many of whom are rising out of extreme poverty through their participation.

    Odin Stem Cells, co-founded by Nico Seedsman, is a leading regenerative teli-health company specializing in cutting-edge stem cell therapies that support healing, recovery, and overall vitality. Known for their science-backed, non-invasive treatments aimed at reducing inflammation, accelerating repair, and improving quality of life, Odin serves clients ranging from athletes and chronic pain sufferers to those seeking anti-aging and cellular rejuvenation solutions. Now, thanks to this partnership, each treatment comes with something no other clinic in the world offers: love.

    Love as a New Dimension of Healing

    At the heart of this partnership lies a revolutionary idea: that love is medicine. Every Odin client and treatment now receives daily love meditations from trained meditators in The World’s Greatest Experiment. These are not ordinary sessions—they are soulful, focused intentions of well-being, sent by individuals whose lives are being transformed through this very act of giving.

    “Science and spirit have long lived in separate worlds, but we believe they belong together,” said Nico Seedsman. “With The World’s Greatest Experiment, we are pioneering a new frontier of wellness where advanced medicine is complemented by love, intention, and global consciousness.”

    Transforming Lives on Both Ends

    This collaboration isn’t just transforming how healing is delivered—it’s changing lives around the world. Participants in The World’s Greatest Experiment are individuals who were once trapped in cycles of poverty, now empowered through access to food, education, clean water, and shelter. In return, they meditate daily to send love to Odin clients and the greater collective.

    “These are people who once had no hope,” said Aidan, founder of The World’s Greatest Experiment. “Now they are practicing daily meditation, receiving an income, and realizing their purpose in the world—not just surviving, but spiritually thriving. And the love they send is changing lives in clinics and homes around the world.”

    This regenerative cycle of giving and receiving is more than charity. It is a new economic and energetic model, where consciousness becomes a currency—and where healing becomes multidimensional.

    A Call to Conscious Companies

    Odin’s partnership is not just a milestone—it’s a movement. The collaboration signals to other businesses that it’s possible—and powerful—to integrate love and human upliftment into their core offerings.

    “We hope Odin will be the first of many,” said Aidan. “Any product or service can be infused with love. Imagine a world where your coffee, your clothing, your skincare—everything you consume—is connected to a web of people sending it love and lifting themselves out of poverty in the process.”

    The Invitation

    Odin Stem Cells is already seeing a groundswell of interest—not just from clients curious about the added dimension of healing, but from wellness practitioners, researchers, and conscious entrepreneurs eager to participate in this energetic revolution.

    As this partnership unfolds, it serves as a beacon: a new paradigm of commerce, healing, and shared humanity.

    To learn more, visit www.odinstemcells.com and www.theworldsgreatestexperiment.com. Businesses interested in partnering to infuse love into their offerings are encouraged to reach out.

    Media Contacts
    The Worlds Greatest Experiment Inc
    Aidan Uttinger
    connect@twge.org

    Odin Stem Cells
    Lance Paul
    Lance@odinstemcells.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Building Trust through Effective Service Delivery in Africa

    Source: APO


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    The World Bank’s annual Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) report for Sub-Saharan Africa, released today, reveals that despite a stable average CPIA score for the region, there is an urgent need for governments in Africa to improve the delivery of essential services to promote inclusive, sustainable growth.

    The CPIA Africa report evaluates the quality of policy and institutional reforms in IDA-eligible countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for the calendar year 2024. According to the report, the average CPIA score for the region remained similar to 2023 at 3.1 points (out of 6). While some areas saw strong reforms, poor performance in governance offset these gains, and improvements were concentrated in already well-performing countries.

    The CPIA report underscores that meeting the needs of African citizens will require mobilizing the government to provide services amidst limited external financing. The report serves as a vital guide for policymakers and international investors, identifying specific reform actions to support effective public service delivery and foster a more resilient and prosperous future for Sub-Saharan Africa.

    Against this backdrop, the report notes a trend in public discontent in 2024 – a year that was marked by youth protests and a notable decline in political support for incumbents across the continent. This is mirrored in survey results in the region that have shown growing dissatisfaction with the quality of public services, which continue to lag other regions, particularly in infrastructure, human capital, security, and administrative capabilities.

    “Confidence in a government’s ability to efficiently transform public resources into essential services is fundamental to fostering a shared purpose with citizens and improving trust,” said Andrew Dabalen, World Bank Chief Economist for Africa. “Populations across Africa are clearly asking for more from their leaders to enable them to realize their aspirations. Our CPIA Africa report underscores the urgent need for transparent management of public resources and effective delivery of quality services to address growing dissatisfaction and enable citizens to reach their full potential.”

    The report details significant shortfalls across various public service sectors. Infrastructure-related services, including transport, remain underdeveloped, hindering economic activity and quality of life. High poverty levels are exacerbated by a lack of access to public infrastructure, particularly in sanitation. Human capital development is hampered by poor educational quality and inadequate health services, limiting citizens’ well-being and earning prospects as they enter the workforce. Furthermore, the ability of governments to provide basic security has been undermined, with conflict-related casualties nearly tripling between 2014 and 2024. Administrative services, crucial for a thriving business environment, also lag, with Sub-Saharan Africa performing poorly in areas like business location and financial services.

    Despite these challenges, the report notes some positive developments. Many countries have shown improved fiscal discipline, tackling high wage bills and fuel subsidies, and making progress in debt consolidation. Efforts to implement trade facilitation agreements, leverage digital technologies, and strengthen financial sector regulation are also underway. The report also highlights progress in empowering adolescent girls through legal and policy reforms and strengthening of social protection systems.

    “While some countries have made commendable strides in fiscal prudence and digital transformation, issues of weak governance, limited transparency, and insufficient implementation capacity continue to undermine efforts to deliver essential services. Addressing these fundamental challenges is not just about economic growth; it’s about showing people that governments can work for them to help create a better path for the future,” added Nicholas Woolley, the CPIA report’s lead author.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The World Bank Group.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Golar LNG Reaches Commercial Operations Date (COD) at Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) Project, Joins African Energy Week (AEW) 2025 as Gold Partner

    Source: APO


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    Golar LNG has officially announced that its FLNG Gimi vessel has reached its Commercial Operations Date (COD) under the 20‑year lease-and-operate agreement for the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas project offshore Mauritania and Senegal. Achieving COD triggers the commencement of this long-term contract – unlocking approximately $3 billion in adjusted EBITDA backlog for Golar – and marks a major milestone in positioning both countries as emerging LNG exporters.

    The Gimi FLNG unit will initially produce 2.4 million tons of LNG per annum, with plans to ramp up to its full capacity of 2.7 million tons. Backed by an estimated 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the GTA project is expected to bolster regional and global energy security while stimulating economic growth in both host nations.

    In line with its growing presence in Africa’s energy landscape, Golar LNG has joined the 2025 edition of African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energies as a Gold Partner. Taking place from September 29 to October 3 in Cape Town, AEW 2025 brings together African governments, energy companies and global investors to explore and advance opportunities across the energy value chain. The event serves as a strategic platform for companies like Golar LNG to showcase innovative FLNG solutions and their long-term commitment to Africa’s energy development.

    Golar LNG’s participation at AEW aligns with the event’s broader vision to develop Africa’s estimated 620 trillion cubic feet of natural gas as a catalyst for energy security and poverty alleviation. In June 2024, the company signed a Project Development Agreement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for a new FLNG facility in the Niger Delta. The project is designed to liquefy 400–500 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, contributing to Nigeria’s Decade of Gas Initiative and its goal to harness 209 trillion cubic feet of reserves to expand access to cleaner, more reliable energy.

    Golar LNG has also played a pioneering role in Cameroon’s gas sector since 2018, operating the 2.4-million-ton-per-annum Hilli Episeyo FLNG facility. As the company continues to grow its balance sheet and expand its footprint across the continent, AEW: Invest in African Energies offers an unparalleled opportunity to engage African stakeholders and pursue new prospects across the natural gas value chain.

    “The commercial launch of the Gimi FLNG facility is a major step forward for the MSGBC Basin and Africa’s LNG market,” says Ore Onagbesan, Program Director, AEW. “As countries like Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania work to monetize their offshore gas resources, innovative and reliable partners such as Golar LNG will play a vital role in driving sustainable growth and long-term value.”

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

    About AEW:
    Invest in African Energies is the platform of choice for project operators, financiers, technology providers and government, and has emerged as the official place to sign deals in African energy. Visit www.AECWeek.com for more information about this exciting event.

    MIL OSI Africa –