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Category: Education

  • MIL-Evening Report: What did ancient Rome smell like? Honestly, often pretty rank

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas J. Derrick, Gale Research Fellow in Ancient Glass and Material Culture, Macquarie University

    minoandriani/Getty Images

    The roar of the arena crowd, the bustle of the Roman forum, the grand temples, the Roman army in red with glistening shields and armour – when people imagine ancient Rome, they often think of its sights and sounds. We know less, however, about the scents of ancient Rome.

    We cannot, of course, go back and sniff to find out. But the literary texts, physical remains of structures, objects, and environmental evidence (such as plants and animals) can offer clues.

    So what might ancient Rome have smelled like?

    Honestly, often pretty rank

    In describing the smells of plants, author and naturalist Pliny the Elder uses words such as iucundus (agreeable), acutus (pungent), vis (strong), or dilutus (weak).

    None of that language is particularly evocative in its power to transport us back in time, unfortunately.

    But we can probably safely assume that, in many areas, Rome was likely pretty dirty and rank-smelling. Property owners did not commonly connect their toilets to the sewers in large Roman towns and cities – perhaps fearing rodent incursions or odours.

    Roman sewers were more like storm drains, and served to take standing water away from public areas.

    Professionals collected faeces for fertiliser and urine for cloth processing from domestic and public latrines and cesspits. Chamber pots were also used, which could later be dumped in cesspits.

    This waste disposal process was just for those who could afford to live in houses; many lived in small, non-domestic spaces, barely furnished apartments, or on the streets.

    A common whiff in the Roman city would have come from the animals and the waste they created. Roman bakeries frequently used large lava stone mills (or “querns”) turned by mules or donkeys. Then there was the smell of pack animals and livestock being brought into town for slaughter or sale.

    Animals were part of life in the Roman empire.
    Marco_Piunti/Getty Images

    The large “stepping-stones” still seen in the streets of Pompeii were likely so people could cross streets and avoid the assorted feculence that covered the paving stones.

    Disposal of corpses (animals and human) was not formulaic. Depending on the class of the person who had died, people might well have been left out in the open without cremation or burial.

    Bodies, potentially decaying, were a more common sight in ancient Rome than now.

    Suetonius, writing in the first century CE, famously wrote of a dog carrying a severed human hand to the dining table of the Emperor Vespasian.

    Deodorants and toothpastes

    In a world devoid of today’s modern scented products – and daily bathing by most of the population – ancient Roman settlements would have smelt of body odour.

    Classical literature has some recipes for toothpaste and even deodorants.

    However, many of the deodorants were to be used orally (chewed or swallowed) to stop one’s armpits smelling.

    One was made by boiling golden thistle root in fine wine to induce urination (which was thought to flush out odour).

    The Roman baths would likely not have been as hygienic as they may appear to tourists visiting today. A small tub in a public bath could hold between eight and 12 bathers.

    The Romans had soap, but it wasn’t commonly used for personal hygiene. Olive oil (including scented oil) was preferred. It was scraped off the skin with a strigil (a bronze curved tool).

    This oil and skin combination was then discarded (maybe even slung at a wall). Baths had drains – but as oil and water don’t mix, it was likely pretty grimy.

    Scented perfumes

    The Romans did have perfumes and incense.

    The invention of glassblowing in the late first century BCE (likely in Roman-controlled Jerusalem) made glass readily available, and glass perfume bottles are a common archaeological find.

    Animal and plant fats were infused with scents – such as rose, cinnamon, iris, frankincense and saffron – and were mixed with medicinal ingredients and pigments.

    The roses of Paestum in Campania (southern Italy) were particularly prized, and a perfume shop has even been excavated in the city’s Roman forum.

    The trading power of the vast Roman empire meant spices could be sourced from India and the surrounding regions.

    There were warehouses for storing spices such as pepper, cinnamon and myrrh in the centre of Rome.

    In a recent Oxford Journal of Archaeology article, researcher Cecilie Brøns writes that even ancient statues could be perfumed with scented oils.

    Sources frequently do not describe the smell of perfumes used to anoint the statues, but a predominantly rose-based perfume is specifically mentioned for this purpose in inscriptions from the Greek city of Delos (at which archaeologists have also identified perfume workshops). Beeswax was likely added to perfumes as a stabiliser.

    Enhancing the scent of statues (particularly those of gods and goddesses) with perfumes and garlands was important in their veneration and worship.

    An olfactory onslaught

    The ancient city would have smelt like human waste, wood smoke, rotting and decay, cremating flesh, cooking food, perfumes and incense, and many other things.

    It sounds awful to a modern person, but it seems the Romans did not complain about the smell of the ancient city that much.

    Perhaps, as historian Neville Morley has suggested, to them these were the smells of home or even of the height of civilisation.

    Thomas J. Derrick 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. What did ancient Rome smell like? Honestly, often pretty rank – https://theconversation.com/what-did-ancient-rome-smell-like-honestly-often-pretty-rank-257111

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: News laws to make it harder for large Australian and foreign companies to avoid paying tax

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kerrie Sadiq, Professor of Taxation, QUT Business School, and ARC Future Fellow, Queensland University of Technology

    The Conversation, CC BY

    The beginning of the financial year means for the first time in Australia the public will see previously unreleased tax reports produced by multinational taxpayers.

    These documents, known as country-by-country reports, or CbCR for short, contain information about the tax practices of large Australian businesses and foreign businesses operating in Australia. This information, previously only available to the taxpayer and the Australian Tax Office, will be made public.

    Country-by-country reports, announced in the October 2022-2023 budget, were introduced with other measures designed to improve corporate tax behaviour. The reports will be released from this week as part of corporate reporting practices. Multinationals have 12 months to comply.

    A fairer tax system

    Country-by-country reporting forms part of the government’s multinational tax integrity election commitment package. The aim is to ensure a fairer and more sustainable tax system. Large firms will be required to publish a statement on their global activities plus tax information for each jurisdiction in which they operate.

    Until now, large multinationals only had to prepare annual consolidated financial statements under international financial reporting standards. The traditional reports aggregate results and provide limited geographic reporting information.

    Traditional high-level reporting allows multinationals to conceal their country-level activities. This hides questionable tax practices.

    Country-by-country reporting allows us to better see where a multinational operates. More importantly, the amount of activity in each jurisdiction is reported. The information provides clues as to whether artificial profit shifting has occurred.

    Anyone interested can uncover details about how multinationals structure their global operations. Information may reveal a misalignment between the company’s real economic presence in a country, the profits they book and taxes they pay in that country.

    Bringing Australia into line with the EU

    Country-by-country reporting is not new. It is the requirement that the information be made public that has changed.

    Australian firms have been required to provide such reports to the Australian Tax Office since 2016. However, the information has been confidential.

    The new public disclosure law brings Australia in line with large firms operating in the European Union which brought in the change last year.

    How country-by-country reporting works

    A taxpayer with annual global income above A$1 billion and at least A$10 million of its turnover Australian-sourced will need to produce a report. The obligation to disclose rests with the parent entity no matter where they are located.

    Australia’s largest companies, including mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP, biotech firm CSL, and investment bank Macquarie Group, will be among those expected to report, as will foreign tech behemoths such as Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta.

    These tech giants are the same US firms likely to be excluded from the global minimum tax rules under a G7 agreement reached last week. Under the agreement, US multinationals were exempted from paying more corporate tax overseas. Other G7 members gave in to protect their own companies from the US’s threat of retaliation.

    Under the law change in Australia, a parent entity will provide its name, the names of all members of the group, a description of their approach to tax, and information about operations in certain countries. Included on the list are countries that attract multinationals due to reduced tax obligations, such as Singapore, Switzerland, and the Bahamas.

    Everyone will be able to see where a multinational is operating. They will also see the types of business activities conducted, number of employees, assets, revenue, and taxes paid. Large profits in a country but little business activity and very few employees may raise questions, especially if a country has a low tax rate.

    Benefits of better transparency

    Access to the extra information will help investors assess the tax and reputational risk of a firm. A multinational that shifts profits to low tax countries may be audited and pay extra tax and penalties.

    Increased transparency allows greater scrutiny. In turn, it is hoped multinationals will reduce aggressive tax planning due to potential risk to their reputation.

    If multinationals shift less taxable profits out of Australia to low-tax or no-tax jurisdictions, this will lead to Australia receiving a greater share of much needed corporate tax revenue.

    Reducing profit shifting

    Recent academic research on public country-by-country reporting reveals it provides additional information to better identify tax haven activity. However, it does not result in a significant drop in corporate tax avoidance.

    Increased tax transparency helps investors and tax authorities to better understand a multinational’s economic and tax geographic footprint. It is also important when it seems that US giants will be excluded from the 15% global minimum tax rules. Transparency by itself, however, does not lead to multinationals paying more corporate taxes.

    By its very nature, tax avoidance is legal but pushes the boundaries by going against the spirit of the law. Indeed, many large multinationals argue tax is a legal obligation and is not voluntary. They maintain they pay the tax required of them according to the law.

    Undoubtedly, Australia’s new public country-by-country regime is a positive step for tax transparency. As a country initiative, it has been applauded as groundbreaking and world leading. However, it is not a panacea to corporate tax avoidance.

    To limit corporate tax avoidance and have multinationals pay more corporate taxes, we must get to the heart of the problem. We must change the law that dictates the way multinationals are taxed.

    Kerrie Sadiq currently receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She has previously received research grants from CPA Australia and CAANZ.

    Rodney Brown has previously received research grants from CPA Australia and CAANZ.

    – ref. News laws to make it harder for large Australian and foreign companies to avoid paying tax – https://theconversation.com/news-laws-to-make-it-harder-for-large-australian-and-foreign-companies-to-avoid-paying-tax-260004

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: News laws to make it harder for large Australian and foreign companies to avoid paying tax

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kerrie Sadiq, Professor of Taxation, QUT Business School, and ARC Future Fellow, Queensland University of Technology

    The Conversation, CC BY

    The beginning of the financial year means for the first time in Australia the public will see previously unreleased tax reports produced by multinational taxpayers.

    These documents, known as country-by-country reports, or CbCR for short, contain information about the tax practices of large Australian businesses and foreign businesses operating in Australia. This information, previously only available to the taxpayer and the Australian Tax Office, will be made public.

    Country-by-country reports, announced in the October 2022-2023 budget, were introduced with other measures designed to improve corporate tax behaviour. The reports will be released from this week as part of corporate reporting practices. Multinationals have 12 months to comply.

    A fairer tax system

    Country-by-country reporting forms part of the government’s multinational tax integrity election commitment package. The aim is to ensure a fairer and more sustainable tax system. Large firms will be required to publish a statement on their global activities plus tax information for each jurisdiction in which they operate.

    Until now, large multinationals only had to prepare annual consolidated financial statements under international financial reporting standards. The traditional reports aggregate results and provide limited geographic reporting information.

    Traditional high-level reporting allows multinationals to conceal their country-level activities. This hides questionable tax practices.

    Country-by-country reporting allows us to better see where a multinational operates. More importantly, the amount of activity in each jurisdiction is reported. The information provides clues as to whether artificial profit shifting has occurred.

    Anyone interested can uncover details about how multinationals structure their global operations. Information may reveal a misalignment between the company’s real economic presence in a country, the profits they book and taxes they pay in that country.

    Bringing Australia into line with the EU

    Country-by-country reporting is not new. It is the requirement that the information be made public that has changed.

    Australian firms have been required to provide such reports to the Australian Tax Office since 2016. However, the information has been confidential.

    The new public disclosure law brings Australia in line with large firms operating in the European Union which brought in the change last year.

    How country-by-country reporting works

    A taxpayer with annual global income above A$1 billion and at least A$10 million of its turnover Australian-sourced will need to produce a report. The obligation to disclose rests with the parent entity no matter where they are located.

    Australia’s largest companies, including mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP, biotech firm CSL, and investment bank Macquarie Group, will be among those expected to report, as will foreign tech behemoths such as Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta.

    These tech giants are the same US firms likely to be excluded from the global minimum tax rules under a G7 agreement reached last week. Under the agreement, US multinationals were exempted from paying more corporate tax overseas. Other G7 members gave in to protect their own companies from the US’s threat of retaliation.

    Under the law change in Australia, a parent entity will provide its name, the names of all members of the group, a description of their approach to tax, and information about operations in certain countries. Included on the list are countries that attract multinationals due to reduced tax obligations, such as Singapore, Switzerland, and the Bahamas.

    Everyone will be able to see where a multinational is operating. They will also see the types of business activities conducted, number of employees, assets, revenue, and taxes paid. Large profits in a country but little business activity and very few employees may raise questions, especially if a country has a low tax rate.

    Benefits of better transparency

    Access to the extra information will help investors assess the tax and reputational risk of a firm. A multinational that shifts profits to low tax countries may be audited and pay extra tax and penalties.

    Increased transparency allows greater scrutiny. In turn, it is hoped multinationals will reduce aggressive tax planning due to potential risk to their reputation.

    If multinationals shift less taxable profits out of Australia to low-tax or no-tax jurisdictions, this will lead to Australia receiving a greater share of much needed corporate tax revenue.

    Reducing profit shifting

    Recent academic research on public country-by-country reporting reveals it provides additional information to better identify tax haven activity. However, it does not result in a significant drop in corporate tax avoidance.

    Increased tax transparency helps investors and tax authorities to better understand a multinational’s economic and tax geographic footprint. It is also important when it seems that US giants will be excluded from the 15% global minimum tax rules. Transparency by itself, however, does not lead to multinationals paying more corporate taxes.

    By its very nature, tax avoidance is legal but pushes the boundaries by going against the spirit of the law. Indeed, many large multinationals argue tax is a legal obligation and is not voluntary. They maintain they pay the tax required of them according to the law.

    Undoubtedly, Australia’s new public country-by-country regime is a positive step for tax transparency. As a country initiative, it has been applauded as groundbreaking and world leading. However, it is not a panacea to corporate tax avoidance.

    To limit corporate tax avoidance and have multinationals pay more corporate taxes, we must get to the heart of the problem. We must change the law that dictates the way multinationals are taxed.

    Kerrie Sadiq currently receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She has previously received research grants from CPA Australia and CAANZ.

    Rodney Brown has previously received research grants from CPA Australia and CAANZ.

    – ref. News laws to make it harder for large Australian and foreign companies to avoid paying tax – https://theconversation.com/news-laws-to-make-it-harder-for-large-australian-and-foreign-companies-to-avoid-paying-tax-260004

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Farming within Earth’s limits is still possible – but it will take a Herculean effort

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michalis Hadjikakou, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Sustainability, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Engineering & Built Environment, Deakin University

    Patrick Pleul/Getty

    The way we currently produce and consume food takes a big toll on the environment.

    Worldwide, farming is responsible for more than 20% of greenhouse gas emissions and uses more than 70% of all fresh water taken from rivers, lakes and groundwater. It’s the leading driver of deforestation and nutrient pollution, largely from fertiliser run-off. All of these pose a serious threat to ecosystems.

    If this sounds serious, it’s because it is. If emissions and land clearing trends continue, the world’s food system alone could make it impossible to meet climate targets. If we continue eating and producing food in the same way we are now, we will almost certainly exceed crucial environmental limits by 2050.

    What can be done? In our new research, we looked for ways to keep the food system within environmental limits by 2050. We found only one approach worked: combine high-impact changes such as shifting to flexitarian (low meat) diets, improving farming practices and reducing food waste.

    Why will farming take us past environmental limits?

    Environmental limits are also known as planetary boundaries. These nine boundaries are Earth’s natural safety limits. They range from freshwater resources to the biosphere to the climate. Human activities have pushed past six out of nine safe boundaries through clearing too much land, overusing water for irrigation, overapplying fertilisers or emitting more than our shrinking carbon budget permits.

    If we cross these thresholds, we risk dangerous and irreversible changes to the conditions supporting a stable planet.

    Transforming the way we farm and eat is essential if we are to keep humanity in a safe operating space within environmental limits.

    The 2021 documentary Breaking Boundaries focused on the very real dangers of breaching planetary limits.

    What does this transformation look like?

    The challenge of making food production sustainable is long-running. Previous research has compared the effectiveness of different changes authorities and consumers could make. But most studies used different models, making it hard to compare changes.

    To overcome this problem, we synthesised information from previous studies and built a database of thousands of future food system scenarios and possible changes. Then we performed a meta-analysis to combine data from multiple studies and draw more robust conclusions.

    This approach allows policymakers and researchers to compare apples and apples, as well as see which combination of changes would let us stay within crucial safety limits by 2050.

    We focused on four vital indicators: how much land and water is used for farming; the amount of greenhouse gases emitted; and the flows of two key nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus.

    What works best?

    What stood out was the sheer variation in effectiveness. Some changes would work very well across several areas, while others would take a lot of effort for not enough result.

    Two changes punch well above their weight on land, water and emissions.

    The first is shifting to a flexitarian diet with fewer foods sourced from animals. This is similar to traditional regional diets such as the Mediterranean and Okinawan diets, where meat and dairy are eaten in much smaller proportions compared to whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes.

    Returning to this diet could shrink how much land we use for farming by almost a quarter (24%), cut water demand by 14% and slash greenhouse gas emissions by 47%.

    Traditional diets such as the Mediterranean diet rely less on animal products and more on plants, nuts, oils and legumes.
    monticello/Shutterstock

    The second is breeding better livestock. Livestock today are much better at converting their feed into meat or milk than their precursors. But this could be better still. More productive animals could enable an 18% reduction in land use, a 10% drop in water use and a 34% cut to emissions.

    Modern fertilisers have made it possible to produce many more crops and fodder. But if too much fertiliser is applied, it can wash off after rain and pollute waterways.

    Better timed and more precise application of fertiliser is by far the best way to cut nutrient pollution. Major improvements here could cut nitrogen pollution by 39% and phosphorus pollution by 42%. As a side benefit, it could save farmers money.

    Increasing crop yields, lowering agricultural emissions through better soil management and other practices, and taking up technologies such as methane-reducing supplements can significantly reduce our risk of exceeding environmental limits. So too can cutting food waste and using water more wisely in farming. Our extended results show the relative benefits of ten possible interventions.

    There is no silver bullet

    We found no single change was up to the task of making food production and consumption sustainable.

    We considered over a million possible combinations of changes. Of these combinations, only a tiny fraction – 0.02% – give us a fighting chance of staying within all environmental limits.

    In almost all successful combinations, the world would need to make significant cuts to how many calories come from animals, make big improvements to fertiliser use and nutrient management, and focus research and development on finding ways to farm land and livestock with less resources and emissions.

    Most successful combinations also rely on halving food waste and reducing overconsumption.

    Is it still possible?

    Farming within the limits of Earth’s systems will be hard. But it is possible.

    Some work is already being done. Global organisations such as the United Nations are making a concerted effort to accelerate changes to food systems across many countries.

    Research like ours can make people feel powerless. But individual change is always worthwhile. Reducing your intake of animal products benefits your health and the planet.

    Properly addressing these very real issues will take concerted, collective work. If we don’t succeed, we risk triggering ecological collapse – and threatening the foundation for human civilisation.

    The knowledge and tools are at hand. What’s needed now is ambition – and a sense of what’s at stake.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Farming within Earth’s limits is still possible – but it will take a Herculean effort – https://theconversation.com/farming-within-earths-limits-is-still-possible-but-it-will-take-a-herculean-effort-259901

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Gum disease, decay, missing teeth: why people with mental illness have poorer oral health

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bonnie Clough, Senior Lecturer, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University

    mihailomilovanovic/Getty Images

    People with poor mental health face many challenges. One that’s perhaps lesser known is that they’re more likely than the overall population to have poor oral health.

    Research has shown people with serious mental illness are four times more likely than the general population to have gum disease. They’re nearly three times more likely to have lost all their teeth due to problems such as gum disease and tooth decay.

    Serious mental illnesses include major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. These conditions affect about 800,000 Australians.

    People living with schizophrenia have, on average, eight more teeth that are decayed, missing or filled than the general population.

    So why does this link exist? And what can we do to address the problem?

    Why is this a problem?

    Oral health problems are expensive to fix and can make it hard for people to eat, socialise, work or even just smile.

    What’s more, dental issues can land people in hospital. Our research shows dental conditions are the third most common reason for preventable hospital admissions among people with serious mental illness.

    Meanwhile, poor oral health is linked with long-term health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, and even cognitive problems. This is because the bacteria associated with gum diseases can cause inflammation throughout the body, which affects other systems in the body.

    Why are mental health and oral health linked?

    Poor mental and oral health share common risk factors. Social factors such as isolation, unemployment and housing insecurity can worsen both oral and mental health.

    For example, unemployment increases the risk of oral disease. This can be due to financial difficulties, reduced access to oral health care, or potential changes to diet and hygiene practices.

    At the same time, oral disease can increase barriers to finding employment, due to stigma, discrimination, dental pain and associated long-term health conditions.

    It’s clear the relationship between oral health and mental health goes both ways. Dental disease can reduce self-esteem and increase psychological distress. Meanwhile, symptoms of mental health conditions, such as low motivation, can make engaging in good oral health practices, including brushing, flossing, and visiting the dentist, more difficult.

    And like many people, those with serious mental illness can experience significant anxiety about going to the dentist. They may also have experienced trauma in the past, which can make visiting a dental clinic a frightening experience.

    Separately, poor oral health can be made worse by some medications for mental health conditions. Certain medications can interfere with saliva production, reducing the protective barrier that covers the teeth. Some may also increase sugar cravings, which heightens the risk of tooth decay.

    Some medications people take for mental health conditions can affect oral health.
    Gladskikh Tatiana/Shutterstock

    Our research

    In a recent study, we interviewed young people with mental illness. Our findings show the significant personal costs of dental disease among people with mental illness, and highlight the relationship between oral and mental health.

    Smiling is one of our best ways to communicate, but we found people with serious mental illness were sometimes embarrassed and ashamed to smile due to poor oral health.

    One participant told us:

    [poor oral health is] not only [about] the physical aspects of restricting how you eat, but it’s also about your mental health in terms of your self-esteem, your self-confidence, and basic wellbeing, which sort of drives me to become more isolated.

    Another said:

    for me, it was that serious fear of – God my teeth are looking really crap, and in the past they’ve [dental practitioners] asked, “Hey, you’ve missed this spot; what’s happening?”. How do I explain to them, hey, I’ve had some really shitty stuff happening and I have a very serious episode of depression?

    What can we do?

    Another of our recent studies focused on improving oral health awareness and behaviours among young adults experiencing mental health difficulties. We found a brief online oral health education program improved participants’ oral health knowledge and attitudes.

    Improving oral health can result in improved mental wellbeing, self-esteem and quality of life. But achieving this isn’t always easy.

    Limited Medicare coverage for dental care means oral diseases are frequently treated late, particularly among people with mental illness. By this time, more invasive treatments, such as removal of teeth, are often required.

    It’s crucial the health system takes a holistic approach to caring for people experiencing serious mental illness. That means we have mental health staff who ask questions about oral health, and dental practitioners who are trained to manage the unique oral health needs of people with serious mental illness.

    It also means increasing government funding for oral health services – promotion, prevention and improved interdisciplinary care. This includes better collaboration between oral health, mental health, and peer and informal support sectors.

    Amanda Wheeler is an investigator on a MetroSouth Health 2025 grant exploring use of Queensland Emergency Departments for people with mental ill-health seeking acute care for oral health problems.

    Steve Kisely has received a grant on oral health from Metro South Research Foundation and one from the Medical Research Future Fund.

    Bonnie Clough, Caroline Victoria Robertson, and Santosh Tadakamadla do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Gum disease, decay, missing teeth: why people with mental illness have poorer oral health – https://theconversation.com/gum-disease-decay-missing-teeth-why-people-with-mental-illness-have-poorer-oral-health-258403

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Gum disease, decay, missing teeth: why people with mental illness have poorer oral health

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bonnie Clough, Senior Lecturer, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University

    mihailomilovanovic/Getty Images

    People with poor mental health face many challenges. One that’s perhaps lesser known is that they’re more likely than the overall population to have poor oral health.

    Research has shown people with serious mental illness are four times more likely than the general population to have gum disease. They’re nearly three times more likely to have lost all their teeth due to problems such as gum disease and tooth decay.

    Serious mental illnesses include major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. These conditions affect about 800,000 Australians.

    People living with schizophrenia have, on average, eight more teeth that are decayed, missing or filled than the general population.

    So why does this link exist? And what can we do to address the problem?

    Why is this a problem?

    Oral health problems are expensive to fix and can make it hard for people to eat, socialise, work or even just smile.

    What’s more, dental issues can land people in hospital. Our research shows dental conditions are the third most common reason for preventable hospital admissions among people with serious mental illness.

    Meanwhile, poor oral health is linked with long-term health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, and even cognitive problems. This is because the bacteria associated with gum diseases can cause inflammation throughout the body, which affects other systems in the body.

    Why are mental health and oral health linked?

    Poor mental and oral health share common risk factors. Social factors such as isolation, unemployment and housing insecurity can worsen both oral and mental health.

    For example, unemployment increases the risk of oral disease. This can be due to financial difficulties, reduced access to oral health care, or potential changes to diet and hygiene practices.

    At the same time, oral disease can increase barriers to finding employment, due to stigma, discrimination, dental pain and associated long-term health conditions.

    It’s clear the relationship between oral health and mental health goes both ways. Dental disease can reduce self-esteem and increase psychological distress. Meanwhile, symptoms of mental health conditions, such as low motivation, can make engaging in good oral health practices, including brushing, flossing, and visiting the dentist, more difficult.

    And like many people, those with serious mental illness can experience significant anxiety about going to the dentist. They may also have experienced trauma in the past, which can make visiting a dental clinic a frightening experience.

    Separately, poor oral health can be made worse by some medications for mental health conditions. Certain medications can interfere with saliva production, reducing the protective barrier that covers the teeth. Some may also increase sugar cravings, which heightens the risk of tooth decay.

    Some medications people take for mental health conditions can affect oral health.
    Gladskikh Tatiana/Shutterstock

    Our research

    In a recent study, we interviewed young people with mental illness. Our findings show the significant personal costs of dental disease among people with mental illness, and highlight the relationship between oral and mental health.

    Smiling is one of our best ways to communicate, but we found people with serious mental illness were sometimes embarrassed and ashamed to smile due to poor oral health.

    One participant told us:

    [poor oral health is] not only [about] the physical aspects of restricting how you eat, but it’s also about your mental health in terms of your self-esteem, your self-confidence, and basic wellbeing, which sort of drives me to become more isolated.

    Another said:

    for me, it was that serious fear of – God my teeth are looking really crap, and in the past they’ve [dental practitioners] asked, “Hey, you’ve missed this spot; what’s happening?”. How do I explain to them, hey, I’ve had some really shitty stuff happening and I have a very serious episode of depression?

    What can we do?

    Another of our recent studies focused on improving oral health awareness and behaviours among young adults experiencing mental health difficulties. We found a brief online oral health education program improved participants’ oral health knowledge and attitudes.

    Improving oral health can result in improved mental wellbeing, self-esteem and quality of life. But achieving this isn’t always easy.

    Limited Medicare coverage for dental care means oral diseases are frequently treated late, particularly among people with mental illness. By this time, more invasive treatments, such as removal of teeth, are often required.

    It’s crucial the health system takes a holistic approach to caring for people experiencing serious mental illness. That means we have mental health staff who ask questions about oral health, and dental practitioners who are trained to manage the unique oral health needs of people with serious mental illness.

    It also means increasing government funding for oral health services – promotion, prevention and improved interdisciplinary care. This includes better collaboration between oral health, mental health, and peer and informal support sectors.

    Amanda Wheeler is an investigator on a MetroSouth Health 2025 grant exploring use of Queensland Emergency Departments for people with mental ill-health seeking acute care for oral health problems.

    Steve Kisely has received a grant on oral health from Metro South Research Foundation and one from the Medical Research Future Fund.

    Bonnie Clough, Caroline Victoria Robertson, and Santosh Tadakamadla do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Gum disease, decay, missing teeth: why people with mental illness have poorer oral health – https://theconversation.com/gum-disease-decay-missing-teeth-why-people-with-mental-illness-have-poorer-oral-health-258403

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The National Anti-Corruption Commission turns 2 – has it restored integrity to federal government?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By A J Brown, Professor of Public Policy & Law, Centre for Governance & Public Policy, Griffith University

    The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) opened its doors two years ago this week amid much fanfare and high expectations.

    Since then the body has attracted considerable criticism, overshadowing a solid, if slow, start to a whole new anti-corruption system across federal government.

    Established with strong powers after a history of much weaker proposals, what has it achieved in its first two years?

    Early hurdles

    On its first day, the decision to livestream the opening ceremony showed the Commission was alive to public expectations.

    However, the Commission’s reputation faced major early challenges: fears its transparency had been “nobbled”, and its damaging initial decision not to investigate officials referred by the Robodebt Royal Commission.

    The first challenge flowed from the politics that birthed the Commission.

    In 2022, despite otherwise state-of-the-art powers, the Albanese government made a late decision to insert an “exceptional circumstances” test to its ability to hold public hearings in corruption investigations.

    The shift created a bad impression. Many voices, including cross-bench parliamentarians, were left with good reason to question the very institution they helped create.

    The problem will haunt the NACC until the unnecessary threshold is removed.

    Public recognition

    In reality, the NACC still has hefty public hearing powers, but they are as yet to be used.

    When the need arises for royal commission-scale transparency, it will deliver an important side benefit the NACC still badly needs: public visibility.

    The challenge is confirmed by research on public trust, yet to be published, by Griffith University. Surveyed in March this year, only 12% of respondents said they knew at least a fair amount about the NACC, while a third had never heard of it at all, or didn’t know.

    This contrasts with the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, now 37 years old and the country’s heaviest user of public hearings. Over a quarter (26%) of NSW respondents said they knew at least a fair amount about the ICAC.

    Building visibility is a slow road, and does not mean the NACC is not doing its job. But with recognition a cornerstone of confidence, it’s a key tool the Commission clearly still needs to learn how to use.

    Workload

    In fact, the NACC’s heavy pipeline of work is finally starting to give it more to talk about.

    About 4,500 corruption complaints or referrals have been assessed since 1 July 2023, leading to more then 40 full investigations, including 31 currently underway.

    It will take time for this workload to pay off, in dealing with and preventing corruption, as well as reinforcing the public trust everyone needs. But even if slow, the first results confirm the importance of the investment.

    This week, the Commission published its fourth investigation report, revealing details of serious corrupt conduct by a Department of Home Affairs Senior Executive who abused her office by dishonestly advantaging her sister’s fiance for a job.

    Small fry? Maybe to some. But the fact 15 of the current investigations relate to senior officials takes the fight against nepotism and cronyism right to where it needs to be.

    Before the NACC, there was little confidence in how this kind of soft corruption was being dealt with by federal agencies.

    Hard corruption

    In its first two years, the NACC has also monitored 40 internal investigations by agencies which previously would have gone unsupervised, if they happened at all.

    On harder corruption, some results tell an even stronger tale.

    Last year, the NACC finalised an investigation which saw a former Australian Taxation Office employee jailed for five years, for accepting A$150,000 in bribes to reduce the tax debts of a Sydney businessman – also since jailed.

    And in December, a former Western Sydney Airport manager pleaded guilty to soliciting a A$200,000 bribe in exchange for a A$5 million services contract at Badgery’s Creek.

    Prior to the NACC, this was exactly the type of hard corruption many federal politicians and public servants claimed did not occur. No-one believed it, but now there’s a system for getting it under control.

    Politicians not immune

    The fact 13 of the NACC’s current investigations relate to former or current federal politicians or their staff is also reassuring. Of all the public officials in Australia, they have long been the most immune from integrity oversight.

    Known referrals include former Liberal Minister Stuart Robert in relation to alledged improper financial dealings with Canberra lobbyist, Synergy 360.

    A separate review found $374 million in contracts linked to Robert and the firm were poor value for money or plagued with perceived conflicts of interest.

    Even if Robert’s denials are correct, the NACC has good scope to help ensure no such dealings are possible in the future.

    The NACC’s strategic priorities highlight “senior public official decision-making” as an area where “even the perception of corruption can significantly harm trust in government”. This is especially important given the lack of regulation covering contractor, consultant and departmental relationships.

    Robodebt setback

    Tackling such fundamental issues, and not just driving a hamster wheel of criminal investigations, is the big challenge. It is underscored by the worst hurdle confronted by the NACC: its initial refusal to investigate Robodebt.

    The NACC’s independent inspector, Gail Furness, found that decision was contaminated by a badly managed conflict of interest, which caused the Commission reputational damage.

    But the poor handling also provided the circuit breaker needed for an independent reconsideration.

    Since February, the NACC is now investigating whether six individuals referred by the Robodebt Royal Commission engaged in corrupt conduct.

    It is a chance for the Commission to show it’s more than a compliance-focused enforcement agency, and is ready to play a positive part ensuring accountability and justice for victims when officials abuse their power.

    The larger mission

    Accepting this larger mission is a challenge for all anti-corruption commissions, but the NACC’s ability to do so is aided by some special powers.

    Its broad definition of “corrupt conduct” means it can tackle any kind of serious integrity failure, including breaches of trust or abuses of power, which don’t involve the types of private gain often associated with corruption in the past.

    A second key tool – also the likely solution to its visibility problem – is the Commission’s unique power to tackle larger issues through public inquiries.

    Also yet to be used, this power extends to any “corruption risks and vulnerabilities” or “measures to prevent corruption” the Commission sees fit. Unlike individual investigation hearings, it does not require “exceptional circumstances”.

    The last two years have seen the NACC well and truly blooded in its role as the cornerstone of the federal integrity transformation we needed to have.

    Now the question is more about the Commission’s choices of direction, including how it nurtures its relationship with the public, than whether it has capacity to get the job done.

    A J Brown AM is Chair of Transparency International Australia. He has received funding from the Australian Research Council and all Australian governments for research on public interest whistleblowing, integrity and anti-corruption reform through partners including Australia’s federal and state Ombudsmen and other regulatory agencies, parliaments, state anti-corruption agencies, and private sector industry bodies. He currently leads an ARC Discovery Project on mapping and harnessing public trust and distrust, in partnership with Sydney, La Trobe and Bond Universities. He is a former senior investigator for the Commonwealth Ombudsman, was a member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Expert Panel on Whistleblowing and is a member of the Queensland Public Sector Governance Council.

    – ref. The National Anti-Corruption Commission turns 2 – has it restored integrity to federal government? – https://theconversation.com/the-national-anti-corruption-commission-turns-2-has-it-restored-integrity-to-federal-government-257889

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘Shit in, shit out’: AI is coming for agriculture, but farmers aren’t convinced

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Lee, Senior Lecturer, School of Design, University of Technology Sydney

    David Gray / AFP / Getty Images

    Australian farms are at the forefront of a wave of technological change coming to agriculture. Over the past decade, more than US$200 billion (A$305 billion) has been invested globally into the likes of pollination robots, smart soil sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) systems to help make decisions.

    What do the people working the land make of it all? We interviewed dozens of Australian farmers about AI and digital technology, and found they had a sophisticated understanding of their own needs and how technology might help – as well as a wariness of tech companies’ utopian promises.

    The future of farming

    The supposed revolution coming to agriculture goes by several names: “precision agriculture”, “smart farming”, and “agriculture 4.0” are some of the more common ones.

    These names all gesture towards a future in which the relationship between humans, computing and nature have been significantly reconfigured. Perhaps remote sensing technology will monitor ever more of a farm system, autonomous vehicles will patrol it, and AI will predict crop growth or cattle weight gain.

    But there’s another story to tell about the way technological change happens. It involves people and communities creating their own future, their own sense of important change from the past.

    AI, country style

    Our research team conducted more than 35 interviews with farmers, specifically livestock producers, from across Australia.

    The dominant themes of their responses were captured in two pithy quotes: “shit in, shit out” and “more automation, less features”.

    “Shit in, shit out” is an earthier version of the “garbage in, garbage out” adage in computer science. If the data going into a model is unreliable or overly abstract, then the outputs will be shaped by those errors.

    This captured a real concern for many farmers. They didn’t feel they could trust new technologies if they didn’t understand what knowledge and information they had been built with.

    A different kind of automation

    On the other hand, “more automation, less features” is what farmers want: technologies that may not have a lot of bells and whistles, but can reliably take a task off their hands.

    Australian farmers have a ready appetite for labour-saving technologies. When human bodies are scarce, as they often are in rural Australia, machines are created to fill the void.

    Windmills, wire fences, and even the iconic Australian sheepdog have been a crucial part of the technological narrative of settler colonial farming. These things are not “autonomous” in the same way as computer-powered vehicles and drones, but they offer similar advantages to farmers.

    What these classic farm technologies have in common is a simplicity that derives from a clarity of purpose. They are the opposite of the “everything apps” that fuel the dreams of many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

    “More automation, less features” is in this sense a farmer envisaging a digital product that fits with their image of a useful technology: transparent in its operations, and a reliable replacement for or an addition to human labour.

    The lesson of the Suzuki Sierra Stockman

    When speaking with one farmer about favoured technologies of her lifetime, she mentioned the Suzuki Sierra Stockman. These small, no-frills, four-wheel-drive vehicles became something of an icon on Australian sheep and cattle farms through the 1970s, ‘80s and ’90s.

    By the 1990s, the Suzuki Sierra Stockman had an iconic status among Australian farmers.
    Turbo_J / Flickr

    Reflecting on her memories of first using the vehicle, the farmer said:

    Once I learnt that I could actually draft cattle out with the Suzuki, that changed everything. You could do exactly what you did on a horse with a vehicle.

    It seems unlikely that Suzuki’s engineers in Japan envisaged their little jeep chasing cattle in the paddocks of Central West of NSW. The Suzuki was in a sense remade by farmers who found innovative uses for it.

    Future technology must be simple, adaptable and reliable

    The combustion engine was a key technological change on farms in the 20th century. Computers may play a similar role in the 21st.

    We are perhaps yet to see a digital product as iconic as wire fences, windmills, sheepdogs and the Suzuki Stockman. Computers are still largely technologies of the office, not the paddock.

    However, this is changing as computers get smaller and are wired into water tanks, soil monitors and in-paddock scales. More data input from these sensors means AI systems have more scope to help farmers make decisions.

    AI may well become a much-loved tool for farmers. But that journey to iconic status will depend as much on how farmers adapt the technology as on how the developers build it. And we can guess at what it will look like: simple, adaptable and reliable.

    This article is based on research conducted by the Foragecaster project, led by AgriWebb and supported by funding from Food Agility CRC Ltd, funded under the Commonwealth Government CRC Program. The CRC Program supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and the community. This project was also supported by funding from Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA).

    – ref. ‘Shit in, shit out’: AI is coming for agriculture, but farmers aren’t convinced – https://theconversation.com/shit-in-shit-out-ai-is-coming-for-agriculture-but-farmers-arent-convinced-259997

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘Shit in, shit out’: AI is coming for agriculture, but farmers aren’t convinced

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Lee, Senior Lecturer, School of Design, University of Technology Sydney

    David Gray / AFP / Getty Images

    Australian farms are at the forefront of a wave of technological change coming to agriculture. Over the past decade, more than US$200 billion (A$305 billion) has been invested globally into the likes of pollination robots, smart soil sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) systems to help make decisions.

    What do the people working the land make of it all? We interviewed dozens of Australian farmers about AI and digital technology, and found they had a sophisticated understanding of their own needs and how technology might help – as well as a wariness of tech companies’ utopian promises.

    The future of farming

    The supposed revolution coming to agriculture goes by several names: “precision agriculture”, “smart farming”, and “agriculture 4.0” are some of the more common ones.

    These names all gesture towards a future in which the relationship between humans, computing and nature have been significantly reconfigured. Perhaps remote sensing technology will monitor ever more of a farm system, autonomous vehicles will patrol it, and AI will predict crop growth or cattle weight gain.

    But there’s another story to tell about the way technological change happens. It involves people and communities creating their own future, their own sense of important change from the past.

    AI, country style

    Our research team conducted more than 35 interviews with farmers, specifically livestock producers, from across Australia.

    The dominant themes of their responses were captured in two pithy quotes: “shit in, shit out” and “more automation, less features”.

    “Shit in, shit out” is an earthier version of the “garbage in, garbage out” adage in computer science. If the data going into a model is unreliable or overly abstract, then the outputs will be shaped by those errors.

    This captured a real concern for many farmers. They didn’t feel they could trust new technologies if they didn’t understand what knowledge and information they had been built with.

    A different kind of automation

    On the other hand, “more automation, less features” is what farmers want: technologies that may not have a lot of bells and whistles, but can reliably take a task off their hands.

    Australian farmers have a ready appetite for labour-saving technologies. When human bodies are scarce, as they often are in rural Australia, machines are created to fill the void.

    Windmills, wire fences, and even the iconic Australian sheepdog have been a crucial part of the technological narrative of settler colonial farming. These things are not “autonomous” in the same way as computer-powered vehicles and drones, but they offer similar advantages to farmers.

    What these classic farm technologies have in common is a simplicity that derives from a clarity of purpose. They are the opposite of the “everything apps” that fuel the dreams of many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

    “More automation, less features” is in this sense a farmer envisaging a digital product that fits with their image of a useful technology: transparent in its operations, and a reliable replacement for or an addition to human labour.

    The lesson of the Suzuki Sierra Stockman

    When speaking with one farmer about favoured technologies of her lifetime, she mentioned the Suzuki Sierra Stockman. These small, no-frills, four-wheel-drive vehicles became something of an icon on Australian sheep and cattle farms through the 1970s, ‘80s and ’90s.

    By the 1990s, the Suzuki Sierra Stockman had an iconic status among Australian farmers.
    Turbo_J / Flickr

    Reflecting on her memories of first using the vehicle, the farmer said:

    Once I learnt that I could actually draft cattle out with the Suzuki, that changed everything. You could do exactly what you did on a horse with a vehicle.

    It seems unlikely that Suzuki’s engineers in Japan envisaged their little jeep chasing cattle in the paddocks of Central West of NSW. The Suzuki was in a sense remade by farmers who found innovative uses for it.

    Future technology must be simple, adaptable and reliable

    The combustion engine was a key technological change on farms in the 20th century. Computers may play a similar role in the 21st.

    We are perhaps yet to see a digital product as iconic as wire fences, windmills, sheepdogs and the Suzuki Stockman. Computers are still largely technologies of the office, not the paddock.

    However, this is changing as computers get smaller and are wired into water tanks, soil monitors and in-paddock scales. More data input from these sensors means AI systems have more scope to help farmers make decisions.

    AI may well become a much-loved tool for farmers. But that journey to iconic status will depend as much on how farmers adapt the technology as on how the developers build it. And we can guess at what it will look like: simple, adaptable and reliable.

    This article is based on research conducted by the Foragecaster project, led by AgriWebb and supported by funding from Food Agility CRC Ltd, funded under the Commonwealth Government CRC Program. The CRC Program supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and the community. This project was also supported by funding from Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA).

    – ref. ‘Shit in, shit out’: AI is coming for agriculture, but farmers aren’t convinced – https://theconversation.com/shit-in-shit-out-ai-is-coming-for-agriculture-but-farmers-arent-convinced-259997

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Analysis: Detroit restaurants identified as ‘Black-owned’ on Yelp saw a slight drop in business ratings

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Matthew Bui, Assistant Professor of Information and Digital Studies, University of Michigan

    Yelp’s Black-owned tag was designed to help business owners like Don Studvent attract more customers. His restaurant closed in 2018 after nine years in business. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

    When the online review platform Yelp added a “Black-owned” tag in 2020, it boosted the visibility of Black-owned restaurants in Detroit. It also caused their ratings to drop, according to our recent study.

    Both local and nonlocal reviewers who showed awareness of a restaurant’s Black ownership rated restaurants 3.03 stars on average. Those who did not acknowledge Black ownership gave a rating of 3.78 stars on average. The tag seems to have caused the average rating to drop by attracting more reviewers who were aware of Black ownership.

    Why it matters

    Technology companies often introduce new features and tools to influence user behavior and make their platforms more usable.

    Although Yelp intended to support Black communities with the Black-owned tag, the design intervention was harmful to Black restaurant owners in Detroit because Yelp failed to consider platform and community-based factors that significantly shape user interactions.

    Yelp’s user base is predominantly white, educated and affluent. Making Detroit’s Black-owned restaurants more visible to Yelp users may have amplified cross-cultural interactions and frictions. For example, non-Black users sometimes mentioned “slower” and “rude” service as justifications for lower ratings. Close readings of these reviews hinted at intercultural and communicative clashes.

    Even if Black-owned restaurants businesses didn’t select the tag, they appeared in searches for “Black-owned restaurants,” in 2022 when we conducted the study and as recently as 2025. Businesses can remove the “Black-owned” tag, but Yelp doesn’t provide a way for them to opt out of search results.

    How we did our work

    To examine the local impacts of Yelp’s Black-owned tag, we collected over 250,000 Yelp reviews of Black- and non-Black-owned restaurants in Detroit and Los Angeles.

    We identified Black-owned restaurants through community-sourced lists for Detroit and Los Angeles and then generated a random sample for the non-Black-owned restaurants.

    We then identified reviews that explicitly noted “Black ownership” for closer analysis.

    Detroit’s Black-owned businesses saw a greater loss in business compared with “ownership-unreported” restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic. This means they also potentially had more to gain from the new tag.

    We found the awareness of Black ownership on Yelp significantly increased following Yelp’s addition of the Black-owned tag in June 2020. A year after the tag was added, reviews in Detroit mentioned Black ownership 4.3% more often than a year before it was rolled out.

    Detroit Black-owned restaurants also saw a small temporary spike in their number of reviews, largely around the time Yelp added the Black-owned tag. At the same time, the restaurants’ average star ratings dropped from 3.91 to 3.88. In contrast, non-Black-owned restaurants’ ratings stayed relatively steady at 3.90.

    This metric is an aggregate of all Detroit restaurants’ Yelp reviews over their entire existence, so a .03-star rating change is small but significant.

    Even minor changes to star ratings affect the number of diners restaurants attract, their earning potential and the likelihood they will sell out of food.

    Adding obstacles in digital platforms serves to reproduce and amplify inequalities these businesses already face, rather than alleviate them. For example, Black-owned businesses have a harder time getting loans and are relatively underrepresented in Michigan as a whole.

    These findings may seem surprising given that Detroit is a majority Black city. However, Black users on Yelp are a minority. Keeping in mind the skewed user base of Yelp, we hypothesize the lower reviews for businesses featuring a Black-owned tag reflect existing racial and digital divides in the city.

    Generally, our study provides additional evidence that digital interventions are not “one-size-fits-all,” nor is digital visibility inherently positive for all businesses.

    The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

    _This article was updated to clarify how labels are added to profiles.

    This research was supported by a research grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

    Matthew Bui 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.

    Cameron Moy 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. Detroit restaurants identified as ‘Black-owned’ on Yelp saw a slight drop in business ratings – https://theconversation.com/detroit-restaurants-identified-as-black-owned-on-yelp-saw-a-slight-drop-in-business-ratings-256306

    MIL OSI Analysis –

  • Starmer wins vote on UK welfare reform but suffers damaging rebellion

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    British Prime Minister Keir Starmer won a vote on his welfare plans on Tuesday at significant political cost as he suffered the biggest parliamentary rebellion of his premiership and was forced to back down on key parts of the package.

    After his lawmakers pushed him into a series of embarrassing U-turns to sharply scale back plans to cut benefits, lawmakers in the House of Commons gave their initial approval to a package of measures Starmer says are vital to securing the future of the welfare system.

    But the scale of the rebellion – with 49 Labour lawmakers voting against the reforms – underlined the prime minister’s waning authority.

    A year after winning one of the largest parliamentary majorities in British history, Starmer has seen his personal approval ratings collapse and been forced into several policy reversals by his increasingly rebellious lawmakers.

    “It’s been a bumpy time tonight,” work and pensions minister Liz Kendall told reporters after a session of parliament when lawmakers took turns to mostly criticise the planned changes. “There are definitely lessons to learn from this process.”

    Starmer came into office last year promising his big parliamentary majority would bring an end to the political chaos that defined much of the Conservative Party’s 14 years in power. But the revolt over the welfare bill underlines the difficulty he has pushing through unpopular changes.

    In the run-up to the vote, ministers and party enforcers known as “whips” had been locked in frantic last-ditch lobbying of undecided members of parliament to try to win their backing.

    In a further concession to rebels about two hours before the vote, the government said it would not finalise changes in eligibility for a key benefit payment until a review into the welfare system had been completed.

    Paula Barker, a Labour member of parliament, called the attempt to pass the plans “the most unedifying spectacle that I have ever seen”.

    In the end, the government suffered by far the biggest rebellion of Starmer’s premiership, eclipsing the 16 members of parliament who opposed an infrastructure bill earlier this month.

    Mel Stride, the opposition Conservative Party finance policy chief, described Starmer’s team as “a government that’s lost control”, only able to pass the legislation by having “ripped the heart of it out”.

    Labour lawmaker Henry Tufnell said by agreeing to the concessions Starmer had shown “he’s willing to take on board these criticisms that people have raised.”

    Almost 90 disability and human rights groups before the vote urged lawmakers to vote down the legislation.

     

    RISING COSTS

    The proposed reforms are designed to reduce the cost of Britain’s growing welfare bill, which the government has described as economically indefensible and morally wrong.

    Annual spending on incapacity and disability benefits already exceeds the country’s defence budget and is set to top 100 billion pounds ($137 billion) by 2030, according to official forecasts, up from 65 billion pounds now.

    More than half of the rise in working-age disability claims since the COVID-19 pandemic relates to mental health conditions, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank.

    The government had initially hoped to save 5 billion pounds ($6.9 billion) a year by 2030 by tightening rules for people to receive disability and sickness benefits.

    But after the government conceded to pressure from its lawmakers, it said the new rules would now apply only to future applicants, not to the millions of existing claimants as had been proposed. Analysts estimated the savings would likely be closer to 2 billion pounds.

    It was not clear how the additional last-minute change would impact the hoped-for savings in the welfare reform package.

    Opposition politicians said the government would now have to raise taxes or cut government spending elsewhere to balance the public finances in the annual budget later this year.

    The government has said there would be no permanent increase in borrowing, but has declined to comment on possible tax rises.

    While Starmer is under no immediate threat, and the next election is not expected until 2029, his party now trails behind Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK in opinion polls.

    John Curtice, Britain’s most respected pollster, said this week that Starmer was the most unpopular elected prime minister in modern British history, and that voters still did not know what he stood for a year after he was elected.

    -Reuters

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gov. Kemp Nominates Frank O’Connell for Georgia Tax Court Chief Judge

    Source: US State of Georgia

    ATLANTA – Governor Brian P. Kemp today nominated Frank O’Connell for appointment to the Chief Judge position of the newly-created Georgia Tax Court. The Court will bring improved efficiency in the adjudication of tax cases at the state level and was created by a constitutional amendment approved by Georgia voters during the November 2024 election. Pending his confirmation by the Georgia House and Senate Judiciary committees, O’Connell’s four-year term as Chief tax court judge will begin on April 1, 2026.

    “Georgia taxpayers deserve leadership at the Department of Revenue that recognizes who they are most accountable to and as commissioner, Frank O’Connell has never forgotten that – serving the people of our state with honor and great work ethic,” said Governor Brian Kemp. “That’s why I’m again asking Frank to serve in a leadership position that will benefit the entire state. Marty and I are confident that with his skills and expertise, he will bring the same level of dedication to this new role.”

    “Georgia’s fiscal stability and success is a testament of the great leadership from public servants like Frank O’Connell,” said Lt. Governor Burt Jones. “Commisisoner O’Connell has led the Department of Revenue well and I believe he will continue to be a great leader for Georgia in this new role. I look forward to working with him and seeing his expertise positively impact Georgia’s tax court.”

    “Frank O’Connell has served the hardworking taxpayers of our state with integrity and dedication for over two decades,” said House Speaker Jon Burns. “Like our colleagues in the Senate, we look forward to confirming his appointment as Chief Judge of the Georgia Tax Court.”

    Frank M. O’Connell currently serves as Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Revenue, following his appointment by Governor Kemp to that role in February 2023. O’Connell previously served as Deputy Commissioner and as General Counsel for the Georgia Department of Revenue. He began his 21 years of service with the State of Georgia in the Department of Revenue’s Compliance Division and transferred to what is now the Office of General Counsel as Assistant Director before his appointment as General Counsel.

    In his previous role as Deputy Commissioner, O’Connell was responsible for the Tax Operations divisions of Audits, Taxpayer Services, Compliance, and Processing, and the External Operations divisions of Motor Vehicle Tag & Title, Alcohol & Tobacco Regulation, Local Government Services, and Special Investigations.  In his role as General Counsel where O’Connell spent most of his DOR career, he oversaw the drafting of legislative bills for the Department’s annual legislative package, the drafting of all DOR tax, alcohol & tobacco, and motor vehicle regulations, and advised the Department on agency contracts, Open Records Act responses, and the application of confidentiality laws protecting taxpayer data.

    Prior to joining the Georgia Department of Revenue in 2003, Mr. O’Connell consulted in state and local taxation for ten years at two “Big Four” accounting firms. A member of the Tax Section of the State Bar of Georgia, Mr. O’Connell received his law degree from the University of Notre Dame and his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University.

    O’Connell resides in East Cobb with his wife, Shelia.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NEA reacts to Trump administration withholding critical education funding

    Source: US National Education Union

    By: Celeste Fernandez, NEA Communications

    Published: July 1, 2025

    WASHINGTON—Almost $6.9 billion in federal K–12 education funding, normally released to states on July 1, is being withheld from students and classrooms, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Despite Congress passing a continuing resolution in March—which President Trump signed extending previous funding levels through fiscal year 2025—the is taking a first step toward “impoundment the illegal withholding of money appropriated by Congress to fund federal programs and activities.

    These billions of dollars would be used for curriculum, technology, and other critical services. The loss of these funds affects thousands of school districts and every state in the nation. If the funds are not released soon, this move will force schools to cut educators’ salaries as well as reading and math supports, student services, including summer and after-school programs, and support for migrant students and English learners. Educators will face layoffs leading to significantly larger class sizes.

    The following can be attributed to NEA President Becky Pringle:

    “School hasn’t even started and this administration is robbing our students and classrooms. It’s shocking, but not surprising, considering the lack of concern for students that this administration has displayed since 1. 

    “—and states had planned to use to support children in their states—is a cruel betrayal of students, especially those who rely on critical support services. Schools are already grappling with severe teacher shortages, burnout, and under-resourced classrooms, and here comes the federal government ripping resources away from public schools. It is outrageous and unconscionable.

    “Sadly, this is part of a broader pattern by this administration of undermining public education—starving it of resources, sowing distrust, and pushing privatization at the expense of the nation’s most vulnerable students. And they are doing this at the same time as they push a budget bill that will devastate our schools and communities—all to finance massive tax breaks for billionaires.

    “Educators and parents will not be silent while students are undervalued, unheard, and unsupported. The Trump administration must release these critical funds as required by law. We will stand up, speak out, and take action to ensure every classroom is a place of dignity, opportunity, and respect.” 

    # # # 

    Follow us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/neapresident.bsky.social & https://bsky.app/profile/neatoday.bsky.social 

    The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, students preparing to become teachers, health care workers, and public employees. Learn more at nea.org. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Coalition moves for injunction stopping Trump administration’s actions to dismantle the Department of Education

    Source: US National Education Union

    Washington, D.C. — Today, in the case of NAACP v. US, the coalition of plaintiffs and supporters are moving for a preliminary injunction preventing Linda McMahon and the Trump administration from continuing their unlawful actions to dismantle the Department of Education.   

    Those actions include the Department’s announcement yesterday that it planned to withhold nearly $6.8 billion in appropriated education formula funding from states, almost all of which supports students through their local school districts. That illegal decision, like the other steps this administration has taken to shut down the Department, is unlawful and will harm students and families across the country. 

    The case was brought in March by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), public school parents, the National Education Association (NEA), and AFSCME Maryland Council 3. They are supported by Student Defense and Education Law Center (ELC). Today’s filing asks the Court to block multiple unlawful actions the administration has taken that harm students, schools and communities across the country. Those actions include:   

    • Terminating grants that support the recruitment and retention of teachers and other education professionals in high needs schools and school districts by way of the elimination, without Congressional approval, of the Teacher Quality Partnership, Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED), and School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Programs, among many others. These programs supported students and educators and met critical needs in schools across the country. They have now been unlawfully shut down.   
       
    • Eliminating the Department’s capacity to award the correct amounts of federal formula grant aid to high needs schools and districts through the ESEA Title I programs, the rural school supports program under REAP, and other critical federal education programs in future school years. Defendants’ abolition of the Institute of Education Sciences and other critical Department offices leaves the Department unable to produce the data inputs and carry out other functions necessary to accurately calculate schools’ and districts’ federal funding awards after this year.
       
    • Gutting the vendor oversight and institutional accountability functions in the Office of Federal Student Aid, which had exercised the critical oversight necessary to make Congressionally mandated student loan forgiveness programs, like the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, work and which certified schools’ eligibility to participate in federal student financial aid programs by ensuring that college and universities actually provide the services that they advertise.
       
    • Shuttering seven of the twelve regional enforcement offices of the Office for Civil Rights, terminating over half that Office’s investigative workforce, and doubling and even tripling the caseloads of the remaining investigators so as to effectively eliminate OCR’s ability to timely respond to, and remedy, civil rights complaints filed by students, parents, and educators.   

    Today’s filing is supported by record evidence in excess of 1,000 pages, including over 60 individual declarations in support of the plaintiffs’ claims and in opposition to the devastation wrought by the defendants. Declarants include Former Secretaries of Education Miguel Cardona and John King, Former Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon, former Institute for Education Sciences Director John Easton, and many more. In addition, school communities and districts are in support of the motion, including the Lemon Grove School District in CA.  

    The motion seeks a remedy for the serious harm that the Trump Administration has inflicted on students, educators, schools, and colleges and universities, and asks the Court to direct the Department to fulfill its statutory obligations to students nationwide. 

    # # 

    About the National Education Association 

    The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, students preparing to become teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees. Learn more at www.nea.org  

    About the NAACP 

    The NAACP advocates, agitates, and litigates for the civil rights due to Black America. Our legacy is built on the foundation of grassroots activism by the biggest civil rights pioneers of the 20th century and is sustained by 21st century activists. From classrooms and courtrooms to city halls and Congress, our network of members across the country works to secure the social and political power that will end race-based discrimination. That work is rooted in racial equity, civic engagement, and supportive policies and institutions for all marginalized people. We are committed to a world without racism where Black people enjoy equitable opportunities in thriving communities. NOTE: The Legal Defense Fund – also referred to as the NAACP-LDF – was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP, but now operates as a completely separate entity. 

    About AFSCME Maryland Council 3 
    AFSCME Maryland Council 3 represents more than 50,000 public service workers in local, city, county and state government as well as in higher education and the private sector who provide the valuable public services that our communities rely on. From Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore, we make Maryland happen. 

    About Education Law Center 

    Education Law Center pursues justice and equity for public school students by enforcing their right to a high-quality education in safe, equitable, non-discriminatory, integrated, and well funded learning environments. We seek to support and improve public schools as the center of communities and the foundation of a multicultural and multiracial democratic society. To achieve these goals, we engage in litigation, research and data analysis, policy advocacy, communications, and strategic partnerships and collaborations. https://edlawcenter.org/ 

    About Student Defense 

    The National Student Legal Defense Network (“Student Defense”) is a non-profit organization that works, through litigation and advocacy, to advance students’ rights to educational opportunity and to ensure that higher education provides a launching point for economic mobility. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Calls on Trump Admin to Immediately Release Billions in Funds K-12 Schools Across America are Counting On

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    Nearly $7 billion in funding approved by Congress in March is blocked just weeks away from the start of the school year
    Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement demanding the prompt release of billions of dollars in funding for K-12 schools across America that the Trump administration is blocking just weeks away from the start of the new school year. These funds largely go out the door to states on July 1 each year and support school districts in every state. This year, however, the Trump administration is blocking the funding and signaling it may simply seek to illegally impound them.
    “Today, billions of dollars that Congress has already provided to support students across America should be going out the door—but President Trump is blocking these investments and putting school districts in every zip code in a bind with the new school year just weeks away.
    “President Trump himself signed this funding into law—but that isn’t stopping him from choking off resources to support before and after school programs, help students learn, support teachers in the classroom, and a lot more. The uncertainty he has created has already forced districts to delay hiring and other initiatives to help students. The only question left now is how much more damage this administration wants to inflict on our public schools.
    “President Trump and Russ Vought need to stop sabotaging our students’ futures and get these resources out the door. Local school districts can’t afford to wait out lengthy court proceedings to get the federal funding they’re owed—nor can they make up the shortfall, especially not at the drop of a pin. Every day that this funding is held up is a day that school districts are forced to worry about whether they’ll have to cut back on afterschool programs or lay off teachers instead of worrying about how to make sure our kids can succeed.”
    The Trump administration has confirmed it is blocking funding for the following programs from being available to school district across America:
    Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II-A), which support professional development and other activities to improve the effectiveness of teachers and school leaders, including reducing class size.
    21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV-B), which support high-quality before and after-school programs focused on providing academic enrichment opportunities for students.
    Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV-A), which provide flexible funding for school districts for a wide range of activities including supporting STEM education, accelerated learning courses, college and career counseling, school-based mental health services, and improving school technology, among many others.
    English Language Acquisition (Title III-A), which supports language instruction to help English language learners become proficient in English.
    Migrant Education (Title I-C), which supports the educational needs of migratory children, including children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
    Adult Basic and Literacy Education State Grants (including Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education State Grants), which support adult education and literacy programs to provide the basic skills to help prepare adults and out-of-school youth for success in the workforce.
    Notably, the Trump administration has proposed to eliminate each of these programs in its fiscal year 2026 budget request, and it has so far refused to commit to spending the funding already provided for this fiscal year. When pressed in early June by Senator Murray about whether the Department of Education would release the funds to school districts, Secretary Linda McMahon refused to make any commitment to get the funds out. At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought similarly refused to commit to getting the funding out—and even suggested to Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) the funds could be part of a future rescissions request, or illegally impounded.
    In total, the Trump administration is blocking nearly $7 billion in approved funding for these programs from going out the door to K-12 schools. A state-by-state breakdown of how much funding is at stake is below.
    FUNDING BLOCKED BY TRUMP ADMIN
    State
    Fiscal Year 2024 Funding
    Fiscal Year 2025 Funding
    Alabama
    $100,392,656
    ???
    Alaska
    $47,665,907
    ???
    Arizona
    $134,262,493
    ???
    Arkansas
    $64,255,707
    ???
    California
    $927,965,332
    ???
    Colorado
    $79,619,065
    ???
    Connecticut
    $53,561,846
    ???
    Delaware
    $28,585,105
    ???
    District of Columbia
    $26,683,109
    ???
    Florida
    $398,177,922
    ???
    Georgia
    $223,888,870
    ???
    Hawaii
    $33,290,327
    ???
    Idaho
    $36,493,633
    ???
    Illinois
    $243,191,750
    ???
    Indiana
    $107,174,260
    ???
    Iowa
    $44,494,874
    ???
    Kansas
    49,946,530
    ???
    Kentucky
    96,495,478
    ???
    Louisiana
    119,812,747
    ???
    Maine
    27,630,253
    ???
    Maryland
    110,193,772
    ???
    Massachusetts
    107,694,933
    ???
    Michigan
    173,716,752
    ???
    Minnesota
    74,106,362
    ???
    Mississippi
    71,654,231
    ???
    Missouri
    93,962,471
    ???
    Montana
    27,978,071
    ???
    Nebraska
    38,149,509
    ???
    Nevada
    61,212,651
    ???
    New Hampshire
    27,004,029
    ???
    New Jersey
    162,462,714
    ???
    New Mexico
    49,847,565
    ???
    New York
    463,833,139
    ???
    North Carolina
    185,874,769
    ???
    North Dakota
    26,573,545
    ???
    Ohio
    203,510,265
    ???
    Oklahoma
    77,827,922
    ???
    Oregon
    80,991,681
    ???
    Pennsylvania
    230,714,211
    ???
    Rhode Island
    29,371,806
    ???
    South Carolina
    94,118,605
    ???
    South Dakota
    27,200,921
    ???
    Tennessee
    118,985,396
    ???
    Texas
    738,537,697
    ???
    Utah
    40,402,965
    ???
    Vermont
    26,125,325
    ???
    Virginia
    123,536,510
    ???
    Washington
    150,695,542
    ???
    West Virginia
    32,494,457
    ???
    Wisconsin
    80,333,097
    ???
    Wyoming
    25,545,207
    ???
    Total
    6,880,834,000
    ???

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cassidy Stands with President Trump, Passes One Big Beautiful Bill

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) today released the following statement after voting to pass President Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill.
    “President Trump and I want to preserve the American Dream for working and middle America,” said Dr. Cassidy. “We keep taxes low, cut taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security, extend the Child Tax Credit, fix our broken education system, support our military, secure our border, and build a business environment that creates better paying jobs – especially in Louisiana.” 
    As chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Cassidy led the Committee’s portion of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which fixes America’s broken higher education system and addresses the root causes of the student debt crisis.
    Cassidy pushed to secure provisions in this historic legislation that:
    Make higher education more affordable by eliminating inflationary loan programs that have resulted in higher tuition costs.   
    Prevent taxpayer-subsidized loans for degrees that leave students worse off than if they never went to college.  
    Reform the current federal student loan program that transfers debt onto the 87 percent of Americans who chose to not go to college or already paid off their loans.
    Ensure low-income Americans can access higher education by strengthening Pell Grants and addressing the program’s budget shortfall. As it currently stands, the Pell Grant program faces a mounting budget shortfall that threatens its future.  
    Expand education freedom and opportunity for students by providing a charitable donation incentive for individuals and businesses to fund scholarship awards for students to cover expenses related to K-12 public and private education. 
    Increase access to career or technical-based education for low-income students by establishing Workforce Pell Grants. This is crucial to achieving President Trump’s goal of bringing skilled jobs back to America from China and Mexico. 
    Boost U.S. manufacturing and crack down on China and other countries abusing our trade loopholes (de minimis). In 2023, Cassidy introduced similar legislation. 
    Provide beauty industry small businesses with access to the tip credit, which would create jobs.
    Eliminate the $200 tax stamp for short-barreled firearms. 
    Raise the annual cap on offshore energy revenue sharing with Gulf states from $500 million to $650 million through 2034. 
    Require the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to hold no fewer than two lease sales every year for fifteen years in the Central and Western areas of the Gulf of America—something the Biden administration refused to do. 
    Invest $389 million in America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to bolster U.S. energy security. 
    Unleash American energy by allowing energy companies to deduct costs, including labor and safety, associated with oil and gas exploration. 
    Expand access to direct primary care arrangements, by allowing the use of Health Savings Account (HSA) dollars to pay for such services. 
    Click here for the HELP section-by-section.
    Click here for the HELP one-pager.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: In Dialogue with North Macedonia, Experts of the Human Rights Committee Commend Anti-Discrimination Measures, Raise Concerns about Reports of Excessive Use of Force by Border Officials and Attacks on Journalists

    Source: United Nations – Geneva

    The Human Rights Committee today concluded its consideration of the fourth periodic report of North Macedonia on how it implements the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, with Committee Experts commending the State’s efforts to address discrimination, and raising issues concerning reports of border officials’ excessive use of force against asylum seekers and attacks on journalists.

    A Committee Expert acknowledged the positive efforts made by the State towards strengthening the rule of law and addressing discrimination, pursued in the context of North Macedonia’s candidacy for membership of the European Union.

    One Committee Expert cited reports of excessive use of force carried out by border officials against asylum seekers.  How did the State party ensure that such reports were investigated in a timely and effective manner?

    Another Committee Expert said there had been an increase in attacks on journalists in recent years; how was the State working to prevent such attacks?  What training was provided to public officials on the right to freedom of expression?

    Nikola Prokopenko, State Counsellor for Criminal Legislation at the Ministry of Justice of North Macedonia and head of the delegation, said North Macedonia had been committed to implementing the Committee’s recommendations, which had been integral to strategic priorities in reforming the legal system, strengthening the rule of law, and advancing democracy in alignment with European standards.

    On measures to prevent discrimination, the delegation said the State was harmonising the law on the prevention of discrimination with relevant European Union directives.  The national commission monitoring discrimination had been strengthened; it had helped to develop national policies on preventing discrimination and to raise civil servants’ awareness of the issue.

    There were internal mechanisms within the police service that investigated complaints of excessive use of force and torture by police officers, the delegation said.  When evidence was found, criminal proceedings were instituted against the accused officer, who was also sanctioned.  There had been no reports of excessive use of force against migrants and asylum seekers between 2022 and 2024.

    The delegation also said recent amendments to the Criminal Code allowed for the ex-officio prosecution of attacks on journalists.  The State had worked to raise the visibility of crimes against journalists and increase punishments for such crimes.  There were four crimes committed against journalists in 2024; all these cases had been prosecuted.

    In concluding remarks, Mr. Prokopenko expressed appreciation for the constructive dialogue, saying that the Committee’s recommendations would serve as valuable guidance for strengthening laws and policies. The State would leave the dialogue motivated to build a more just and equitable human rights-based society.

    Changrok Soh, Committee Chairperson, in concluding remarks, commended North Macedonia on its ratification of international treaties, legal norms on gender-based violence, and policies on gender equality.  However, he said concerns remained related to issues such as hate speech, prison conditions, and the limited protection framework for asylum seekers.  Mr. Soh closed by expressing sincere gratitude to all those who had contributed to the dialogue.

    The delegation of North Macedonia was made up of representatives of the Ministry for Inter-Community Relations; the Agency for Audiovisual Media Services; the Ministry of Social Policy, Demography and Youth; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; the Ministry of Interior; the Ministry of Education and Science; and the Permanent Mission of North Macedonia to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

    The Human Rights Committee’s one hundred and forty-fourth session is being held from 23 June to 17 July 2025.  All the documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage.  Meeting summary releases can be found here.  The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.

    The Committee will next meet in public at 3 p.m., Tuesday 1 July to begin its consideration of the fourth periodic report of Latvia (CCPR/C/LVA/4).

    Report

    The Committee has before it the fourth periodic report of North Macedonia (CCPR/C/MKD/4).

    Presentation of the Report

    NIKOLA PROKOPENKO, State Counsellor for Criminal Legislation at the Ministry of Justice of North Macedonia and head of the delegation, said North Macedonia had been committed to implementing the Committee’s recommendations over the reporting period.  These recommendations had been integral to strategic priorities in reforming the legal system, strengthening the rule of law, and advancing democracy in alignment with European standards.

    In 2022, the State signed the Second Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime; in 2023, it ratified the European Convention on Human Rights; in November 2024, it ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents; in December 2024, it ratified the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products; and the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure was in its final parliamentary reading.  In October 2024, North Macedonia was elected a member of the Human Rights Council for the 2025-2027 term.

    During the reporting period, North Macedonia completed implementation of the justice sector reform strategy 2017–2022, which laid the foundation for a more transparent, efficient, and accountable justice system; and adopted a development strategy for the justice sector 2024–2028, aimed at further advancing the rule of law and access to justice.

    According to the strategy for Roma inclusion 2022–2030, dedicated funds had been allocated from the national budget to support the implementation of targeted projects in areas of employment, housing, social inclusion, healthcare, and persons lacking personal documentation.  In parallel, the implementation of the strategy for combatting human trafficking and illegal migration (2021–2025) was in the evaluation process.  The State was developing the national action plan for the rights of the child (2025–2029), and the strategy and national action plan for the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combatting Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (2026–2033).

    Over the past period, notable progress had been made in the legislative sphere, including through the harmonisation of the Criminal Code with the provisions of the Istanbul Convention; and the adoption of the law on audio and audiovisual media services, the new law on the media, and the law on the execution of sanctions, aimed at enhancing legal clarity and institutional effectiveness.  The State was also actively engaged in drafting amendments to the law on the Judicial Council, the law on the courts, the law on the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the law on the Council of Public Prosecutors.  These reforms were an integral part of the development sectoral strategy for the judiciary, aiming to further strengthen judicial independence, transparency, and accountability.

    The Government had partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund to identify the most vulnerable groups of children and conduct a comprehensive assessment of existing services and programmes aimed at addressing child poverty and social exclusion.  It had enacted the law on justice for children and adopted a declaration on the prevention of and fight against violent extremism, which was jointly signed by religious communities and civil society organizations in the country.

    The consistent and effective implementation of reforms in the field of education remained a national priority.  Several reform-oriented laws on education had been adopted, aimed at enhancing accessibility, inclusiveness, and quality of education across all levels.

    The State party was actively implementing the second national action plan to support the women, peace and security agenda.  It had also focused efforts on strengthening institutional capacities for support to and protection of victims of gender-based violence, while intensifying activities aimed at the prevention of discrimination and violence against women and domestic violence.

    North Macedonia remained fully committed to the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.  In December 2024, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a final resolution confirming the closure of two cases against the country, thus acknowledging its efforts in implementing the Court’s decisions.

    The fight against corruption and organised crime remained a high national priority.  The State was steadfastly implementing the national strategy for the prevention of corruption and conflict of interests, which set a comprehensive framework for transparency, accountability, and institutional integrity.  The Interdepartmental Body for Coordination of Anti-Corruption Activities played a vital role in fostering inter-institutional cooperation and ensuring the effective implementation of anti-corruption measures across all sectors. 

    The State party was currently drafting a new law on internal affairs, which introduced mandatory professional integrity checks for all personnel at the Ministry of the Interior.  In addition, it had adopted the plan for the prevention of corruption in the penitentiary system (2022–2026), as well as a sector-specific integrity policy.

    Towards the continuous development of staff in the penitentiary sector, the State had established a functional training and education centre, currently staffed with 31 certified trainers, which played a pivotal role in building institutional capacity, improving service delivery, and aligning penitentiary practices with European and international standards.

    In support of freedom of expression, the State had taken concrete steps to strengthen criminal law protection for journalists, thereby reinforcing a safe and enabling environment for independent journalism.

    The State party was prioritising both the enhancement of the legal framework and the strengthening of institutional capacities to prevent and protect against acts of torture and other forms of ill-treatment.  It had established the Commission for Monetary Compensation to Victims of Violent Crime, in accordance with the law on payment of monetary compensation to victims of violent crimes, which was adopted in 2022.  This mechanism envisaged a crucial form of redress and recognised the State’s responsibility to support victims on their path to recovery.

    In the period ahead, North Macedonia would intensify reform efforts and take more decisive, accelerated steps to ensure timely and effective implementation of the planned reform agenda.  Fully-fledged membership of the European Union would serve as a powerful catalyst for the effective realisation, advancement, and sustained protection of human rights in the country.  The State’s reform agenda for 2024 to 2027 promoted reforms that were integral to completing the European Union integration journey.

    Questions by Committee Experts

    A Committee Expert said the dialogue was taking place in the context of North Macedonia’s candidacy for membership of the European Union and membership of the Human Rights Council.  The Committee acknowledged the positive efforts made by the State towards strengthening the rule of law and addressing discrimination.

    North Macedonia had not provided information on the application of the Covenant in its report.  Was the Covenant used by national courts?  How did the State party ensure dissemination of the Committee’s general comments?  During the COVID-19 pandemic, the State party had adopted measures that derogated from the Covenant without reporting them.  Why was this?  The Committee had registered less than five individual communications from North Macedonia. What was being done to ensure that individuals were aware of the Committee’s communications procedure?

    The national human rights institution had “B” status under the Paris Principles and lacked resources.  The role of the national human rights institution as the national preventive mechanism had not been formalised.  Would the State party adopt a law to ensure that the Ombudsperson had sufficient resources and independence, and that its reports were followed up on by the authorities?

    The reform of the Criminal Code in 2023 reportedly made it more difficult to prosecute cases of corruption.  What results had been obtained in prosecuting cases of corruption and money laundering?  Had proceedings involving the former Prime Minister concluded? What was the mandate of the State’s Anti-corruption Commission and how was it funded?

    Another Committee Expert said North Macedonia had made many attempts to address discrimination, including the 2020 law on the prevention of discrimination and the establishment of the Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination.  However, this Commission reportedly operated with only a fifth of the resources it needed.  What challenges did the State party face in ensuring the effective implementation of the legal framework on discrimination?  How effective were remedies available to victims of discrimination?  How was the State party addressing barriers that prevented the reporting of discrimination?

    The national action plan on the Roma for 2014 to 2022 reportedly had achieved limited progress, indicating structural issues. What measures were in place to combat de facto segregation of the Roma in housing and education?  How was the State party empowering Roma women?  What steps had been taken to facilitate access to birth registration for all Roma persons?

    One Committee Expert asked about the results of the strategy for equality and non-discrimination for 2022 to 2026.  The State party needed to recognise discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds for hate speech and hate crimes within the Criminal Code.  Would this be done?  Some 32 cases of hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex peoples had been brought to courts, but only two had reached convictions.  Was the State party considering measures to increase the conviction rate?

    Why did the State party impose long pre-trial detention periods of up to 180 days?  Would it revise its practices and ensure that pre-trial detention was used only as a last resort?  Could judicial sentences imposing pre-trial detention be appealed?  Did detained persons have access to a lawyer from the moment of their arrest, and did the State party implement alternatives to pre-trial detention?

    A Committee Expert said North Macedonia adopted a national gender equality strategy in 2017, but no progress had been made on the draft law on gender equality.  Why was this?  It was welcome that the State party had appointed its first woman President in 2024. North Macedonia had a comparatively high percentage of women members of parliament for the region, but had a low representation of ethnic minority women.  How was the State party addressing this?  Only three out of 18 ministers were women; only two out of 82 mayors were women; and women represented 36 per cent of managerial positions in the public sector.  What were the obstacles to improving women’s representation in decision-making?

    New gender-based violence and domestic violence legislation was commendable, but it did not recognise psychological violence and cyber violence.  Would the State party amend the Criminal Code to address these forms of violence? Violence against female journalists and human rights defenders had increased recently.  What measures had the State party taken to implement existing laws and protect these women from violence?  Women involved in court procedures related to gender-based violence were often unaware of their right to free legal aid.  Underaged mothers who were victims of violence were unable to access support shelters.  Cases of gender-based violence had increased in recent years, but there was a low number of criminal convictions of perpetrators.  How was the State party addressing these issues?  Had sufficient funds been allocated to implementing the national action plan on preventing gender-based violence, including to collect data on the issue?

    During the reporting period, North Macedonia had adopted a law permitting abortion from 12 to 17 weeks of pregnancy and regulations on abortion procedures.  However, abortion medications had not been registered and procedures were not available in rural areas.  Would the State party address these issues?

    A Committee Expert noted the establishment of accountability measures within the Ombudsperson’s Office to investigate complaints against police officers on acts of torture and ill-treatment.  Most investigations of complaints had not led to prosecutions; however, there were continued reports of police using violence to obtain forced confessions, and of excessive use of force carried out by border officials against asylum seekers.  How did the State party ensure that complaints of excessive use of force by the police were investigated in a timely and effective manner? 

    The Roma community reportedly continued to face violence and threats from police officers, and not enough was being done to investigate such cases in an impartial manner.  How would the State party ensure the effective investigation of such cases and the punishment of perpetrators?  How would the State party promote the effectiveness of investigative mechanisms, including the national preventive mechanism?

    There were reports of a lack of implementation of prison reform.  The prison system was reportedly severely overcrowded and understaffed.  Some prisons struggled to provide sufficient access to clean water and food, including for juvenile detainees.  What measures would the State party take to address prison overcrowding, provide adequate health and sanitation services in all prisons, and ensure that prison staff were trained on international standards on the treatment of prisoners?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said that according to the Constitution of North Macedonia, ratified international treaties were part of the domestic legal order.  The State party had undertaken activities to raise awareness of the Committee’s individual communications procedure, and would work to raise the awareness of members of the judiciary about the Committee’s jurisprudence.

    In 2016, the State party adopted legislative amendments to strengthen the Ombudsperson, and a committee was now developing further measures to expand its mandate to monitor the rights of persons with disabilities and trafficking in persons.  National authorities had implemented 74 per cent of the Ombudsperson’s recommendations.  The State was considering measures to strengthen the degree of implementation of the recommendations.

    The State had increased the budget of the National Commission against Corruption by 47 per cent in recent years, and had developed an electronic platform for reporting cases of money laundering and organised crime, which included indicators for monitoring the anti-corruption policy.  It was also drafting amendments to the law on the prevention of corruption and conflicts of interest, which would make sanctions for misdemeanours stricter.  A law on the protection of whistleblowers was adopted in 2022, which had led to three related cases being brought to the courts.  The National Commission against Corruption produced annual reports, proposing initiatives for holding officials responsible and for institutions to respond to cases of corruption.  In 2025, 65 corruption cases were opened, most relating to violations of the Electoral Code involving non-reporting of conflicts of interest by political candidates.

    The State party had incriminated psychological violence in article 144 of the Criminal Code, recognising such violence as an aggravating circumstance.

    The civil oversight mechanism for torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment granted individuals the right to protection against ill-treatment.  Twenty-five complaints of ill-treatment by police were filed in 2024. There had been three complaints related to torture over the reporting period.  The Ombudsperson had established that there were no violations of rights in most of the cases.  Eight cases related to excessive use of force by the police were still under examination.

    Legal remedies were available to victims of discrimination, including civil lawsuits.  The State party sought to build the capacities of relevant entities within the judiciary to respond to cases of discrimination.  Discrimination was a subject in curricula at the judicial academy.

    North Macedonia had undertaken many activities to fight corruption within the prison system as part of the plan for the fight against corruption 2022-2025.  Amendments to the law on the execution of sanctions had been drafted, under which all prison staff would be obliged to make asset declarations.  In the second half of 2024, the State party increased the number of prison inspections.  Around 100 disciplinary actions had been imposed against prison staff in 2024, and proceedings had been initiated against two former prison wardens who were accused of abusing their authority.

    The State party had advanced the legislative framework to address prison overcrowding, while also developing prison infrastructure.  New laws concerning the Probation Service were being developed, which would increase the Service’s staff.  There had been more than 700 probation cases in 2024 and thus far had been more than 500 in 2025.  The State was promoting the use of probation instruments by the courts and had procured electronic bracelets for house arrests.  There were plans to increase funding for the reconstruction of the prison system.

    The Ombudsperson registered complaints of torture and violence in prisons, and there were plans to establish a registry of injuries among inmates.  The State party had increased the number of disciplinary proceedings against prison staff and had organised visits to prisons by non-governmental organizations. 

    In 2022, the State drafted the second cycle of the strategy for the Roma.  A coordinating unit for the strategy had been set up, and the budget for its implementation had been increased.  The strategy’s main focuses were healthcare, education, housing, employment and civil registration.  Most projects adopted under the former strategy had been completed.  The number of Roma who applied for social housing had increased, as had the number of Roma employees in the public administration. All Roma children born in the State had the right to birth registration, including children born to undocumented parents.

    The State party had developed measures to implement the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, including measures to prevent the segregation of Roma students in primary schools.  The State party had increased the number of Roma education mediators, who were working on keeping Roma individuals in the education system and preventing discrimination.  Some 97 per cent of Roma students now progressed from primary to secondary school.

    North Macedonia had appointed gynaecologists in the municipality with the largest number of Roma.  There were health care mediators who supported Roma persons’ access to health care procedures.  Ante- and neo-natal screenings for the Roma were funded by the State.  Door-to-door vaccination campaigns were conducted in Roma settlements.

    The State party had adopted clinical guidelines for medically induced abortions and procured medications for abortions, but these had yet to be approved for use.  The State had, in collaboration with a non-governmental organization, trained doctors in one hospital to perform the procedure.

    Analysis was being conducted on the level of harmonisation of the law on the prevention of discrimination with relevant European Union directives, with a view to revising this law. The national commission monitoring discrimination had been strengthened; it had helped to develop national policies on preventing discrimination and to raise civil servants’ awareness of the issue. A research centre for the design of gender responsive budgets and policies was being set up and a report on the implementation of the national strategy for gender equality was being prepared.  Shelters for victims of gender-based violence and domestic violence had been set up across the country.

    There were internal mechanisms within the police service that investigated complaints of excessive use of force and torture and ill-treatment by police officers.  When evidence was found, criminal proceedings were instituted against the accused officer, who was also sanctioned.  A specialised department of the Public Prosecutor was mandated to prosecute police officers who had used excessive force.  There had been no reports of excessive use of force against migrants and asylum seekers between 2022 and 2024.

    The Criminal Code included provisions on cyber bullying, stalking, abuse of personal data, and sexual harassment. The State party had adopted amendments to the Criminal Code that included journalists within the group of professions performing in the public interest and increased penalties for crimes against journalists.  Defamation was decriminalised in 2017 and changed to an administrative offence.

    Follow-Up Questions by Committee Experts

    Committee Experts asked follow-up questions on the strategy to bring the Ombudsperson to “A” status under the Paris Principles; progress in investigations into corruption cases involving high-ranking officials; the results of measures implemented by the commission to combat corruption and the national strategy to combat corruption; whether the national strategy against gender-based violence included measures for the collection of data on domestic violence; measures to address the anti-gender movement in the State; the share of the Roma in the national population and in public bodies; and investigations into cases of ill-treatment against the Roma community.

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the State party was planning measures to strengthen the implementation of the Ombudsperson’s recommendations, including a deadline for reporting on implementation.  It would take into consideration the Ombudsperson’s financial independence and the status of its employees in upcoming legal reforms.

    From 2017 to 2024, 412 cases of corruption were opened, including 62 cases involving high-profile officials, including the former Prime Minister, and former mayors and prosecutors.  Some 110 indictments had been instituted related to abuse of official power, bribery and corruption.  Offenders had been sentenced to up to 15-year prison sentences, and assets had been confiscated, including more than 800,000 euros in one case.

    The State party had achieved great progress in prosecuting hate crimes.  The Criminal Code had been amended to expand the types of hate crimes and grounds for discrimination addressed, including discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  Training had been provided for the judiciary on the amended legislation.

    Hate speech was currently defined in eight different criminal laws.  The State party was preparing a revision to its Criminal Code that would establish a stand-alone offence of hate speech.

    In 2025, one case of an attack against a woman human rights defender had been brought before the courts.  There were a few cases of such attacks brought before the courts each year in the past three years.

    Pre-trial detention could be renewed for longer periods depending on the severity of the crime.  For most crimes, it could be renewed up to 90 days, but it could be renewed for up to two years for crimes punishable with life imprisonment.

    The State party was working to harmonise all national laws with the law on the prevention of discrimination and to raise public awareness of discrimination.  The Commission for the Protection of Discrimination lacked human resources, but had achieved great results, organising public awareness campaigns on international instruments related to discrimination.  Many citizens filed complaints with the Commission.  The draft law on gender equality was being analysed in cooperation with non-governmental organizations.

    The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy collected data from social work centres on domestic violence.  There had been 319 newly registered victims of domestic violence in the first quarter of 2025.  In 2024, there was a 14 per cent increase in reported cases of domestic violence. Awareness raising campaigns on the prevention of domestic violence had been carried out, which included information on the mechanism for reporting such violence.

    Gender-based attacks against women were widespread. Policies in North Macedonia were implemented with an obligatory gender analysis.  The State party was championing institutional support for women and their promotion to management positions.  Anti-gender equality movements had appeared in North Macedonia in 2023.  The State party had raised public awareness about gender equality in response.  Some 39 per cent of members of Parliament were women.  Under the new strategy for the prevention of gender-based violence and domestic violence, there were provisions on countering digital violence.

    The police did not keep data on the ethnic affiliations of persons filing reports on excessive use of force by law enforcement. Laws were equally applied when processing all reports.

    Refugees and asylum seekers were housed in open accommodation centres, but were free to leave those centres.  Refugees often transited through the country.  No asylum seekers’ applications had been rejected without reasonable grounds.  The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees controlled the process of assessing asylum applications.  Asylum seekers who wished to report excessive use of force by the police or challenge decisions on asylum could lodge complaints with the appeals court or the European Court of Human Rights.

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, presidential decrees were issued to enforce a state of emergency.  These decrees did not suspend constitutional rights, beyond enforcing a strict regime regarding movement.  A Constitutional Court ruling that invoked the Covenant had reversed a decision, which had banned certain persons’ from exiting the country.

    Alternative measures to detention, such as house arrest and bail, were applied by the State, and judges were provided with training on these measures.  Remand imprisonment was often stopped on appeal; in 2023, 3.6 per cent of cases were ceased after a court appeal.

    The State party was working to improve legal provisions governing excessive use of force, torture and abuse of office.  New amendments removed the statute of limitations on cases of torture and excessive use of force by the police.  The public prosecutor’s office had investigated 424 cases of excessive use of force by law enforcement officers.

    Questions by Committee Experts

    A Committee Expert said North Macedonia had made huge efforts in combatting trafficking in persons, with a national action plan for 2021 to 2025 and a specific plan addressing child trafficking. Severe penalties had been introduced for the exploitation of children, and measures ensuring the non-punishment of victims and the provision of compensation and shelter had been introduced. There was a rise in the number of victims of trafficking identified in 2021 and reports of ongoing complicity by the police regarding trafficking.  How was this complicity being addressed?  How did the State party ensure victims had access to support and compensation in line with international standards?  How was it addressing the root causes of trafficking, including poverty, lack of education and social marginalisation?  How would the State party enhance identification of adult victims of trafficking?

    The legal framework on political representation had been updated, which had led to increased representation of minority groups in Parliament.  However, there were no representatives of the Roma community.  The Ombudsperson had also reported an increased representation of minorities in the public sector from 2007 to 2020.  There was a lack of funds and staff for the agencies working for the rights of minorities.  How would this be addressed?  How was the State party collecting data on the needs of minorities, and promoting their cultural identities and participation in cultural life?  What measures were in place to promote the Macedonian cultural identity?

    One Committee Expert welcomed that the Constitutional Court passed a decision in 2012 repealing articles of the law on travel documents, granting every citizen the right to freedom of movement. However, several complaints had been filed at the European Court of Human Rights regarding legal limitations on the rights of freedom of movement of the Roma.  In 2023, the Court found that Romani citizens’ freedom of movement had been violated, ordering the State to provide remedies.  What measures were in place to ensure that the right of freedom of movement of the Roma was protected, and that all persons who restricted that right in border areas were held to account?  How had the decision of the European Court of Human Rights been implemented?

    Asylum seekers faced prolonged waits for biometric identification, which restricted their access to basic services.  Reports of detention of asylum seekers were also concerning.  Two temporary transit centres in North Macedonia reportedly operated without State regulation.  How would the State party expedite the issuance of biometric identification to asylum seekers and refugees to facilitate their freedom of movement and access to services?  How would it ensure that detention of asylum seekers was implemented only as a last resort and prevent the detention of women and children asylum seekers?  There were reports of pushbacks of asylum seekers, in violation of the principle of non-refoulement.  Had these incidents been investigated?

    The Committee welcomed several positive measures by the State party to address statelessness, including ratification of the 1963 Statelessness Convention and efforts to provide stateless persons with documentation.  However, there was no official statelessness determination procedure, and some regions had insufficient birth registration systems.  How would the State party strengthen measures to register undocumented persons and ensure that all Roma persons were registered?  Would it establish an effective and fair statelessness determination procedure?

    One Committee Expert asked about the status of the bill amending witness protection measures.  There were significant delays in court cases on corruption and allegations of a lack of transparency in the appointment of judges on the Judicial Council. Could the delegation comment on these issues?  Had implementation of the strategy to strengthen the justice system improved access to justice for marginalised persons?  There was a significant backlog of administrative dispute cases; how was this being addressed?

    A bill on religious groups had been developed which sought to harmonise religious laws with provisions of the Criminal Code and punish antisemitism and the glorification of fascism.  What was the status of this bill?  Had measures been adopted to identify cases of hate speech against religious groups online and punish perpetrators?

    How many journalists had been punished under the law on slander?  There had been an increase in attacks on journalists in recent years; how was the State working to prevent such attacks?  What training was provided to public officials on the right to freedom of expression?  What activities were undertaken by the prosecutor’s office to monitor threats against journalists?

    A Committee Expert asked about legal guarantees offered to persons who were subject to illegal surveillance.  How did judges intervene in such cases?  Was there an exclusion regime in courts for evidence which had been obtained illegally?  What progress had been made in reforming police guidelines related to the collection and treatment of detainees’ data?  What measures were implemented through the State’s digital transformation strategy?

    Another Committee Expert said that in 2024, North Macedonia adopted a law on justice for children that incorporated the best interests of the child.  This was a positive step.  However, only 22 per cent of families with children in North Macedonia were receiving family cash benefits, and more than 7,000 children with disabilities did not receive disability benefits.  What plans were in place to improve social support for children with disabilities and their families?

    What measures were in place to abolish child and forced marriages?  Violence against children remained a problem in the State.  Almost three-quarters of all children were exposed to violent discipline at home, with higher rates for children with disabilities.  Roma children made up 75 per cent of children in correctional facilities, where they were subjected to solitary confinement. What could be done to protect all children in the country?

    It was welcome that measures were taken to improve the accessibility of the voting process for persons with disabilities. How did the State party support the candidacy of persons with disabilities in elections?  What had been done to support undocumented persons and detained persons to exercise their voting rights?  The Constitutional Court had struck down amendments to the electoral code in 2025.  How would the State party ensure that future legal amendments to electoral laws did not infringe on voting rights?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the national action plan on trafficking in persons included measures to increase the police’s capacity to address trafficking cases.  The State party applied the principle of non-refoulement for victims of trafficking; it did not forcibly return them to their places of origin.  It was setting up a working group to develop the next iteration of the national action plan on trafficking for 2026 to 2030.  A law on compensation for victims of trafficking was adopted in 2022.  North Macedonia was part of a working group on combatting trafficking in the Western Balkans.  The State conducted awareness raising campaigns on identifying trafficking victims. A roadmap for treating victims of trafficking had also been developed, as had guidelines for their legal representation and reintegration.

    The national strategy on cohesion and multiculturalism included policies promoting culture, education and media representation.  The Ministry for Inter-Community Relations had allocated funds for marking national days for different communities’ celebrations.  The State provided funds to 33 non-governmental organizations to implement activities promoting multiculturalism, ethnic coexistence and minority languages.

    Instruction in primary schools was provided in Macedonian and communities’ local languages, including Albanian, Bosnian and Serbian.  Some 64,000 pupils received instruction in their mother tongues.  All students could learn the minority language of their community, which was taught as an optional subject.  Teaching programmes for Macedonian as a second language had been implemented. The State provided grants to primary and secondary schools to facilitate programmes promoting ethnic harmony. Criteria for developing textbooks written in minority languages had been lowered to facilitate their development.

    Amendments had been made to the Criminal Code to prevent impunity for trafficking crimes.  The criminal procedural law included provisions on the protection of witnesses, which applied to all vulnerable witnesses.  The State party was working to amend this law in line with relevant European Union directives.  The law on witness protection, which was adopted in 2005, was in line with international standards.

    The State party had implemented reforms to the law on surveillance of communications and had established the operative technical agency. These efforts aimed to ensure that regulation of surveillance was in line with international standards.  In 2023, five officers were charged for the destruction of surveillance equipment and were issued prison sentences.

    Amendments to the Criminal Code in 2022 had resulted in the statute of limitations expiring for certain cases related to organised crime and corruption, leading to reduced sentences.  The State party was working to address this shortcoming in its ongoing revision of the Criminal Code.  The average time for the conclusion of administrative cases was 188 days.

    North Macedonia had developed a law prohibiting antisemitism and the glorification of genocide and fascist crimes.  It had also amended the law on the Judicial Council that required the Council to provide explanations for the election of all judges; it would be adopted soon.  The law envisaged the inclusion of non-governmental organizations in the process of electing judges.

    As part of judicial reform efforts, the State had taken steps to address shortcomings in the judiciary that led to cases being passed back and forth between courts, and had set up an electronic case register.  It was also reforming its legal aid system and had provided increased training to legal aid practitioners.

    Recent amendments to the Criminal Code allowed for the ex-officio prosecution of attacks on journalists.  The State had worked to raise the visibility of crimes against journalists and increase punishments for such crimes.  There were four crimes committed against journalists in 2024; all these cases had been prosecuted.  In 2024, there were 15 lawsuits filed against journalists for defamation.  Measures had been implemented to reduce the amount of compensation ordered in these cases, and alternatives to compensation, such as public apologies, were promoted.

    The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy would soon adopt a national action plan on children’s rights, which would address issues such as child poverty and protection from violence.  There was also a strategy for deinstitutionalisation which ensured that no children were placed in institutions; more than 600 children had been placed in foster families.  The State sought to increase healthcare coverage for preschool children.  To combat poverty, the State provided guaranteed minimal child benefits and benefits for children with disabilities and the families that cared for such children.  Measures were in place to support access to the labour market for disadvantaged persons.  Inspections were carried out to identify cases of child abuse and neglect. Amendments to the law on the family were planned to prohibit child marriage.

    The State party was implementing measures to support the participation of persons with disabilities in elections.  North Macedonia had adopted a national strategy on the rights of persons with disabilities and a related action plan. Some 75 experts had been trained to recognise difficulties in child development.  The State party was expanding the network of social protection services for persons with disabilities, including family-based care services.

    In 2018, the State incriminated violence against children, including cyberviolence, which was punished with up to three years imprisonment.  Trafficking of children was considered an aggravating circumstance.  The State party would work to raise public awareness to prevent child marriages.

    Under the national strategy on the Roma, data was collected on areas such as housing and employment.  Around 1.9 per cent of the Roma community was part of the public administration.  All births could be registered, regardless of whether the parents were documented or not. North Macedonia sought to eradicate statelessness.  There were 100 unresolved cases of unregistered persons, but their cases would be resolved through the law on foreigners.  Asylum seekers waited only 15 days to receive identification documents; there were no cases of forced expulsion.  Amended regulations prescribed time limits for keeping biometric materials.

    Follow-Up Questions by Committee Experts

    Committee Experts asked follow-up questions on how biometric data was stored by the police; measures to prevent non-refoulement and to investigate alleged cases of pushbacks, including those involving Greece; efforts to legally recognise religious groups that were not recognised in the Constitution; efforts to implement European Court of Human Rights decisions related to the freedom of movement of Roma individuals; statistics on compensation paid to victims of abuse by law enforcement officials; quotas for representation of women and minority ethnic groups in elections in North Macedonia in 2025 and 2026; the voter turnout rate for the most recent election and mechanisms promoting voter participation; whether the State party had any pending ratifications of international human rights treaties; and whether it investigated reports by non-governmental organizations of pushbacks at the border.

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said there were no recent reports of pushbacks of asylum seekers at the border.  Greek authorities reacted to problems at the border with Greece.  A period had been set for the storage of biometric materials and guidelines had been developed on storage methods.

    The law on witness protection established a witness protection unit within the Ministry of Interior and the Council for Witness Protection.  Witness protection measures included identity changes, which were implemented in cooperation with other countries.

    The judgement of the European Court of Human Rights related to the freedom of movement of Roma persons had been executed. No legislative amendments had been adopted, as legislation allowed for freedom of movement of the Roma.  A law on prevention from discrimination had been adopted, which placed the burden of proof on the alleged perpetrator.  Around 113 civil lawsuits had been filed against the Ministry of Interior related to the freedom of movement; assessment of those cases had been completed.

    The State party had not registered cases of discrimination of the Roma at border crossings.  Persons with expired or damaged travel documents were not allowed to exit the country; this measure applied to all citizens.  Parents were not allowed to take children out of the country if they did not have the permission of the other parent.  Police officers who violated the rights of citizens were prosecuted.  The State party investigated every report of pushbacks that it received, including reports from non-governmental organizations.

    Asylum reception centres accommodated asylum seekers whose applications were being considered and unaccompanied minors, who were provided with special care and immediately appointed social workers as ex-officio guardians.  The State worked to shorten the period of accommodation in such centres.  Asylum seekers’ rights were ensured by the State. They were provided with food, healthcare, sanitation facilities, interpretation services, and free legal aid.

    State law guaranteed religious freedom for all religious groups.  The law envisaged civil oversight of the registration of religious groups. Reasons for not granting registration needed to be provided.  The State party had mechanisms for processing hate speech against religious communities.

    The State party was in the process of ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure.  It had harmonised legislation with international standards in 2019 to prohibit solitary confinement of children.

    There had been no explicit application of the Covenant or the Committee’s jurisprudence over the reporting period. The State party would work to strengthen the capacity of the judiciary in this regard.  The Constitutional Court regularly applied the European Convention on Human Rights.

    Closing Statements

    NIKOLA PROKOPENKO, State Counsellor for Criminal Legislation at the Ministry of Justice and head of the delegation, expressed appreciation for the constructive dialogue.  The State party valued the Committee’s efforts in reviewing the application of the Covenant in North Macedonia.  The State faced challenges related to corruption, independence of the judiciary and the protection of marginalised groups.  These challenges tested the State party’s resolve to uphold the human rights of all.  The Committee’s recommendations would be given due consideration and would serve as valuable guidance for strengthening laws and policies.  The review was a step in the State’s ongoing journey toward strengthening human rights protections.  North Macedonia was dedicated to cooperating with the human rights treaty bodies and to promoting justice and rights globally.  The State would leave the dialogue motivated and encouraged to build a more just and equitable human rights-based society.

    CHANGROK SOH, Committee Chairperson, thanked the delegation for its thoughtful and thorough responses to the Committee’s questions.  The dialogue addressed key aspects of implementation of the Covenant. The Committee commended the State’s ratification of international treaties, legal norms on gender-based violence, and policies on gender equality, among other measures.  However, concerns remained related to issues such as hate speech, prison conditions, implementation gaps in protective legislation, and the limited protection framework for asylum seekers.  Mr. Soh closed by expressing sincere gratitude to all those who had contributed to the dialogue.

    __________

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

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    CCPR25.012E

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NASA Assigns Astronaut Anil Menon to First Space Station Mission

    Source: NASA

    NASA astronaut Anil Menon will embark on his first mission to the International Space Station, serving as a flight engineer and Expedition 75 crew member.
    Menon will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft in June 2026, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. After launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the trio will spend approximately eight months aboard the orbiting laboratory.
    During his expedition, Menon will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future space missions and benefit humanity.
    Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021, Menon graduated with the 23rd astronaut class in 2024. After completing initial astronaut candidate training, he began preparing for his first space station flight assignment.
    Menon was born and raised in Minneapolis and is an emergency medicine physician, mechanical engineer, and colonel in the United States Space Force. He holds a bachelor’s degree in neurobiology from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, and a medical degree from Stanford University in California. Menon completed his emergency medicine and aerospace medicine residency at Stanford and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
    In his spare time, he still practices emergency medicine at Memorial Hermann’s Texas Medical Center and teaches residents at the University of Texas’ residency program. Menon served as SpaceX’s first flight surgeon, helping to launch the first crewed Dragon spacecraft on NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission and building SpaceX’s medical organization to support humans on future missions. He served as a crew flight surgeon for both SpaceX flights and NASA expeditions aboard the space station.
    For nearly 25 years, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and conducting critical research for the benefit of humanity and our home planet. Space station research supports the future of human spaceflight as NASA looks toward deep space missions to the Moon under the Artemis campaign and in preparation for future human missions to Mars, as well as expanding commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit and beyond. 
    Learn more about International Space Station at:
    https://www.nasa.gov/station
    -end-
    Joshua Finch / Jimi RussellHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1100joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
    Shaneequa VereenJohnson Space Center, Houston281-483-5111shaneequa.y.vereen@nasa.gov   

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: A New Alloy is Enabling Ultra-Stable Structures Needed for Exoplanet Discovery

    Source: NASA

    A unique new material that shrinks when it is heated and expands when it is cooled could help enable the ultra-stable space telescopes that future NASA missions require to search for habitable worlds.

    One of the goals of NASA’s Astrophysics Division is to determine whether we are alone in the universe. NASA’s astrophysics missions seek to answer this question by identifying planets beyond our solar system (exoplanets) that could support life. Over the last two decades, scientists have developed ways to detect atmospheres on exoplanets by closely observing stars through advanced telescopes. As light passes through a planet’s atmosphere or is reflected or emitted from a planet’s surface, telescopes can measure the intensity and spectra (i.e., “color”) of the light, and can detect various shifts in the light caused by gases in the planetary atmosphere. By analyzing these patterns, scientists can determine the types of gasses in the exoplanet’s atmosphere.
    Decoding these shifts is no easy task because the exoplanets appear very near their host stars when we observe them, and the starlight is one billion times brighter than the light from an Earth-size exoplanet. To successfully detect habitable exoplanets, NASA’s future Habitable Worlds Observatory will need a contrast ratio of one to one billion (1:1,000,000,000).
    Achieving this extreme contrast ratio will require a telescope that is 1,000 times more stable than state-of-the-art space-based observatories like NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and its forthcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. New sensors, system architectures, and materials must be integrated and work in concert for future mission success. A team from the company ALLVAR is collaborating with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to demonstrate how integration of a new material with unique negative thermal expansion characteristics can help enable ultra-stable telescope structures.
    Material stability has always been a limiting factor for observing celestial phenomena. For decades, scientists and engineers have been working to overcome challenges such as micro-creep, thermal expansion, and moisture expansion that detrimentally affect telescope stability. The materials currently used for telescope mirrors and struts have drastically improved the dimensional stability of the great observatories like Webb and Roman, but as indicated in the Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 developed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, they still fall short of the 10 picometer level stability over several hours that will be required for the Habitable Worlds Observatory. For perspective, 10 picometers is roughly 1/10th the diameter of an atom.

    NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope sits atop the support structure and instrument payloads. The long black struts holding the telescope’s secondary mirror will contribute roughly 30% of the wave front error while the larger support structure underneath the primary mirror will contribute another 30%.
    Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
    Funding from NASA and other sources has enabled this material to transition from the laboratory to the commercial scale. ALLVAR received NASA Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) funding to scale and integrate a new alloy material into telescope structure demonstrations for potential use on future NASA missions like the Habitable Worlds Observatory. This alloy shrinks when heated and expands when cooled—a property known as negative thermal expansion (NTE). For example, ALLVAR Alloy 30 exhibits a -30 ppm/°C coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) at room temperature. This means that a 1-meter long piece of this NTE alloy will shrink 0.003 mm for every 1 °C increase in temperature. For comparison, aluminum expands at +23 ppm/°C.

    While other materials expand while heated and contract when cooled, ALLVAR Alloy 30 exhibits a negative thermal expansion, which can compensate for the thermal expansion mismatch of other materials. The thermal strain versus temperature is shown for 6061 Aluminum, A286 Stainless Steel, Titanium 6Al-4V, Invar 36, and ALLVAR Alloy 30.
    Because it shrinks when other materials expand, ALLVAR Alloy 30 can be used to strategically compensate for the expansion and contraction of other materials. The alloy’s unique NTE property and lack of moisture expansion could enable optic designers to address the stability needs of future telescope structures. Calculations have indicated that integrating ALLVAR Alloy 30 into certain telescope designs could improve thermal stability up to 200 times compared to only using traditional materials like aluminum, titanium, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRPs), and the nickel–iron alloy, Invar.

    To demonstrate that negative thermal expansion alloys can enable ultra-stable structures, the ALLVAR team developed a hexapod structure to separate two mirrors made of a commercially available glass ceramic material with ultra-low thermal expansion properties. Invar was bonded to the mirrors and flexures made of Ti6Al4V—a titanium alloy commonly used in aerospace applications—were attached to the Invar. To compensate for the positive CTEs of the Invar and Ti6Al4V components, an NTE ALLVAR Alloy 30 tube was used between the Ti6Al4V flexures to create the struts separating the two mirrors. The natural positive thermal expansion of the Invar and Ti6Al4V components is offset by the negative thermal expansion of the NTE alloy struts, resulting in a structure with an effective zero thermal expansion.
    The stability of the structure was evaluated at the University of Florida Institute for High Energy Physics and Astrophysics. The hexapod structure exhibited stability well below the 100 pm/√Hz target and achieved 11 pm/√Hz. This first iteration is close to the 10 pm stability required for the future Habitable Worlds Observatory. A paper and presentation made at the August 2021 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers conference provides details about this analysis.
    Furthermore, a series of tests run by NASA Marshall showed that the ultra-stable struts were able to achieve a near-zero thermal expansion that matched the mirrors in the above analysis. This result translates into less than a 5 nm root mean square (rms) change in the mirror’s shape across a 28K temperature change.

    Beyond ultra-stable structures, the NTE alloy technology has enabled enhanced passive thermal switch performance and has been used to remove the detrimental effects of temperature changes on bolted joints and infrared optics. These applications could impact technologies used in other NASA missions. For example, these new alloys have been integrated into the cryogenic sub-assembly of Roman’s coronagraph technology demonstration. The addition of NTE washers enabled the use of pyrolytic graphite thermal straps for more efficient heat transfer. ALLVAR Alloy 30 is also being used in a high-performance passive thermal switch incorporated into the UC Berkeley Space Science Laboratory’s Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment-Night (LuSEE Night) project aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 2, which will be delivered to the Moon through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. The NTE alloys enabled smaller thermal switch size and greater on-off heat conduction ratios for LuSEE Night.
    Through another recent NASA SBIR effort, the ALLVAR team worked with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to develop detailed datasets of ALLVAR Alloy 30 material properties. These large datasets include statistically significant material properties such as strength, elastic modulus, fatigue, and thermal conductivity. The team also collected information about less common properties like micro-creep and micro-yield. With these properties characterized, ALLVAR Alloy 30 has cleared a major hurdle towards space-material qualification.
    As a spinoff of this NASA-funded work, the team is developing a new alloy with tunable thermal expansion properties that can match other materials or even achieve zero CTE. Thermal expansion mismatch causes dimensional stability and force-load issues that can impact fields such as nuclear engineering, quantum computing, aerospace and defense, optics, fundamental physics, and medical imaging. The potential uses for this new material will likely extend far beyond astronomy. For example, ALLVAR developed washers and spacers, are now commercially available to maintain consistent preloads across extreme temperature ranges in both space and terrestrial environments. These washers and spacers excel at counteracting the thermal expansion and contraction of other materials, ensuring stability for demanding applications.
    For additional details, see the entry for this project on NASA TechPort.
    Project Lead: Dr. James A. Monroe, ALLVAR
    The following NASA organizations sponsored this effort: NASA Astrophysics Division, NASA SBIR Program funded by the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Infringement of Directive 1999/70/EC on insecure employment in schools – E-001987/2025(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    Regarding the first question, the Commission recalls that directive 1999/70[1] requires Member States to adopt effective measures to prevent abuse of successive fixed-term employment contracts but leaves Member States a certain margin of discretion as to how they achieve this objective.

    The Treaties do not confer to the EU competence to adopt binding guidelines on how to prevent abuse of such contracts in the Italian school system .

    Concerning Decree-Law 131/2024, the Commission notes that the provisions on compensation were amended to address the lack of effective measures to penalise abusive use of successive fixed-term contracts.

    As explained in the Commission’s reply to petition 1264/2024, whether national legislation contains sufficient safeguards to prevent such misuse warrants further assessment[2].

    The Commission is notably monitoring, in the context of infringement procedure INFR(2014)4231, the practical effects of recent legislative amendments and recruitment measures aiming to comply with the relevant reforms and targets set out in the National Resilience and Recovery Programme.[3]

    Regarding the third question, the Commission refers to its explanations in reply to petition 1264/2024, noting that EU law does not regulate the recruitment systems that Member States may choose to apply to permanent or support positions.

    The system of teachers’ recruitment remains a responsibility of the Member State in line with the subsidiarity principle.

    • [1] Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation), UNICE (Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe) and CEEP (European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation) (OJ L 175, 10.7.1999, p. 43) — https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1999/70/oj/eng.
    • [2] This assessment refers, in particular, to the criteria set out in the Mascolo judgment referenced by the honourable member ( Judgment of 26 November 2014 in joined cases C-22/13, C-61/13 to C-63/13 and C-418/13, Mascolo and Others, ECLI:EU:C:2014:2401).
    • [3] Reform of the system for recruiting teachers (M4C1R.21) and target M4C114 to recruit 70 000 teachers by 2026.
    Last updated: 1 July 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Listeners across South Sudan celebrate Radio Miraya entering last year as teenager

    Radio Miraya, a stalwart among South Sudanese broadcasters, is slowly becoming a young adult. What better way to celebrate its 19th anniversary than doing so together with its avid listeners?

    In Juba, the station did a live broadcast at the Women Union’s Centre together with media colleagues, other stakeholders, a crowd of invited Miraya fans and with listeners from across the country interacting with the presenters of the day.

    It was a day of indulging in decades-old poems and singing and dancing along to songs which, over time, have become milestone moments in the young nation’s history. It was indeed a good occasion for a long walk down memory lane.

    Laurence Ladu Luka, a volunteer teacher, has been closely following the broadcaster’s path since 2012, when he was a student in Yei. At the time, he would often schedule his time not to miss his favourite Miraya mainstays, like its Breakfast Show, Nationwide and Roundtable Discussions on the hottest issues of the day, with the latter segment having left a lasting impression.

    “The discussions I used to absorb inspired me to follow governance, cultural, social and economic issues, and I still do,” he said, adding that he proudly remembers that he was once also invited to participate in a talk show, speaking about waste management problems in the capital.

    Never generations have also discovered and joined Radio Miraya’s on-air journey.

    “You may mostly be working from your studios, far removed from us, but you give a voice to the voiceless, voices and reliable information that reach faraway towns and villages, affecting the lives of young and old people alike. Long may that continue,” said Apen Abraham, a senior student at the Darling Wisdom Academy.

    His peer Safa Sarif confessed that the live broadcast on the anniversary had a profound impact on her.

    “It has made me a fan because now I understand the importance of radio. From now on, I’ll be listening closely and learning a lot,” she vowed, pointing to the solar-powered device that she and others in attendance had received.

    Patricia Okoed, Miraya’s Head of Programming, will have been pleased with these testimonies.

    “What makes us unique is that we reach 80 per cent of the country, more than anybody else, and hopefully with more to come. Our microphones are open for everyone who wants to tell us and South Sudan about what is going on in their minds and lives,” she said.

    Radio Miraya is run by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS.

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: GAZA: Starvation or Gunfire – This is Not a Humanitarian Response

    Source: Amnesty International –

    NGOs call for immediate action to end the deadly Israeli distribution scheme (including the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation) in Gaza, revert to the existing UN-led coordination mechanisms, and lift the Israeli government’s blockade on aid and commercial supplies. The 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary ceasefire across Gaza have now been replaced by just four military-controlled distribution sites, forcing two million people into overcrowded, militarized zones where they face daily gunfire and mass casualties while trying to access food and are denied other life-saving supplies.

    Today, Palestinians in Gaza face an impossible choice: starve or risk being shot while trying desperately to reach food to feed their families. The weeks following the launch of the Israeli distribution scheme have been some of the deadliest and most violent since October 2023. 

    In less than four weeks, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and almost 4,000 injured just trying to access or distribute food. Israeli forces and armed groups – some reportedly operating with backing from Israeli authorities – now routinely open fire on desperate civilians risking everything just to survive.

    The humanitarian system is being deliberately and systematically dismantled by the Government of Israel’s blockade and restrictions, a blockade now being used to justify shutting down nearly all other aid operations in favour of a deadly, military-controlled alternative that neither protects civilians nor meets basic needs. These measures are designed to sustain a cycle of desperation, danger, and death. Experienced humanitarian actors remain ready to deliver life-saving assistance at scale. Yet more than 100 days since Israeli authorities reimposed a near-total blockade on aid and commercial goods, Gaza’s humanitarian conditions are collapsing faster than at any point in the past 20 months.

    Under the Israeli government’s new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race to reach fenced, militarized distribution sites with a single entry point. There, thousands are released into chaotic enclosures to fight for limited food supplies. These areas have become sites of repeated massacres in blatant disregard for international humanitarian law. Orphaned children and caregivers are among the dead, with children harmed in over half of the attacks on civilians at these sites. With Gaza’s healthcare system in ruins, many of those shot are left to bleed out alone, beyond the reach of ambulances and denied lifesaving medical care. 

    Amidst severe hunger and famine-like conditions, many families tell us they are now too weak to compete for food rations. Those who do manage to obtain food often return with only a few basic items – nearly impossible to prepare without clean water or fuel to cook with. Fuel is nearly depleted, bringing critical lifesaving services – including bakeries, water systems, ambulances, and hospitals – to a standstill. Families are sheltering under plastic sheets, operating makeshift kitchens amid the rubble, without fuel, clean water, sanitation, or electricity. 

    This is not a humanitarian response.

    Concentrating more than two million people into further confined areas for a chance to feed their families is not a plan to save lives. For 20 months, more than two million people have been subjected to relentless bombardment, the weaponization of food, water and other aid, repeated forced displacement, and systematic dehumanization – all under the watch of the international community. The Sphere Association, which sets minimum standards for quality humanitarian aid, has warned that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s approach does not adhere to core humanitarian standards and principles.
    This normalization of suffering must not be allowed to stand. States must reject the false choice between deadly, military-controlled food distributions and total denial of aid. States must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, including prohibitions on forced displacement, indiscriminate attacks, and obstruction of humanitarian aid. States must ensure accountability for grave violations of international law. 

    We, the undersigned organizations, once again call on all third states to:

    • Take concrete measures to end the suffocating siege and uphold the right of civilians in Gaza to safely access aid and receive protection. 
    • Urge donors not to fund militarized aid schemes that violate international law, do not adhere to humanitarian principles, deepen harm, and risk complicity in atrocities. 
    • Support the restoration of a unified, UN-led coordination mechanism—grounded in international humanitarian law and inclusive of UNRWA, Palestinian civil society, and the wider humanitarian community—to meet people’s needs.

    We reiterate our urgent calls for an immediate and sustained ceasefire, the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, full humanitarian access at scale, and an end to the pervasive impunity that enables these atrocities and denies Palestinians their basic dignity. 

    Editor’s Note
    • On 15 June, the Red Cross field hospital in Al Mawasi received at least 170 patients injured while trying to reach a food distribution site. The following day, 16 June, more than 200 patients arrived at the same facility – the highest number recorded in a single mass casualty incident in Gaza. Of that number, 28 Palestinians were declared dead. A WHO official underscored the deadly pattern: “The recent food distribution initiatives by non-UN actors every time result in mass casualty incidents.”
    • These deaths add to the broader toll: since October 2023, over 56,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including at least 17,000 children.

    List of signatory organizations:

    ABCD Bethlehem, ACT Alliance, Act Church of Sweden, Action Against Hunger (ACF), Action Corps, ActionAid, Age International, Agricultural Development Association – PARC, Al Ard for Agricultural Development, Al-Najd Developmental Forum, American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International, Amos Trust, Anera, Anti-Slavery International, Arab Educational Institute – Pax Christi Bethlehem, Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz, Asociación de Solidaridad Internacional UNADIKUM, Association for Civil Rights Israel (ACRI), Association Switzerland Palestine, B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, Beesan Charitable Association, Bimkom – Planning and Human Rights, Bisan Center for Research and Development, Botswana Watch Organisation, Breaking the Silence, Broederlijk Delen, CADUS e.V., Caritas Germany, Caritas International Belgium, Caritas Internationalis, Caritas Jerusalem, Caritas Middle East and North Africa, Center of Jewish Nonviolence, CESIDA – Spanish Coordinator of HIV and AIDS., Children Not Numbers, Choose Love, Christian Aid, Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), CIDSE – International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations, CNCD-11.11.11, codepink, Combatants for Peace, Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe, Congregations of St Joseph, COOPERATIVE AGRICULUTAL ASSOCIATION, Cordaid, Council for Arab-British Understanding (Caabu), Coventry Friends of Palestine, Cultures of Resistance, DanChurchAid, Danish Refugee Council, DAWN, Diakonia, Ekō, Embrace the Middle East, Emmaüs International, Entraide et Fraternité, Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Justice Network, EuroMed Rights, FÓRUM DE POLÍTICA FEMINISTA, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), Fund for Global Human Rights, Fundación Mundubat, Gaza Culture and Development Group (GCDG), Gaza Society for Sustainable Agriculture and Friendly Environment (SAFE), German Platform of Development and Humanitarian Aid NGOs (VENRO), Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, Glia, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P), Greenpeace, HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual, Hands for Charity, HEKS/EPER(Swiss Church Aid), HelpAge International, Human Security Collective, Humanité Solidarité Médecine (HuSoMe ONG), Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International, Humanity Above All, INARA, Independent Catholic News, Indiana Center for Middle East Peace, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), INTERSOS, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Jewish Network for Palestine, Jüdische Stimme für Demokratie und Gerechtigkeit in Israel/Palästina, JVJP, Just Foreign Policy, Just Treatment, Kairos Ireland, Kenya Human Rights Commission, Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, Martin Etxea Elkartea, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Médecins du Monde International Network, Médecins Sans Frontières, MedGlobal, Medical Aid for Palestinians, Medico International, medico international schweiz, Medicos sin fronteras (MSF – Spain), Mennonite Central Committee, Middle East Children’s Alliance, Mothers Manifesto, MPower Change Action Fund, Muslim Aid, Mwatana for Human Rights, Nonviolent Peaceforce, Norwegian Church Aid, Norwegian People’s Aid, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam International, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA), Parents Against Child Detentions, Partners for Palestine, Partners for Progressive Israel, PAX, Pax Christi Australia, Pax Christi England and Wales, Pax Christi International, Pax Christi Italy, pax christi Munich, Pax Christi Scotland, Pax Christi USA, Peace Direct, Peace Watch Switzerland, Penny Appeal Canada, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Plan International, Plataforma de Solidaridad con Palestina de Sevilla, Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine, Polish-Palestinian Justice Initiative KAKTUS, Première Urgence Internationale, Presbyterian Church (USA), Quixote Center, Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary – NGO, ReThinking Foreign Policy, Right to Movement, Rumbo a Gaza-Freedom Flotilla, Saferworld, Saskatoon Chapter of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Save the Children, Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team, Solsoc, Stichting Heimat International Foundation, STOPAIDS, Støtteforeningen Det Danske Hus i Palæstina, Terre des Hommes International Federation, Terre des hommes Lausanne, Terres des Hommes Italia, The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET), The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD UK), The Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church USA Bay Area, The Rights Forum, Union of Agricultural Work Committees-UAWC, United Against Inhumanity (UAI), Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK, US-Lutheran Palestine Israel Justice Network, Vento di Terra, War Child Alliance, War on Want, Welthungerhilfe, and Yesh Din.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: REPORT on implementation and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals in view of the 2025 High-Level Political Forum – A10-0125/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

    on implementation and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals in view of the 2025 High-Level Political Forum

    (2025/2014(INI))

    The European Parliament,

    – having regard to Article 3(5) of the Treaty on European Union and Articles 13 and 208(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

    – having regard to Decision (EU) 2022/591 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 April 2022 on a General Union Environment Action Programme to 2030[1],

    – having regard to the joint statement by the Council and the representatives of the governments of the Member States meeting within the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission of 30 June 2017 on the New European Consensus on Development – ‘Our world, our dignity, our future’[2],

    – having regard to its resolution of 8 September 2015 on the follow-up to the European Citizens’ Initiative Right2Water[3] and its resolution of 5 October 2022 on access to water as a human right – the external dimension[4],

    – having regard to its resolution of 28 November 2019 on the climate and environment emergency,[5]

    – having regard to its resolution of 9 June 2021 on the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030: Bringing nature back into our lives[6],

    – having regard to its resolution of 6 July 2022 on the EU action plan for the social economy[7],

    – having regard to the UN General Assembly resolution of 27 March 2023 entitled ‘Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development’,

    – having regard to the resolution of the International Labour Organization concerning decent work and the care economy, adopted at the 112th International Labour Conference on 14 June 2024,

    – having regard to its resolution of 6 July 2022 on addressing food security in developing countries[8],

    – having regard to its resolution of 24 November 2022 on the future European Financial Architecture for Development[9],

    – having regard to its resolution of 14 March 2023 on Policy Coherence for Development[10],

    – having regard to its resolution of 23 June 2023 on the implementation and delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)[11],

    – having regard to its recommendation of 19 December 2024 to the Council concerning the EU priorities for the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women[12],

    – having regard to its resolution of 11 April 2024 on including the right to abortion in the EU Fundamental Rights Charter[13],

    – having regard to its resolution of 24 June 2021 on the situation of sexual and reproductive health and rights in the EU, in the frame of women’s health[14],

    – having regard to the Commission staff working document of 18 November 2020 entitled ‘Delivering on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – A comprehensive approach’ (SWD(2020)0400),

    – having regard to the Commission staff working document of 3 November 2021 entitled ‘Better Regulation Guidelines’ (SWD(2021)0305) and to the Better Regulation Toolbox of July 2023,

    – having regard to the integration of the SDGs into the better regulation framework, including the Commission communication of 29 April 2021 entitled ‘Better regulation: Joining forces to make better laws’ (COM(2021)0219),

    – having regard to the Council conclusions of 26 May 2015 on poverty eradication and sustainable development after 2015,

    – having regard to the Council conclusions of 24 October 2019 on the Economy of Wellbeing[15] and the Council conclusions of 24 June 2024 on EU priorities at the United Nations during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, September 2024 – September 2025,

    – having regard to the Council conclusions of 22 June 2021 entitled ‘A comprehensive approach to accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development – Building back better from the COVID-19 crisis’,

    – having regard to the Council recommendation of 16 June 2022 on Learning for the Green transition and sustainable development,

    – having regard to the Council conclusions of 21 June 2022 entitled ‘The transformative role of education for sustainable development and global citizenship as an instrumental tool for the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs)’,

    – having regard to the Council conclusion of 24 June 2024 on EU development aid targets,

    – having regard to the Commission communication of 11 December 2019 entitled ‘The European Green Deal’ (COM(2019)0640),

    – having regard to the Commission communication of 11 March 2020 entitled ‘A new Circular Economy Action Plan – For a cleaner and more competitive Europe’ (COM(2020)0098),

    – having regard to the Commission communication of 12 May 2021 entitled ‘Pathway to a Healthy Planet for All – EU Action Plan: Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil’ (COM(2021)0400) and its annexes,

    – having regard to the report of the European Environment Agency and the Commission’s Joint Research Centre of 3 March 2025 entitled ‘Zero pollution monitoring and outlook 2025’,

    – having regard to the Commission communication of 23 February 2022 on decent work worldwide for a global just transition and sustainable recovery (COM(2022)0066),

    – having regard to the Commission communication of 12 March 2024 entitled ‘Managing climate risks – protecting people and prosperity’ (COM(2024)0091),

    – having regard to the Commission communication of 26 February 2025 entitled ‘The Clean Industrial Deal: A joint roadmap for competitiveness and decarbonisation’ (COM(2025)0085),

    – having regard to the Commission communication of 7 March 2025 entitled ‘A Roadmap for Women’s Rights’ (COM(2025)0097),

    – having regard to the mission letters from Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to the 26 European Commissioners,

    – having regard to the European Environment Agency report of 4 December 2019 entitled ‘The European environment – state and outlook 2020: Knowledge for transition to a sustainable Europe’,

    – having regard to the EU Global Health Strategy,

    – having regard to the EU Gender Action Plan III (GAP III),

    – having regard to the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030,

    – having regard to the European care strategy,

    – having regard to the EU’s first voluntary review of SDG implementation, presented to the United Nations on 19 July 2023,

    – having regard to Eurostat’s 2024 monitoring report on progress towards the SDGs in an EU context, published on 18 June 2024,

    – having regard to the opinions of the European Economic and Social Committee of 19 September 2018 entitled ‘Indicators better suited to evaluate the SDGs – the civil society contribution’, of 30 October 2019 entitled ‘Leaving no one behind when implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda’, and of 8 December 2021 entitled ‘Renewed sustainable finance strategy’,

    – having regard to UN Resolution 70/1 entitled ‘Transforming our World – the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ (2030 Agenda), adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015 in New York and establishing the SDGs,

    – having regard to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) for Youth,

    – having regard to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed at the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UNCBD,

    – having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the EU Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030,

    – having regard to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, adopted by UN member states at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction on 18 March 2015,

    – having regard to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP21) in Paris on 12 December 2015,

    – having regard to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030),

    – having regard to the Buenos Aires Commitment, which charts a path forward on a care society, adopted at the 15th Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, which was organised by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Government of Argentina and held in Buenos Aires from 7 to 11 November 2022,

    – having regard to the 2024 joint report entitled ‘Are we getting there? A synthesis of the UN system evaluations of SDG 5’, published by UN Women, the UN Development Programme, the UN Population Fund, the UN Children’s Fund and the World Food Programme,

    – having regard to the agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) of 4 March 2023 (UN High Seas Treaty),

    – having regard to the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women,

    – having regard to the Gender Equality Index 2024 of the European Institute for Gender Equality,

    – having regard to the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcomes of its review conferences,

    – having regard to UN Human Rights Council resolution 48/13, adopted on 8 October 2021, and UN General Assembly resolution 76/300, adopted on 28 July 2022, on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and to Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe resolution 2545 (2024), adopted on 18 April 2024, on mainstreaming the human right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment with the Reykjavik process,

    – having regard to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) resolution ‘5/10. The environmental dimension of a sustainable, resilient and inclusive post-COVID-19 recovery’, adopted on 2 March 2022,

    – having regard to the UN Global Sustainable Development Report 2019, entitled ‘The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development’,

    – having regard to the UN Secretary-General’s report entitled ‘Our Common Agenda’, presented to the UN General Assembly, and to the mandate that UN General Assembly Resolution 76/6 of 15 November 2021 gave the UN Secretary-General to follow up on his report,

    – having regard to the UN Sustainable Development Report 2021, entitled ‘The Decade of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals’, and the UN Sustainable Development Report 2022, entitled ‘From Crisis to Sustainable Development: the SDGs as Roadmap to 2030 and Beyond’,

    – having regard to the UN Sustainable Development Goals Report 2024,

    – having regard to the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on global warming of 1.5 ºC, its special report on climate change and land, its special report on the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate and its sixth assessment report (AR6),

    – having regard to the global assessment report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) of 25 November 2019 on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and its latest nexus and transformative change assessment reports,

    – having regard to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report of 18 February 2021 entitled ‘Making Peace with Nature: a scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies’,

    – having regard to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ publication of January 2022 entitled ‘SDG Good Practices: A compilation of success stories and lessons learned in SDG implementation – Second Edition’,

    – having regard to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report of 10 November 2022 entitled ‘Global Outlook on Financing for Sustainable Development 2023: No Sustainability Without Equity’,

    – having regard to the Human Development Report 2023/24 entitled ‘Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world’,

    – having regard to the report of the UN Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development of April 2024, entitled ‘Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2024: Financing for Development at a Crossroads’,

    – having regard to the initiative by the UN Secretary-General ‘SDG Stimulus to Deliver Agenda 2030’ of February 2023,

    – having regard to the Bridgetown Initiative launched on 23 September 2022,

    – having regard to the One Health Initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the One Health Joint Action Plan (2022-2026) of the WHO, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the UNEP,

    – having regard to the WHO’s 2024 progress report on the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All,

    – having regard to the Spotlight Initiative to eliminate violence against women and girls,

    – having regard to the FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication,

    – having regard to the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact which took place in Paris in June 2023,

    – having regard to the 2023 SDG Summit which took place in September 2023, during the United Nations General Assembly high-level week,

    – having regard to the Summit of the Future which took place on 22 and 23 September 2024 in New York, its outcome, the Pact for the Future, which pledges 56 actions to accelerate and finance sustainable development, and its two annexes, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations,

    – having regard to the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development that will take place in Seville, Spain, from 30 June to 3 July 2025,

    – having regard to the Sustainable Development Solutions Network report of January 2025 entitled ‘Europe Sustainable Development Report 2025: SDG Priorities for the New EU Leadership’,

    – having regard to the ‘SDG Acceleration Actions’ online database,

    – having regard to the existing national and regional initiatives that encourage the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals,

    – having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

    – having regard to the joint deliberations of the Committee on Development and the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety under Rule 59 of the Rules of Procedure,

    – having regard to the report of the Committee on Development and the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (A10-0125/2025),

    A. whereas the 2030 Agenda and the 17 integrated SDGs, including their 169 targets and 247 indicators, represent the only globally shared and politically agreed framework for evidence-based policies to address common challenges and achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions – economic, social and environmental – in a balanced and integrated manner;

    B. whereas UN member states have committed to achieving the SDGs by 2030; whereas only 17 % of SDG targets are on track, nearly half are showing minimal or moderate progress, and progress on over a third has stalled or even regressed below 2015 baseline levels; whereas the important steps already made in crucial fields highlight the need for urgent action to reverse this alarming trend and should act as an incentive to implement the SDGs in full;

    C. whereas the implementation of the 2030 Agenda implies that economic development goes hand in hand with social justice, good governance and respect for human rights; whereas the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the new geopolitical landscape, escalating conflicts, geopolitical tensions, the transgression of planetary boundaries, increasing dependencies on raw materials and critical minerals, the negative effects of climate change and biodiversity loss, and multiple crises in various areas are severely affecting progress towards the achievement of the SDGs;

    D. whereas the number of additional people in extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries is estimated to reach 175 million by 2030, including 89 million women and girls[16]; whereas people with disabilities are more vulnerable to poverty due to reduced employment and education opportunities, lower wages and higher living costs; whereas further collective action is urgently needed to respond to poverty;

    E. whereas the SDGs, being universal and indivisible, are applicable to all actors, including civil society and social partners, and to both the public and private sectors; whereas these actors should be systematically involved in devising and implementing policies related to the SDGs; whereas the commitment of the private sector to the SDGs offers the possibility of increasing the scale of development actions and their sustainability by creating jobs, stimulating economic growth and eliminating poverty;

    F. whereas the EU has underlined its unequivocal commitment to the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs; whereas progress towards achieving SDG targets is uneven across European countries and many dimensions of sustainable development have not shown significant progress in the past decade, with increasing levels of poverty and an increasing level of inequality between and within countries being a threat to sustainable development; whereas the latest progress monitoring report of the 8th Environment Action Programme shows that for a majority of the indicators the EU is not on track to meet the targets[17]; whereas the Commission has acknowledged that more progress is needed on many SDGs at EU level, and that accelerating the SDGs’ implementation is more urgent than ever, with a particular focus on vulnerable people;

    G. whereas the Commission has not yet devised an overarching strategy for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at EU level or a financing plan for the SDGs; whereas Commission has committed to taking a ‘whole-of-government’ approach to SDG implementation and its work programme should foster the realisation of the 2030 Agenda; whereas the EU should set a good example for ensuring the prosperity for present and future generations globally;

    H. whereas the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) will be convened from 14 to 23 July 2025 under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council; whereas the 2025 HLPF will focus on advancing sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs, aiming to leave no one behind; whereas it will conduct in-depth reviews of SDG 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages), SDG 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls), SDG 8 (Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all), SDG 14 (Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources); and SDG 17 (Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development);

    I. whereas health is an indispensable foundation for peoples’ well-being; whereas health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity[18]; whereas the COVID-19 pandemic alone has eliminated a decade of progress in global levels of life expectancy[19]; whereas non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, dementia and chronic respiratory disease, are the world’s leading causes of death; whereas road safety is also a cause for concern;

    J. whereas air pollution constitutes a major factor for non-communicable diseases and is responsible for almost 7 million deaths globally, with more than nine out of ten deaths occurring in lower- and middle-income countries; whereas at EU level, air pollution remains the largest environmental health risk, despite the progress made, causing hundreds of thousands of premature deaths every year;

    K. whereas gender equality is crucial for fair, inclusive and sustainable development; whereas, despite some steps forward, significant inequalities continue to persist; whereas reinforcing women’s rights, empowering women and girls, challenging biased social norms, eliminating harmful practices and tackling discrimination are necessary to promote SDG 5;

    L. whereas protection of labour rights is declining and income inequality is rising; whereas the global jobs gap reached 402 million in 2024, while extreme forms of working poverty affect 240 million workers globally[20]; whereas women and young people experience higher unemployment rates; whereas more than one in five young people are not in education, employment or training[21];

    M. whereas the ocean covers more than 70 % of the surface of our planet and constitutes its largest ecosystem; whereas the ocean plays a critical role as a climate regulator, enables economic activity and provides livelihoods for more than 3 billion people; whereas the ocean constitutes the world’s greatest ally against climate change as it generates 50 % of the world’s oxygen, absorbs 25 % of all carbon dioxide emissions and captures 90 % of the excess heat generated by these emissions but its absorption capacity is decreasing; whereas 40 % of the ocean is heavily affected by pollution, depletion of fisheries, loss of coastal habitats and other human activities; whereas the UN Secretary-General declared an ‘ocean emergency’ during the 2022 UN Ocean Conference; whereas an inclusive ocean governance should, among others, be human-rights-based and socially equitable, and enhance gender equality;

    N. whereas there is currently a USD 4 trillion annual investment gap to achieve the SDGs; whereas foreign direct investment flows to developing countries have decreased while gains in remittances and official development assistance (ODA) have been modest[22];

    O. whereas the lack of financing is a major barrier in achieving gender equality outcomes; whereas gender equality is fundamental to delivering on the promises of sustainability, prosperity, social justice, peace and human progress; whereas meaningful and sustained financial commitments and strengthen budgeting processes are fundamental to support the implementation of legislation, policies and gender responsive services to advance gender equality across all SDG 5 targets[23];

    P. whereas, after a decade of rapid debt accumulation, the debt levels of low-, middle- and high-income countries remain at unprecedentedly high levels, limiting their capacity to invest in achieving the SDGs and in efficiently tackling climate challenges; whereas about 60 % of low-income countries are at high risk of or are already experiencing debt distress[24]; whereas the existing fiscal space in heavily indebted developing countries is further reduced by external shocks, such as natural disasters, different aspects of debt management, higher borrowing costs and the absence of a conducive international environment for domestic resource mobilisation;

    Q. whereas illicit financial flows, tax base erosion, profit shifting and corruption have led to a global decline in revenues and represent another important obstacle to sustainable development; whereas further international tax cooperation and rules are needed to address these challenges;

    R. whereas the EU and its Member States constitute the largest donor for developing countries, providing approximately 42 % of the total ODA; whereas the EU has set the target of collectively providing ODA equivalent to 0.7 % of its gross national income (GNI); whereas the collective ODA of the EU stood at 0.57 % of GNI in 2023 with only four Member States meeting the agreed target and several others making historic cuts to their ODA; whereas in order to reach the agreed target, the EU budget for ODA should amount to an estimated minimum of EUR 200 billion over the next multiannual financial framework; whereas the Global Gateway is a strategic instrument and has the potential to advance a range of interconnected SDGs, notably through international partnerships and investments in transport, energy, digital infrastructure, health and education;

    S. whereas the EU’s political commitment to policy coherence for development was reaffirmed in the 2017 New European Consensus on Development, which identified policy coherence for development as a ‘crucial element of the EU strategy to achieve the SDGs and an important contribution to the broader objective of policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD)’; whereas PCSD is an approach that integrates the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development at all stages of domestic and international policymaking;

    T. whereas the new US administration has taken a number of deeply worrisome and damaging decisions in the field of international development and humanitarian aid, most significantly the suspension of 83 % of funding for programmes of the US Agency for International Development (USAID); whereas it is estimated that USD 54 billion in foreign aid contracts are affected; whereas the suspension of USAID funding and global aid cuts by several Member States will have long-term implications for the world’s development agenda and the achievement of the SDGs;

    State of play

    1. Reaffirms its strong and unwavering commitment to ensuring the full and prompt implementation and delivery of all the SDGs, their targets and the 2030 Agenda as a whole, especially in the light of the deteriorating geopolitical, social, economic and environmental landscape; reaffirms its strong commitment to the Pact for the Future, which is a crucial step towards revitalising the UN and achieving the SDGs;

    2. Regrets that the global community is severely off track with regard to realising the 2030 Agenda and achieving SDG targets; recognises the interconnectedness and interdependence of the 17 SDGs and acknowledges that the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and beyond will require broad and accelerated action across all SDGs; underlines that the scarring effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, escalating conflicts, geopolitical tensions, social, health and humanitarian emergencies and the accelerating negative effects of climate change constitute significant obstacles for the achievement of the SDG targets and that more efforts by all actors are needed to match real needs;

    3. Recognises that the delay in achieving the SDGs is aggravated by the significant progress gap among different groups of countries, particularly in the poorest and most vulnerable countries and regions; highlights that the current unequal progress is being exacerbated by the suspension of USAID funding and by cuts to global aid budgets by EU Member States and other OECD countries; stresses the need to maintain a strong focus on development cooperation in order to place the world on course to achieve the SDGs;

    4. Underlines that relevant policies for achieving the SDGs in low- and middle-income countries are to a large extent reduced by high debt levels and high debt service burdens; points also to the limitations of the global financial architecture and insufficient international support; stresses that these countries urgently require more financial resources and fiscal space to facilitate far greater investment in the SDGs; emphasises the need for global cooperation to reform the global financial architecture, especially in view of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development held in Seville from 30 June to 3 July 2025;

    5. Stresses the urgent need for international cooperation and decisive transformative action to place our societies and economies firmly on course to achieve the SDGs and address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution; highlights that the SDGs should be achieved in a just way and with respect for planetary boundaries; emphasises that social sustainability, including reducing global inequalities, ensuring access to essential services and promoting social inclusion, should be mainstreamed across all SDG implementation efforts;

    6. Welcomes, as a first step, the latest version of the Bridgetown Initiative in terms of climate action, which calls for the mobilisation of an additional USD 500 billion per year for climate change mitigation and adaptation in developing countries; recalls, however, that it still falls short of what is required; urges the EU and its Member States, accordingly, to work towards providing an additional USD 1.3 trillion per year for climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as loss and damage, through public concessional and non-debt creating instruments, in line with the Baku to Belem Roadmap agreed at COP 29;

    7. Reiterates that international cooperation is a fundamental condition for the world to make progress on the SDGs by 2030 and beyond and that such cooperation should prioritise strengthening the resilience, stability and autonomy of partner countries, especially in Africa, by promoting opportunities for economic and human development and refocusing on key priorities such as nutrition, healthcare and education; highlights that, despite the difficulties posed by the current geopolitical situation, special attention should be given to regions and communities that are furthest off-track, to ensure that no one is left behind; warns that the consequences of inaction or further delay would primarily be borne by the most vulnerable but would also detrimentally affect the world as a whole;

    8. Underlines the importance of uninterrupted access to high-quality climate and environmental data and the fulfilment of international reporting obligations for science- and evidence-based policymaking; notes with concern that recent geopolitical developments highlight vulnerabilities in the global climate infrastructure; highlights, moreover, the need for stronger collaboration between EU and global institutions, the IPCC and the UN to ensure that both EU and global policies remain grounded in the latest climate science;

    9. Recognises the importance of country-led sustainable development strategies for the implementation of the SDGs; acknowledges that sustainable development approaches should be tailored to specific local contexts; highlights, in this regard, the significant role of local and regional authorities in defining, implementing and monitoring local actions and strategies that contribute to the global achievement of the SDGs; stresses, moreover, that the effective implementation of the SDGs requires the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders, stronger social and institutional partnerships, public and private investment, cooperation and shared responsibility between public actors, greater involvement of the people, adequate education and broader interaction between the public and private sectors, science and civil society;

    10. Highlights that EU leadership in the global implementation of the SDGs remains crucial, especially in the light of multiple geopolitical challenges and ongoing crises; emphasises that the EU and its Member States should assume a stronger leadership role in coordinating global efforts to reverse stagnation or regression, and to facilitate and accelerate the achievement of the SDGs, while remaining a reliable partner for effective and sustainable aid; stresses the important role of the European Green Deal in implementing and achieving the SDGs;

    11. Highlights the need to mobilise adequate financial resources towards SDG-relevant transformations and to promote policy coherence and inclusiveness at all levels of governance, prioritising the inclusion of the SDGs in policymaking and Commission impact assessments;

    12. Calls on the EU institutions to live up to their long-standing commitments to apply gender mainstreaming and an intersectional perspective to all EU policies and funding; regrets that countries still lack 44 % of data needed to track SGD 5 and that over 80 % of countries are missing data on at least one SDG 5 target[25]; therefore, stresses the need to strengthen national statistical offices, and improve their global coordination and cooperation to ensure informed policymaking and close the remaining gender data gaps;

    13. Highlights the significant role of the UN and the annual HLPF for the monitoring and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs; believes that the 2025 HLPF should be used as an opportunity to provide high-level political guidance and new impetus to intensified efforts and accelerated action to achieve the SDGs by 2030;

    SDGs under in-depth review at the 2025 HLPF

    SDG 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

    14. Regrets the marginal or moderate progress in most SDG 3 targets and the slowing pace since 2015 in multiple key areas; notes with concern that less than 10 % of SDG 3 targets are on track and less than one third are likely to be met by 2030; is highly concerned that the EU has also experienced setbacks in about half of the indicators analysed by Eurostat for its June 2024 report

    15. Is alarmed that progress towards universal health coverage has slowed, leaving almost half of the world’s population without access to essential health services; is highly concerned that the lack of health coverage exposes 2 billion people to financial hardship from healthcare costs[26];

    16. Underlines that healthcare systems are experiencing increased strains due to the ageing global population, low-quality healthcare infrastructure and the global shortage of healthcare workers and recalls that progressing towards universal health coverage requires addressing these challenges; underlines the significant disparities around the globe regarding the adequate number of healthcare workers, with low-income countries experiencing the lowest density and distribution; notes that an additional 1.8 million healthcare workers are needed in 54 countries, mostly high-income ones, just to maintain their current age-standardised density[27]; highlights the vulnerability of healthcare workers confronted with increased workloads, burnout and mental health issues; recommends targeted support, training, and protective measures to safeguard frontline professionals and strengthen emergency health response capacity;

    17. Stresses that multiple and interlocking crises, the negative impact of climate change and biodiversity loss on health, economic instability, poverty, persistent inequalities, especially among vulnerable populations and regions, and increasingly constrained resources, despite the increasing demands on health services, threaten to worsen the health crisis, undermine global health security and further derail progress towards SDG 3 targets;

    18. Regrets the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global health and on progress towards SDG 3 targets; stresses that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed extensive long-lasting weaknesses in healthcare systems and has highlighted the importance of increasing crisis preparedness, crisis response capacity and healthcare systems resilience; stresses that health threats know no borders and that a local health emergency can quickly escalate into a global pandemic, necessitating a coordinated global response and strengthened international cooperation through robust multilateral health institutions, in particular the WHO;

    19. Deeply regrets the US decision to withdraw from the WHO and the dismantling of health programmes under USAID; underlines that this decision will have a severe effect on people’s lives and access to health services globally, exposing and exacerbating weaknesses in global health systems, increasing healthcare disparities and straining resources with long-term consequences for global health security and resilience; stresses that this withdrawal will significantly hinder progress towards achieving SDG 3 by reducing capacities for monitoring health threats, as well as international coordination, resources and leadership in addressing health crises and promoting equitable access to health for all; calls on the US to reconsider its decision to withdraw from the WHO;

    20. Recognises that efforts to combat communicable diseases such as HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases have led to significant progress in the past decades; is concerned, however, about the increased numbers of cases of malaria and tuberculosis and about the fact that, despite the achievements, inequalities continue to persist and threats continue to emerge, leaving many populations vulnerable and weakening global efforts; deeply regrets that the disruption of HIV-AIDS programmes could undo 20 years of progress, which could lead to over 10 million additional HIV-AIDS cases and 3 million deaths[28]; calls for more effective implementation of policies and programmes to further reduce transmission rates and improve access to treatment and prevention, particularly in less developed countries;

    21. Notes that neglected tropical diseases continue to affect billions of people, with many countries lacking adequate access to treatment, which highlights the urgent need to strengthen the prevention, preparation and response capacities of the EU and its partners, particularly in the Global South, to ensure that the benefits of global efforts reach everyone; calls for incentives to promote research and development on medicines targeting tropical diseases; calls for the EU to take proactive measures to encourage innovation and accelerate drug availability;

    22. Notes with concern that, despite the improvement in skilled birth attendance and the decrease in global neonatal mortality and under-five mortality rates, the global maternal mortality rate remains almost unchanged since 2015; points to the significant divergences between low-income and high-income countries and the grim situation in high and very high alert fragile countries; calls for decisive action across Member States and as part of the EU’s external policies to make substantial progress towards the 2030 goal to reduce maternal mortality, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including access to quality maternal healthcare services, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric care, comprehensive antenatal and postnatal services, family planning and legal abortions;

    23. Highlights that improvements in reducing adolescent birth rates and in access to modern contraceptive methods do not benefit all women and girls equally; points to the persisting social, economic and regional inequalities hindering the broadening of positive trends; calls for the EU to ensure, as a priority, access to safe and effective contraception methods and to legal abortion services across Member States and to contribute to the same through its external policies; reiterates its call for the right to safe and legal abortion to be included in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights;

    24. Recalls that the full realisation of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and upholding women’s and girls’ bodily autonomy is critical to achieving gender equality; highlights that SRHR are an integral part of the universal health coverage and are critical to achieving SDG 3, particularly target 3.7; calls on the Commission to ensure that SRHR are included in EU initiatives and programmes on universal health coverage;

    25. Regrets that progress towards the nine global voluntary targets agreed to in the NCD Global Monitoring Framework is slow and uneven; stresses that without increased uptake of these effective interventions, half of all countries will miss the 2030 SDG target to reduce NCD-related premature mortality by one third; calls, therefore, for strengthened, coordinated, and multi-sectoral actions to prevent and control NCDs to reduce suffering and prevent premature mortality; calls, moreover, for the implementation of the WHO’s ‘best buys’ policies to be prioritised, to address the primary risk factors of NCDs, including tobacco use, unhealthy diets, harmful use of alcohol, drug use and physical inactivity; calls, in addition, for the full implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all signatory countries;

    26. Calls on the Commission to fully align EU air quality standards with the WHO guidelines in line with the Ambient Air Quality Directive[29]; recalls that sustainable cities and communities, and in particular tackling air pollution levels in urban areas, are key to promoting health and well-being, since over half of the world’s population currently resides in cities;

    27. Calls for enhanced, coordinated and holistic action, multiannual and tailor-made planning and substantial investment to achieve universal health coverage; stresses the need to strengthen health systems and the healthcare workforce, ensure equitable access to quality healthcare services and safe, effective and affordable medicines and vaccines, promote disease prevention and treatment, develop innovative solutions, and build inclusive and resilient health systems; calls also for action to tackle aggravating environmental factors, reduce the number of illnesses and deaths from hazardous chemicals and pollution, reduce the risks from emerging and re-emerging zoonotic epidemics and pandemics, and combat antimicrobial resistance; underlines the need to support social and solidarity healthcare organisations and address social determinants of health and disparities in access to quality care and services, including sexual and reproductive health services, especially for vulnerable populations such as women and girls with disabilities, with particular attention to directly affected regions and rural and remote communities;

    28. Stresses the need for horizontal programming in health policy and for investment in preparedness against health threats and in resilient public health systems; calls for increased investment in research and development on vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non- communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries with a view to providing access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines; regrets that in 2022, 20.5 million children missed out on life-saving vaccines[30]; notes that access to vaccines must be equitable for an effective global response; calls for the use of initiatives such as the Global Gateway to facilitate investment for the local production of medicines and medical technologies and to prevent future health emergencies by strengthening capacities around the world;

    29. Reaffirms its commitment to the One Health approach; considers that applying the One Health approach is key to achieving progress on SDG 3; underlines, moreover, the need for the Commission and the Member States to fully implement the EU global health strategy, monitoring its implementation and regularly reporting to Parliament on the achievement of its objectives;

    30. Recalls that access to affordable and quality medicines depends also on technology and knowledge transfer; underlines, therefore, the flexibilities in the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), confirmed by the Doha Declaration, as legitimate policy measures that governments can use to protect and promote public health by putting limits and safeguards on the enforcement of intellectual property rights; urges the EU to ensure that trade agreements with developing countries are fully supportive of this objective;

    31. Underlines that environmental risks account for a quarter of the disease burden worldwide[31]; recalls that, in line with the One Health approach, human and animal health depend on planetary health and that a healthy environment is a universal human right and a fundamental pillar of sustainable development and human well-being; welcomes the wide support at the UN General Assembly for the recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a universal human right[32] and calls for its effective protection at EU level; stresses the need to ban the most hazardous chemicals, including banning endocrine disruptors, and to phase out the PFAS forever chemicals, allowing their use only where essential for critical sectors, such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals and products necessary for the twin transition to a climate neutral and digital economy; stresses the need to also ban exports of chemical pesticides that are banned in the EU to third countries;

    32. Highlights the rising health risks due to the climate crisis, including increased incidences of heat-related illnesses, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and the spread of vector- and water-borne diseases; calls for dedicated efforts to protect vulnerable populations, including older persons, children, people with pre-existing conditions, persons with disabilities, and low-income communities, which face disproportionate climate-related health risks; urges for the implementation of localised heat action plans and the provision of accessible shelters and targeted outreach during extreme weather events;

    33. Stresses, moreover, that extreme weather events are disrupting healthcare infrastructure, energy supply, and supply chains, thereby compromising access to critical medical care and treatment; underscores the need to invest in climate-resilient healthcare systems, including disaster-proof infrastructure, renewable energy sources in medical facilities, and robust water and sanitation systems; calls for the integration of early warning systems, mobile health units, and decentralised community-based healthcare models to ensure continuity of care in climate emergencies; calls on the Commission and the Member States to integrate climate resilience into all public health policies and national health strategies; encourages the use of SDG-aligned indicators to monitor the health impacts of climate change and to guide EU and national-level adaptation strategies;

    SDG 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

    34. Expresses grave concern about the slow progress towards gender equality, with a majority of the indicators being off track, risking further backsliding on gender equality and women’s rights, including actions that shrink the civic space for women rights defenders; considers that development aid cuts are already having a negative impact on women’s empowerment and gender equality; reaffirms gender equality as both a distinct goal and a catalyst for the advancement of the other SDG goals; calls for strong EU leadership internationally in the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights through policy and financial assistance;

    35. Calls for accelerated, targeted action to end all forms of violence and harassment against women and girls, including sexual and gender-based violence and technology-facilitated gender-based violence, and to end harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriage, so-called ‘honour’ based violence, sterilisation and female genital mutilation; recalls that over 230 million girls and women have undergone female genital mutilation[33] and deplores the fact that new estimates show an increase of 30 million cases compared to 2016[34]; remains gravely concerned about the high worldwide rates of maternal mortality, in particular in low and middle-income countries; stresses that rape remains one of the most widespread human rights violations and calls for the establishment of a common definition of rape on the basis of lack of consent; stresses that the objectives of SDG 5 must also play an important role in the EU’s relations with other countries;

    36. Stresses that women are disproportionately affected by climate change, particularly in least developed countries and rural areas; underlines that this disproportionate impact poses unique threats to their livelihoods, health and safety, including increased food and water insecurity, heightened exposure to gender-based violence in the context of climate-related displacement and migration, and greater economic instability owing to a reliance on climate-sensitive sectors; stresses that four out of five of those displaced due to the climate crisis are women and girls[35]; calls for climate action plans to include support for women and for women’s participation in climate decision-making at all levels; calls for strengthened healthcare systems to address climate-related diseases affecting women and for the promotion of education on climate adaptation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to integrate climate resilience into all public health policies and national health strategies; encourages the use of SDG-aligned indicators to monitor the health impacts of climate change and to guide EU and national-level adaptation strategies and looks forward to the new gender action plan under the UNFCCC; calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide leadership for the adoption of a new ambitious and effective gender action plan at COP30;

    37. Regrets that women’s sexual and reproductive rights remain limited globally, and stresses the importance of addressing the barriers that hinder women’s ability to make decisions about contraception, healthcare access and sexual consent, recognising that socio-economic factors, education and geographical location significantly influence women’s ability to exercise these rights; recalls the EU’s commitment to the promotion, protection and fulfilment of the right of every individual to have full control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality and sexual and reproductive rights, free from discrimination, coercion and violence; warns that targets set by SDG 5 will not be achieved if universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights is not guaranteed in the EU and globally and calls on the EU to prioritise this question in policy and funding, and enshrine the right to legal and safe abortion in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; reiterates that all women must have access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including for family planning, information and education, and calls for the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes; calls for increased investment in these areas to ensure access to comprehensive and non-discriminatory services;

    38. Calls for the continuation of funding for programmes focusing on promoting women’s rights, empowerment and autonomy and fighting against all forms of gender-based violence; calls on the Commission to ensure that 85 % of all new external actions incorporate gender as a significant or principal objective and that 20 % of ODA in each country is allocated to programmes with gender equality as one of their principal objectives; calls, furthermore, on the Commission to ensure the systematic implementation of rigorous gender analyses, gender disaggregated data collection, gender-responsive budgeting and gender impact assessments;

    39. Regrets that assistance from OECD Development Assistance Committee donors for gender equality dropped in 2022, marking the first decline after a decade of growth[36]; notes that only 4 % of allocable ODA focused on gender equality as its principal objective[37]; stresses the need to mobilise new resources to resume progress towards gender equality; regrets that since the launch of the GAP III only 3.8 % of all gender-responsive/targeted actions have gender equality as a principal objective, falling behind the 5 % target outlined in the NDICI Regulation[38]; calls on the Member States and the Commission to substantially increase the number of the EU’s actions having the promotion of gender equality as a principal objective; calls for the EU to increase its funding of multilateral funds for gender equality, such as UN Women, and for sexual and reproductive health, such as the UN Population Fund and the Global Fund to fight AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria;

    40. Recalls that women in general perform most unpaid domestic and care work, which imposes a disproportionate burden on lower-income households, contributing to poverty, inequality and precarious living conditions and reducing the labour market participation of women; calls for stronger promotion of the right of every woman to balance her professional and private life based on joint responsibility and working conditions that facilitate the reconciliation of private, family and working lives; calls for accelerated efforts to close the gender pay and pension gaps, including in the care economy, as well as to tackle horizontal and vertical labour market segregation; calls, moreover, for efforts to ensure women’s full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership in decision-making roles and opportunities in the public and private sectors, including in all aspects of peace and security; calls for further promotion of women’s participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics;

    41. Recognises the urgent need to respond to negative trends hampering progress in gender equality in the EU, including gender-based violence, and to prevalent sexist political discourse; welcomes, in this regard, the Commission’s Roadmap for Women’s Rights as a compass for future EU action in the area both inside and outside the Union and in shaping the new gender equality strategy from 2026; stresses that this roadmap should foster the implementation of legislative and non-legislative measures for greater progress and accountability on SDG 5 and calls for stronger Member States involvement; urges a comprehensive approach addressing sexual and reproductive services, intersectional discrimination and the protection of vulnerable women;

    42. Deplores the increasing unjustified attacks against civil society organisations, particularly women’s rights organisations, both in the EU and worldwide; stresses the need for the establishment of a protection mechanism for human rights defenders in the EU, with particular attention paid to women, LGBTIQ+ people and SRHR human rights defenders; calls for the full implementation of gender equality policies (gender action plan, gender equality strategy), including in their SRHR components, and insists that this implementation must be backed up with adequate funding, including for women’s rights and SRHR organisations, and information about family planning, affordable contraception, free, safe and legal abortion, and maternal healthcare; stresses that women’s rights organisations continue to be systematically underfunded, receiving less than 1 % of global ODA;

    43. Recognises that, despite progress, 122 million girls worldwide remain out of school[39]; emphasises that equal access to education is fundamental for sustainable development, poverty reduction, and economic prosperity, as it empowers women and girls to participate fully in society; calls for the integration of gender-responsive strategies in education policies to address these inequalities; calls on Member States to ensure the provision of education in primary and secondary schools,  focused on fighting gender-based violence and gender stereotyping; underlines that investing in girls’ education yields great returns for generations to come, directly contributing to the realisation of their fundamental rights and protecting them against all forms of violence, and also contributing to better well-being for whole societies;

    44. Recognises the disproportionate vulnerability of women and girls in conflict and humanitarian crises, including the increased risk they face of sexual and gender-based violence, displacement, and disruption of essential services; reaffirms the vital role of women and girls in peacebuilding, conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction, emphasising their essential participation in peace negotiations and decision-making processes, as outlined in the women, peace and security agenda;

    45. Calls for stronger policies and actions that promote access to land, credit, entrepreneurship and education, as well as employment and health, especially for women and girls in circumstances of vulnerability, women with disabilities, pregnant women and women in rural areas;

    46. Takes note of the lessons learned listed in the 2024 join report entitled ‘Are we getting there? A synthesis of the UN system evaluations of SDG 5’, including the importance of effectively engaging men and boys in programmes and initiatives on issues that educate and assist them in the behavioural change that is needed if the targets are to be met, and the more sustained and comprehensive prioritisation of the targets in humanitarian settings;

    47. Regrets the regression of LGBTIQ+ rights and the transphobia that threatens gender equality; denounces the fact that, between 2021 and 2022, just three anti-LGBTIQ+ organisations reported USD 1 billion in income, while 8 000 global LGBTIQ+ grantees received USD 905 million between them[40]; warns of the worrying increase in anti-gender financing that aims to counteract the progressive achievements of women’s and LGBTIQ+ rights of the past decades;

    48. Calls for the EU to ban conversion centres in the Member States and to do anything possible to prevent this practice everywhere;

    SDG 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

    49. Is alarmed that SDG 8 targets face the highest rates of stagnation or regression among the SDGs under in-depth review at the 2025 HLPF;

    50. Expresses concern about the decrease over the past decade in labour rights, freedom of association and collective bargaining rights, highlighting its adverse impact on social justice and efforts to promote productive employment and decent work for everyone; regrets that one fifth of the world’s population lives in countries with high levels of inequality[41]; affirms the need to strengthen social measures to address inequalities in line with the leave no one behind principle, taking into account the social consequences of inflation, rising budget pressures, geopolitical tensions and risks posed by climate change and extreme weather events to the health and safety of workers; stresses the importance of a just transition for the decarbonisation of the economy, to ensure that the transition is as fair and inclusive as possible for all concerned;

    51. Calls for stronger policies and bold actions to promote inclusive and sustainable economic development; urges the EU and global partners to use instruments such as the Global Gateway to leverage multiple sources of funding, including private sector investments, respect social and environmental standards and promote the creation of decent jobs that will reduce income inequality and ensure that no one is left behind; recognises the role of private finance in bridging the financing gap to achieve the SDGs; highlights, however, the need for public investments in critical services such as healthcare, education and social protection;

    52. Underlines the need to address territorial and housing inequalities by supporting access to affordable, adequate and energy-efficient housing, especially in disadvantaged urban and rural areas; calls for increased investment in integrated community development, social infrastructure and basic services to promote social cohesion and economic inclusion; encourages support for local and regional authorities in implementing sustainable, inclusive and resilient development strategies that link climate, health, housing, mobility and social inclusion;

    53. Expresses concern that economic growth in many developing countries remains slow and uneven, often hindered by structural weaknesses, economic inequalities, political instability, external shocks and the growing impact of climate change; emphasises that local initiatives addressing unique community needs play a vital role in fostering equitable economic growth; underscores that regional cooperation on economic corridors enhances trade, investment, sustainable industrialisation, and economic diversification;

    54. Recommends increased public and private investment in research, sustainable business practices, the green and digital transition, quality education and skills development, including reskilling and upskilling, as well as aligning them with market demands, and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups to support access to finance and foster investment and innovation; reiterates the need for a special focus on the promotion of women’s economic empowerment and on ensuring equitable access to business opportunities; calls for inclusive policies for persons with disabilities in the workplace;

    55. Reiterates the importance of policies that support youth employment, education and vocational training; stresses the significance of the expanding young population in the Global South for sustainable development; insists on the importance of creating stronger links between education, skills development and employment, to allow access to decent work in the rapidly changing labour market;

    56. Emphasises that initiatives aimed at stimulating economic growth should go hand in hand with social justice, gender equality, labour rights and environmental protection; calls for the EU to constructively engage with and work towards the adoption of the UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights;

    57. Regrets that more than half of the global workforce finds itself in informal employment[42], thus posing a significant barrier to social justice and inclusive growth; expresses deep concern that in the least developed countries, in sub-Saharan Africa and in Central and Southern Asia, almost nine out of ten workers are still employed informally[43];

    58. Notes that while gross domestic product remains an important indicator of economic performance, additional metrics reflecting social and environmental dimensions should be taken into account in order to achieve a more balanced and informed approach to economic policymaking;

    59. Calls for further measures to eradicate forced labour and human trafficking, and to put an end to any form of child labour, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers;

    SDG 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

    60. Stresses the alarming trends of marine pollution, coastal eutrophication, ocean acidification, rising temperatures, overfishing, declining marine biodiversity, habitat destruction, unsustainable industrial practices, underwater noise and inland water contamination, which individually and cumulatively threaten marine ecosystems and coastal communities, especially in developing countries and vulnerable regions, and hinder the achievement of SDG 14 targets;

    61. Regrets the lack of actual progress towards meeting SDG 14 targets and, in some cases, their worsening outlook, notably owing to the lack of effective measures alongside increasing economic pressures; is alarmed that none of the SDG 14 targets for 2020 were met; considers that the marginal or moderate progress and the high levels of stagnation and regression mean that global action is far from the speed and scale required to meet SDG14 targets on time; recalls that equity in both benefits and cost-sharing is essential for the implementation of SDG 14;

    62. Notes that SDG 14 remains among the least financed SDGs and that the current funding gap is estimated at about USD 150 billion per year; underlines that the 2025 UN Ocean Conference should provide new impetus in eliminating the existing funding gap and creating a stable and enabling environment for the mobilisation of increased funding for the achievement of the SDG 14 targets; calls on the EU and its Member States to step up their financial contribution to protecting and restoring marine ecosystems; calls on the Commission to allocate dedicated funds to the European Ocean Pact for the protection of the ocean and the just transition to a sustainable blue economy benefitting coastal communities, economic growth and society as a whole;

    63. Highlights the need to protect the ocean as a unified entity and use it sustainably; calls for a holistic approach that integrates environmental protection and restoration, prosperity, social equity, sustainability and competitiveness, and for a comprehensive framework serving as a single reference point for all ocean-related policies; expects the upcoming European Ocean Pact to set an international example by providing such a holistic approach to all ocean-related policies and coherence across all policy areas linked to the ocean;

    64. Believes that binding global measures and an ecosystem-based approach are urgently needed to address shortcomings, accelerate action and ensure the long-term health of the ocean, also and especially under changing climate conditions; stresses that such measures should ensure the protection of human rights and our marine ecosystems; considers it particularly necessary to support the just transition to sustainable fisheries, combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, address the increasing numbers of invasive alien species, strengthen transparency in the seafood sector, protect small-scale fishers’ rights, enhance marine conservation and restoration efforts and adopt a global treaty on plastic pollution; recalls that the EU Nature Restoration Law is one of the tools for the EU to meet its international commitments in restoring marine and coastal ecosystems;

    65. Calls for enhanced global action to tackle ocean acidification and ocean heat levels in order to safeguard the role of the ocean as the most important carbon sink on the planet and to protect marine life and food web;

    66. Welcomes the adoption of UN High Seas Treaty (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, or BBNJ); regrets, however, that, to date, only one of the 27 EU Member States has ratified that treaty; urges all Member States to swiftly complete their individual ratification processes; calls on the parties to continue work on the UN Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue and ensure swift implementation of the agreement, including by mobilising funds from the EU Global Ocean Programme; welcomes the Commission proposal to integrate the UN High Seas Treaty into EU law;

    67. Recalls the commitment under target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework  for the effective conservation of at least 30% of terrestrial and inland water areas and of marine and coastal areas by 2030 through the establishment of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures; considers that increased efforts are required for the further expansion of marine and coastal protected areas to achieve the 30 % target and facilitate the conservation and sustainable management of marine species, habitats, ecosystems and resources; regrets that the EU is off track to meet its objectives to protect 30 % of its marine areas by 2030;68.  Is alarmed by the increasing levels of marine pollution that are set to double or triple by 2040; highlights that a large part of the pollution pressure placed on the ocean results from land-based activities; calls for stronger measures and accelerated implementation as a matter of urgency to put an end to marine pollution both at EU and international level; underlines that plastics make up the largest, most harmful and most persistent share of marine litter; regrets the lack of a conclusion on the first ever global legally-binding instrument on plastic pollution; urges for the adoption of an ambitious binding global treaty on plastic pollution at the resumption of the intergovernmental negotiations in 2025; supports the EU position that the final agreement should contain a target of reducing the production of primary plastic polymers;

    69. Stresses the importance of advancing the EU’s zero pollution action plan that includes significant targets for the improvement of water quality, the reduction of waste generation, and the reduction of nutrient losses; notes that only 37 % of Europe’s surface waters are in a healthy ecological state and that nutrient pollution is costing more than EUR 75 billion per year[44]; notes, moreover, that, according to the 2025 zero pollution monitoring and outlook report, only two of the zero pollution targets are on track; stresses that the implementation and enforcement of environmental legislation is crucial to achieve the 2030 zero pollution targets and that additional action is needed; reiterates its call on the Commission to propose ambitious EU targets for 2030 to significantly reduce the EU material and consumption footprints and bring them within planetary boundaries by 2050 as required under the 8th Environment Action Programme; highlights, moreover, the need to leverage modern technologies, including artificial intelligence, to monitor pollution;

    70. Stresses the importance of applying the precautionary principle in deep-sea mining; reiterates, in this regard, its support for an international moratorium on commercial deep-sea mining exploitation until such time as the effects of deep-sea mining on the marine environment, biodiversity and human activities at sea have been studied and researched sufficiently[45];

    71. Highlights that the ongoing decline in sustainable fish populations underscores the importance of a regulatory framework following an ecosystem-based approach along with efficient and transparent monitoring systems to promote sustainable fishing practices and combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; welcomes the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies as a major step forward towards ending harmful subsidies that contribute to overfishing; calls on WTO members that have not yet done so to deposit their instruments of acceptance to allow for the agreement to become operational; urges, moreover, WTO members to phase out environmentally harmful subsidies in maritime economic activities, including harmful fisheries subsidies;

    72. Recognises that sustainable fishing practices involving community participation are instrumental in reducing overfishing and ensuring the long-term sustainability of marine resources;​ recalls that many small-scale fishing communities continue to face marginalisation and unfair competition; notes that it is essential to promote the resilience of coastal and island communities and the potential of the blue economy in line with the EU environmental legislation and objectives, ensuring access to drinking water, sustainable transport, rules-based fisheries, sustainable tourism, entrepreneurship and fair access to services; calls on the Commission to promote international sustainable fishing standards to ensure, among other things, a global level-playing field;

    73. Calls for the EU to reaffirm and step up its support for ocean science; encourages the promotion of scientific research and the dissemination of accurate data, alongside the development and sharing of best practice; emphasises the need to integrate ocean management policy with indigenous and traditional knowledge, science and community engagement; calls for the development and implementation of area-based management tools in conjunction with other appropriate conservation measures;

    SDG 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

    74. Calls for the EU to continue advocating and working for multilateralism and provide global leadership in advancing the implementation of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda, and reinforcing international treaties and agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and regional conservation initiatives;

    75. Emphasises that, in the current difficult and uncertain geopolitical landscape, a vocal re-commitment to the SDGs will send a clear signal to partners around the world and support the EU’s global action; is concerned about the USD 4 trillion investment gap on achieving the SDGs[46]; stresses that the EU’s commitment to the SDGs should be supported by ambitious financial commitments in the next multiannual financial framework 2028-2034; calls for the EU to pursue a reinforced approach to development cooperation and to mobilise and continue to engage constructively with other international players in stepping up their sustainable development efforts and supporting peace, gender equality and human development;

    76. Reaffirms that ODA remains a crucial source of public financing and an essential tool for reducing poverty, addressing inequalities, and supporting the most vulnerable communities, particularly in fragile, conflict-affected and least developed countries (LDCs);

    77. Regrets the reduction in ODA by several EU Member States; calls on all Member States and global partners to uphold their commitment to ODA as a key pillar of their development policy and ensure that sufficient financing is dedicated to fulfilling the commitment to spend 0.7 % of gross national income on ODA and 0.2 % as ODA to LDCs; stresses, moreover, that only 12 % of ODA currently targets children despite their significant representation within the population of ODA-receiving countries; calls for the removal of obstacles, including administrative burden, to enable aid to reach the most vulnerable communities;

    78. Calls for the EU to enhance its role in advocating stronger financial commitments for development and humanitarian aid at international level, including the SDGs and the Paris Agreement, and particularly supporting climate adaptation and resilience in the most vulnerable regions, including Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and LDCs; calls, moreover, on the EU to ensure that climate finance targets are met and prioritised in multilateral negotiations and global partnerships; emphasises that advancing EU economic interests should also encompass creating stable partnerships guided by mutual interests and that all EU external policies should be embedded in the larger framework of the 2030 Agenda, while EU development policy and the use of EU ODA should remain focused on poverty alleviation as defined by the OECD Development Assistance Committee;

    79. Stresses the urgent need to address the underrepresentation of countries from the Global South in global governance and to foster a more inclusive international financial architecture; considers South-South and triangular cooperation crucial for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda;

    80. Insists on the paramount importance of the UN at the core of the multilateral system for creating a peaceful, fair, equal, inclusive, and rules-based global system that works for all, leaving no one behind; expresses, in this context, its support for swift and effective reforms of the UN Security Council; highlights the pressing need to review and reform the global governance of international development cooperation, particularly following cuts to global aid by several countries; stresses that reforms to the international financial system should be driven by a renewed commitment to multilateralism;

    81. Emphasises the crucial role of multi-stakeholder partnerships and the meaningful involvement of local governments, civil society and youth and women’s representatives for attaining the SDG targets as well as of the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in global partnerships, in line with the UN Declaration on the rights of indigenous people; emphasises the need for youth-led initiatives, particularly in the Global South and in climate-affected regions;

    82. Recognises the vital and multifaceted roles that civil society organisations play in advancing the SDGs through locally-led, context-specific strategies that empower local actors and ensure broad-based, inclusive participation at all levels of society; calls, in this context, for deeper involvement of vulnerable communities in designing and monitoring SDG-related policies and for strengthened cooperation, resource mobilisation, and multi-stakeholder participation to advance the SDGs; calls for civil society participation and civic space in order to ensure that public funds are prevented from financing repressive regimes; stresses that access to structural funding is necessary for the effective participation of civil society in policy-making;

    83. Calls for better monitoring of SDG implementation at regional and local levels, including through support for voluntary local reviews; stresses the importance of improving the availability of reliable data and collecting and using data disaggregated by income, age, gender, disability and geography; emphasises the need to modernise statistics and strengthen data capacity-building in the countries of the Global South;

    84. Calls for the EU and its Member States to support global debt relief and debt restructuring for developing countries, particularly those in the Global South, taking into account the UN Trade and Development principles on promoting responsible sovereign lending and borrowing; calls, moreover, for comprehensive reforms of global financial institutions, including multilateral development banks, to enhance their effectiveness, equity and responsibility in supporting the implementation of the SDGs; emphasises that existing instruments and development banks, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, should be more in focus;

    85. Stresses the need to align the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe, including Global Gateway programmes, with the SDGs, the Paris Agreement and human development indicators; calls for greater involvement of Parliament and for it to take a more active role in the scrutiny of Global Gateway programmes, guaranteeing their effectiveness and proper implementation;

    86. Insists that the Global Gateway initiative requires a more strategic and coordinated approach, incorporating strict criteria with the SDGs and the Paris Agreement goals and fundamental EU values, including human rights, good governance, democracy, transparency and environmental sustainability; recognises the potential of the Global Gateway to be able to contribute to sustainable development; stresses that it must be transparent in its planning process and have clear mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating its impact;

    87. Highlights the need for clearer communication, coordination and alignment of Global Gateway projects with existing EU development policies; stresses, in this context, that the EIB should intensify its collaboration with other international financial institutions and national development banks to maximise the impact of its interventions, while ensuring its activities fully align with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the SDGs;

    88. Reiterates its strong call on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen cooperation with partners on fighting organised crime, corruption, illicit financial flows, harmful tax competition, tax avoidance and tax evasion; calls for the scaling-up of cooperation with developing countries on tax matters, including in terms of capacities, digitalisation, and the strengthening of their tax systems; welcomes the setting up of an intergovernmental process to adopt a UN convention on tax as a new global framework for international tax cooperation; highlights the pivotal role of progressive taxation in securing revenue to finance sustainable development; supports the decision of the G20 finance ministers to ensure that ultra-high net worth individuals are effectively taxed;

    Outlook

    89. Reiterates that the SDGs are the only globally agreed and comprehensive set of goals on the major challenges faced by both developed and developing countries and are the best tool for tackling the root causes of these challenges; stresses that the achievement of the 2030 Agenda is contingent on global collaboration and enhanced and accelerated action by all actors; calls on the EU to double down action and take the lead on advancing progress in these five years before the 2030 deadline in order to accelerate action to reverse the negative trends and foster a more just, peaceful and sustainable future for all;

    90. Emphasises that policy coherence for development is a binding obligation under Article 208 of the TFEU aiming at integrating the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development at all stages of the policymaking cycle, in order to foster synergies across policy areas, identifying and reconciling potential trade-offs, as well as addressing the international spillover effects of EU policies;

    91. Highlights the opportunity provided by the SDGs to foster a sustainable, well-being and people-centred economy; emphasises the need for a comprehensive approach that ensures long-term sustainability and prosperity beyond 2030 in line with the diverse needs and circumstances of different countries;

    92. Welcomes the Pact for the Future which pledges 56 actions to accelerate and finance sustainable development, ensure that technology benefits people and the planet, invest in young people, support human rights and gender equality, and transform global governance; calls for the commitments made during the Summit of the Future and reflected in the Pact for the Future to be translated into concrete actions and measurable targets; urges the UN to begin preparing a comprehensive post-2030 Agenda strategy based on global commitment to sustainable development;

    93. Calls for implementation plans with concrete timelines for achieving the SDGs by 2030 and setting ambitious targets beyond; calls, in this regard, on the Commission to lead by example and develop a comprehensive strategy accompanied by a structured SDG implementation plan with clear and concrete targets; calls, moreover, for the next EU multiannual financial framework to be fully consistent with the SDGs;94.  Welcomes the EU’s first voluntary review of SDG implementation in 2023; considers that its conclusions can serve as a solid basis for a comprehensive EU SDG strategy, which should include an updated monitoring system that takes into account the EU’s internal and external impact on the SDG process; insists that such reviews become regular exercises and that their conclusions be taken into account in Commission proposals;

    95. Believes that successes in SDG progress should be made visible and lay the groundwork for formulating best practice for the achievement of the SDGs; stresses, in this context, the importance of inclusive digitalisation, including with regard to AI, building on the Global Digital Compact; welcomes the 2025 Human Development Report that focuses on this matter;

    °

    ° °

    96. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, the Secretary General of the United Nations and the President of the United Nations General Assembly.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Senator Coons explores how Democrats can better appeal to voters of faith on The Holy Post Podcast

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
    WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined The Holy Post Podcast for an interview with Skye Jethani to talk about U.S. foreign policy matters in the Middle East, what led him to attend divinity school, and how Democratic leaders can work to speak more openly about their faith and bring more religious voters into the party. 
    You can listen here. 
    Key excerpts:
    Early Faith and Path to Divinity School
    Jethani: What’s the journey from divinity school to the U.S. Senate? Why does divinity school end up in public political service?
    Senator Coons: I was very active in youth group and Sunday school and that just sort of formed the foundation of faith in action. My mother volunteered with a group of women at our church to welcome refugees, a refugee family from South Vietnam – who were literally rescued, you know, from the ocean – having fled persecution after the fall of Vietnam, and worked at a homeless ministry, Emmanuel Dining Room, that still serves every day in downtown Wilmington. And my father for a time volunteered in prison ministry.
    ….
    The great thing – and this is a long-winded answer, so interrupt me if it’s getting past your level of interest – but the great thing about a divinity school as opposed to a seminary was, I had classmates from a very wide range of traditions. A great friend who had gone to Oral Roberts as an undergraduate, another friend who was Catholic, another friend who is Muslim, but coming to the United States to train to be a professor of religious studies, friends who were going into pulpit ministry as Congregationalists and Episcopalians and Presbyterians, and friends who really weren’t sure why they were there but their parents were ministers or you know, they came from a long line of ministers and so they were [pastors’ kids] who were there, sort of trying to work out their future. It was a wonderful experience. I left with less certainty than I went in. So, if I were to summarize my lessons: humility. Humility in the face of the awesomeness and depth of Scripture. Humility about the certainty of my interpretation and understanding, and thus a demand or a call to constantly re-evaluate and learn, so an increased certainty about the call and the grace and the mercy and the salvation offered to us by Jesus Christ and a less absolute certainty about, “this scripture means this and we can ignore these and we have to follow these,” which as you get into politics becomes a more pressing question.
    Democratic Messaging
    Jethani: How do you think the Democratic Party can do better at drawing religious voters back into its fold or what missteps do you look at and think, we need to do better in this area?
    Senator Coons: First, I think we have to show biblical literacy. I think we have to make connections between why are you fighting for health care for the poor and the disabled and the elderly? Why are you working for food programs for children? Like where does this come from? If you can’t articulate some connection between a Torah definition of righteousness that focuses on how you welcome the hungry, the foreigner, the stranger, the orphan, the widow, the imprisoned – if you can’t draw a line between, sort of, here’s my priorities and what I’m doing and, it’s rooted in the Luke 4 passage where Jesus stands up in his home synagogue and says this is my ministry and my mission – if you can’t draw some of those connections, don’t be surprised when religious or theologically serious people sort of doubt the sincerity of your engagement.
    Second, and I’m just going to be really blunt about this, the kind of liberal consensus in the Democratic Party of the last couple of years … mistakenly viewed Black and Brown Americans, folks who are from the Hispanic community, from the African-American community, as inalterably and fundamentally progressive because they had experienced racism and racially based oppression for centuries – missing that enduring that oppression largely was possible because of a focus on faith. And so, every Black church I’ve been to in my home state of Delaware, you’ve got a really powerful, focused, engaged, on-fire community that is getting through things that are hard to get through by leaning on the arms. And so, not bringing a message rooted in values and in particular, in faith, in connecting with communities that have experienced oppression and have transited it by faith is a huge mistake. Nothing offends and annoys Hispanic and Black communities more than treating them as victims, rather than as heroes who have transcended oppression through the depth of their faith.
    Faith in Leadership and the Future of the Democrats
    Jethani: Can you point to evidence that you think the party is getting that message that it’s trying to adjust, that it will be different in 2026 and 2028?
    Senator Coons: There are certainly several of us trying very hard in this direction. Look, Joe Biden was our last Democratic president, and if there is one defining characteristic millions of Americans knew about Joe Biden that helped them trust him in 2020 in the middle of a pandemic, at a time of chaos and uncertainty, it’s that Joe Biden endured huge deep grief twice in his life: the loss of his wife and daughter just before Christmas in a tragic car accident, the loss of his beloved son Beau to glioblastoma, a terrible brain cancer. And they knew that in moments of loss and of celebration, he was on his knees praying at mass. Joe Biden does not talk about his faith much publicly…it is personal, it is something that has allowed him to endure. And I think lots of people looked at that and said, “You know what, he gets me, because that’s how I get through the hard things in life.” They may not agree with his exact positions on important moral issues, but they knew that he was a kind and compassionate man, they knew he’d been raised by a family that got through some struggles as a blue-collar, middle-class family in Claymont relying on their faith.
    Senator Coons: … If you think about three out of four of the last Democrats who became president: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, in addition to Joe Biden who I just talked about. All of them were not really of Washington, all of them were not well known before they were catapulted to electoral success, and all of them talked comfortably about their faith. Jimmy Carter continued to teach Sunday school at his hometown Baptist church throughout almost a hundred years and was – I think the election of Jimmy Carter was made possible by Richard Nixon. And I think Donald Trump, a demonstrably cruel, aggressive, and vulgar president will make possible the election of someone who champions compassion, decency, and a welcoming and gracious heart as long as that Democratic leader also makes clear that he sees and cares about opportunity and security for the people of our country. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Could electric brain stimulation lead to better maths skills?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Roi Cohen Kadosh, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Surrey

    Triff/Shutterstock

    A painless, non-invasive brain stimulation technique can significantly improve how young adults learn maths, my colleagues and I found in a recent study. In a paper in PLOS Biology, we describe how this might be most helpful for those who are likely to struggle with mathematical learning because of how their brain areas involved in this skill communicate with each other.

    Maths is essential for many jobs, especially in science, technology, engineering and finance. However, a 2016 OECD report suggested that a large proportion of adults in developed countries (24% to 29%) have maths skills no better than a typical seven-year-old. This lack of numeracy can contribute to lower income, poor health, reduced political participation and even diminished trust in others.

    Education often widens rather than closes the gap between high and low
    achievers, a phenomenon known as the Matthew effect. Those who start with an advantage, such as being able to read more words when starting school, tend to pull further ahead. Stronger educational achievement has been also associated with socioeconomic status, higher motivation and greater engagement with material learned during a class.

    Biological factors, such as genes, brain connectivity, and chemical signalling, have been shown in some studies to play a stronger role in learning outcomes than environmental ones. This has been well-documented in different areas, including maths, where differences in biology may explain educational achievements.

    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.

    To explore this question, we recruited 72 young adults (18–30 years old) and taught them new maths calculation techniques over five days. Some received a placebo treatment. Others received transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS), which delivers gentle electrical currents to the brain. It is painless and often imperceptible, unless you focus hard to try and sense it.

    It is possible tRNS may cause long term side effects, but in previous studies my team assessed participants for cognitive side effects and found no evidence for it.

    Could tRNS help people improve their maths skills?
    Prostock-studio/Shutterstock

    Participants who received tRNS were randomly assigned to receive it in one of two different brain areas. Some received it over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a region critical for memory, attention, or when we acquire a new cognitive skill. Others had tRNS over the posterior parietal cortex, which processes maths information, mainly when the learning has been accomplished.

    Before and after the training, we also scanned their brains and measured levels of key neurochemicals such as gamma-aminobutyric acid (gaba), which we showed previously, in a 2021 study, to play a role in brain plasticity and learning, including maths.

    Some participants started with weaker connections between the prefrontal and parietal brain regions, a biological profile that is associated with poorer learning. The study results showed these participants made significant gains in learning when they received tRNS over the prefrontal cortex.

    Stimulation helped them catch up with peers who had stronger natural connectivity. This finding shows the critical role of the prefrontal cortex in learning and could help reduce educational inequalities that are grounded in neurobiology.

    How does this work? One explanation lies in a principle called stochastic resonance. This is when a weak signal becomes clearer when a small amount of random noise is added.

    In the brain, tRNS may enhance learning by gently boosting the activity of underperforming neurons, helping them get closer to the point at which they become active and send signals. This is a point known as the “firing threshold”, especially in people whose brain activity is suboptimal for a task like maths learning.

    It is important to note what this technique does not do. It does not make the best
    learners even better. That is what makes this approach promising for bridging gaps,
    not widening them. This form of brain stimulation helps level the playing field.

    Our study focused on healthy, high-performing university students. But in similar studies on children with maths learning disabilities (2017) and with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (2023) my colleagues and I found tRNS seemed to improve their learning and performance in cognitive training.

    I argue our findings could open a new direction in education. The biology of the learner matters, and with advances in knowledge and technology, we can develop tools that act on the brain directly, not just work around it. This could give more people the chance to get the best benefit from education.

    In time, perhaps personalised, brain-based interventions like tRNS could support learners who are being left behind not because of poor teaching or personal circumstances, but because of natural differences in how their brains work.

    Of course, very often education systems aren’t operating to their full potential because of inadequate resources, social disadvantage or systemic barriers. And so any brain-based tools must go hand-in-hand with efforts to tackle these obstacles.

    Roi Cohen Kadosh serves on the scientific advisory boards of Neuroelectrics Inc., and Innosphere Ltd. He is the founder and shareholder of Cognite Neurotechnology Ltd. He received funding from the Wellcome Trust, UKRI, the British Academy, IARPA, DASA, Joy Ventures, the James S McDonnell Foundation, and the European Union. He is affiliated with the University of Surrey.

    – ref. Could electric brain stimulation lead to better maths skills? – https://theconversation.com/could-electric-brain-stimulation-lead-to-better-maths-skills-260134

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Lochaber to come alive for Royal National Mòd as 2025 fringe programme launched

    Source: Scotland – Highland Council

    Lochaber will come alive with the sights and sounds of Gaelic song, cèilidh music, bagpipes and processions as the Royal National Mòd rolls into the Highlands from 10 – 18 October 2025.

    Attendees of the world’s largest celebration of Gaelic language and culture are in for a bustling nine days, as events showcasing everything from music, poetry and dances, to exhibitions, book launches, and the region’s best food and drink, are unveiled.

    With the Scottish Languages Bill, which gives Gaelic official status as a language, passing unanimously in the Scottish Parliament this month, the prosperity of the indigenous tongue continues to grow.

    Organised by An Comunn Gàidhealach and hosted in a different Scottish town each year, the Royal National Mòd provides an essential platform for using, improving and showcasing Gaelic for thousands of speakers, learners and supporters.

    Fort William and the surrounding areas will welcome the 133-year-old event for the ninth time in 2025, with thousands expected to descend on the town – called An Gearasdan, meaning The Garrison, in Gaelic.

    The Mòd is expected to generate a significant economic boost for the region in the process.

    Lochaber Mòd 2025 will open with a torchlight parade through the streets of Fort William, before the event’s flagship venue for the week, the Nevis Centre, hosts the event’s Opening Concert.

    Lochaber talent in the form of Dàimh (meaning connection, pronounced ‘dive’) will provide a fitting start to the week, wowing audiences with their electrifying musical interplay. Support will come from young Skye-based collective Ceilear, who formed as part of Dàimh piper Angus MacKenzie’s Culture Collective project, Eilean a’ Cheòl.

    The breadth and depth of local talent will also be on display for Ar Cànan ’s Ar Ceòl on Saturday 11 October as local pipe bands, Ardnamurchan High School trad group, Jane Douglas School of Dance, Lochaber Gaelic Choir, local youth choirs and many others, come together to celebrate the music and language of the region.

    The event’s Marquee Stage will host daily entertainment including a cèilidh singing challenge which will see members of the public get up to perform a rendition of their favourite song.

    A secret judging panel, featuring well-known singers, will be hidden among the crowd for the fun, informal event called Gabh Òran, meaning ‘sing us a song’.

    Street cèilidhs at Cameron Square will fill the town centre with dancing throughout the week, while Fort William pubs will be buzzing with a schedule of pop-up late night music sessions.

    Some of the region’s finest solo pipers including Angus Nicolson, Moira Robertson and Laura Robertson will showcase Scotland’s national instrument at its best at a Piping Recital on Monday 13 October, while celebrated Scottish musicians Màiri Morrison and Alasdair Roberts will perform their latest album, Remembered in Exile: Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia on Tuesday 14 October.

    Sruth – an event established to provide an informal space for young Gaelic speakers and learners to interact with prominent figures in the Gaelic community – takes on a new life at this year’s event as An Comunn Gàidhealach partner with BBC Alba and The L.A.B Scotland outreach project.

    Youngsters will have the opportunity to learn what goes on behind the scenes in TV, trying their hand at presenting and camera operating, while using their Gaelic.

    Shinty, football and other sports will also feature on the programme, alongside a wealth of come-and-try activities for youngsters, family cèilidhs and more.

    The local region’s reputation for outstanding food and drink will also come to the fore with a Taste of Lochaber exhibition and a special Whisky Tasting Night.

    The week will wrap up in style with a Closing Dance on Friday 17 October, hosted by all-star cèilidh band, followed by the spectacular traditional Massed Choirs event on Saturday 18 October, which sees hundreds of choir members from across Scotland take part in a parade and giant group performance on the streets of Fort William.

    The event’s famous competitions, which span from solo singing, clàrsach and art to choral singing, accordion and Battle of the Bands, will form the backbone of the event.

    With around 200 competition categories and more than 270 medals and trophies up for grabs across the week, individuals and groups of all ages and from all corners of Scotland and beyond, will travel to the prestigious event for the chance to compete for glory.

    James Graham, Chief Executive Officer of An Comunn Gàidhealach, said: “With growing numbers of young speakers and learners and this latest show of parliamentary support for the language, we firmly believe that Gaelic is on an upward trajectory.

    “The Royal National Mòd plays an essential role in representing and championing all facets of Gaelic culture and demonstrates the beauty, power and connection to be found in the language. It is a joy to return to the Highlands this year and bring the camaraderie and celebration of the Mòd to Lochaber, a region rich in Gaelic history and with a deep appreciation for the language.”

    Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “The growing success of the Royal National Mòd demonstrates how promoting Gaelic enriches communities and goes hand-in-hand with economic prosperity. 

    “Last year’s National Mòd generated an estimated £3.6 million for the economy, which was the highest figure in five years. 

    “To support Gaelic’s growth, our Scottish Languages Bill will strengthen the rights of parents to ask for a Gaelic school to be established in their area and introduce targets on the number of people speaking Gaelic. 

    “We are also working to drive growth in Gaelic communities so that more people who speak the language continue to live in those areas.”

    Highland Council Leader Raymond Bremner said: “Gaelic has a huge role to play in the social, cultural and economic health of the Highlands – that’s a message that will shine through when the Royal National Mòd returns to Lochaber in October.

    “Organisers have put together a terrific programme of events – there will be something for everyone and I have no doubt that this year’s National Mòd will deliver many memorable moments. It will also create lasting friendships and help to bring significant economic benefits for the region.

    “I know myself how important the National Mòd is for using and improving our Gaelic and what the events mean to the host area.

    “Highland Council sees Gaelic language and culture as one of our most prized economic assets. This is demonstrated by our commitment to the language in schools – as this year we mark 40 years of Gaelic medium education in the region – and in our communities.

    “We’re delighted the National Mòd is returning to the Highlands for what promises to be a superb celebration in Lochaber.”

    Ealasaid MacDonald, Ceannard (CEO), Bòrd na Gàidhlig, said: “Once again, the Royal National Mòd is showcasing our language and culture through competition, events and gatherings, with a wonderful programme providing lots of opportunities to use and enjoy Gaelic.

    “It is well known that Lochaber is a great host for the Mòd and we are all looking forward to visiting in October.”

    This year’s Royal National Mòd in Lochaber is supported by EventScotland, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Highland Council, EventScotland, The Scottish Government, Caledonian MacBrayne, BBC ALBA, Creative Scotland and SQA.

    The Royal National Mòd returns to Lochaber in 2025, from 10 – 18 October. Tickets for flagship events are on sale now, visit https://buytickets.at/ancomunn.

    Ends

    News release issued by An Comunn Gàidhealach

    Bidh tachartasan am pailteas ann an Loch Abar aig Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail 2025 is prògram an iomaill air bhog

    Cluinnear ceòl Gàidhlig, seinn na pìoba, is bidh cèilidhean is caismeachd ann an Loch Abar nuair a thilleas Am Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail dhan Ghàidhealtachd 10 – 18 Dàmhair 2025.

    Tha naoi làithean trang air toiseach air na fheadhainn a bhios aig an fhèis ceòl is cultar na Gàidhlig as motha air an t-saoghail. Bidh tachartasan ann le ceòl, bàrdachd, dannsaichean, taisbeanaidhean, leabhraichean ùra agus am biadh agus deoch as fheàrr sa sgìre.

    Chaidh Bile nan Cànanan Albannaich aontachadh gu h-aona guthach ann am Pàrlamaid na h-Alba o chionn ghoirid, is mar sin tha ìomhaigh na cànain a’ fàs fhathast.

    Tha Am Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail air eagrachadh leis A’ Chomunn Ghàidhealach is bidh e ann am baile Albannaich eadar-dhealaichte gach bliadhna. Tha e na sàr chruinneachadh do luchd-labhairt, luchd-ionnsachaidh is luchd-taic na Gàidhlig.

    Ann an 2025 cuiridh An Gearasdan agus an sgìre mun cuairt air fàilte an tachartas a tha 133 bliadhna a dh’aois airson an naoidheamh uair. Tha dùil gun cruthaich Am Mòd buannachd mòr eaconamach don sgìre aig a’ cheart àm.

    Fosglaidh Mòd Loch Abar 2025 le caismeachd lòchrain tro shràidean A’ Ghearasdain, mus bi Cuirm Fhosglaidh aig Ionad Nibheis, a bhios na phrìomh ionad Mòid air feadh na seachdain. Bidh tàlant Loch Abar air an deagh riochdachadh le Dàimh, a chuireas an t-seachdain air a casan, agus an fhacal dàimh fhèin na shamhla air an ceangal eadar buill a’ chòmhlan agus an luchd-èisteachd. Còmhla riutha air àrd-ùrlar bidh còmhlan Ceilear. Nochd iad an toiseach mar phàirt den phròiseact Culture Collective aig Aonghas MacCoinnich: Eilean a’ Cheòl.

    Bidh farsaingeachd tàlant na sgìre ri fhaicinn cuideachd aig Ar Cànan ’s Ar Ceòl Disathairne 11 Dàmhair. ’S e cuirm-chiùil air leth a bhios ann, le ceòl bho chòmhlain-phìoba, còmhlan traidiseanta Àrd-sgoil Àird nam Murchan, Jane Douglas School of Dance, còisirean òigridh na sgìre agus tòrr a bharrachd.

    Aig Àrd-ùrlar an Teanta cluinnear ceòl gach latha, agus Dùbhlain Seinn Cèilidh , Gabh Òran, far am faighear cothrom òran a ghabhail. Bidh pannal breitheamhan dìomhair falaichte anns an luchd-èisteachd.

    Aig Ceàrnag Camshroin gach latha bidh Cèilidh Shràid ann air feadh na seachdain, is bidh taighean-seinnse A’ Ghearasdain trang le clàr-ama seiseanan ciùil air an oidhche.

    Bidh cuid de na pìobairean as fheàrr sa sgìre, Aonghas MacNeacail is Moira Robasdan nam measg, a taisbeanadh ionnsramaid nàiseanta na h-Alba aig Ceadal Pìobaireachd Diluain 13 Dàmhair. Cuideachd Dimàirt 14 Dàmhair bidh cuirm-chiùil le Màiri Nic’IlleMhoire & Alasdair Roberts: Remembered in Exile, Òrain Alba Nuaidh.

    Chaidh Sruth a chur air bhonn gus àite a thoirt do luchd-labhairt òga is luchd-ionnsachaidh na Gàidhlig coinneachadh ri Gàidheil ainmeil. Thèid ath-bheothachadh am bliadhna mar phàirt pròiseact L.A.B. aig BBC ALBA. Gheibh òigridh cothrom sgilean camara ionnsachadh is eòlas a chur air na bhios a’ dol aig cùl ghnòthaichean ann an telebhisean, is an sgilean Gàidhlig a chleachdadh aig a’ cheart àm.

    Chìthear spòrs cuideachd anns a’ phrògram, iomain, ball-coise agus cur-seachadan sam faod òigridh a dhol an sàs, cèilidhean teaghlaich is eile.

    Ionnsachaidh daoine mu dheidhinn deagh bhiadh agus dheoch na sgìre aig taisbeanadh Taste of Lochabar agus tachartas sònraichte Blasad Uisge-beatha.

    Thèid an t-seachdain a thoirt gu ceann le Cuirm-dhùnaidh Dihaoine 17 Dàmhair aig am bi còmhlan làn rionnagan, air thoiseach air na Co-chòisirean Disathairne 18 Dàmhair, aig am bi na ceudan buill còisire o air feadh na h-Alba a’ caismeachd is a’ seinn air sràidean A’ Ghearasdain.

    Bidh farpaisean ainmeil A’ Mhòid – leithid seinn aon-neach, clàrsach, còisirean, bogsa-ciùil is Cogadh nan Còmhlan – aig teas-meadhan an tachartais. Le barrachd na 200 farpais agus 270 bonn is cuas rim buannachadh air feadh na seachdain, bidh feadhainn o gach ceàrnaidh de dh’Alba agus an t-saoghail a’ dèanamh air a’ Mhòd gus am bi cothrom aca buannachadh.

    Thuirt Seumas Greumach, Àrd-oifigear a’ Chomuinn Ghàidhealaich: “Le fàs àireamhan luchd-labhairt òga agus taic às ùr sa phàrlamaid dhan chànan, tha dùil againn gu bheil a’ Ghàidhlig air deagh shlighe. Tha àite riatanach aig A’ Mhòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail ann a bhith riochdachadh agus brosnachadh cultar na Gàidhlig agus e a’ samhlachadh am bòidheachd is na ceangalan anns a’ chànan. ’S e tlachd a th’ ann tilleadh dhan Ghàidhealtachd am bliadhna agus Loch Abar cho cudromach ann an eachdraidh na Gàidhlig le coimhearsnachd a tha bàidheil dhan chànan.”

    Thuirt an Leas-Phrìomh Mhinistear Ceit Fhoirbeis: “Leis a’ Mhòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail a’ sìor-fhàs nas soirbheachaile, tha dearbhadh ann gun tèid coimhearsnachdan a bheartachadh tro bhrosnachadh na Gàidhlig, ’s e ceangailte gu dlùth ri soirbheachadh eaconamach.
    “Thathar a’ tomhas gun tug am Mòd Nàiseanta an-uiridh £3.6 millean a-steach dhan eaconamaidh. B’ e sin am figear as àirde ann an còig bliadhna.
    “Gus taic a chumail ri fàs na Gàidhlig, bidh Bile nan Cànan Albannach againn a’ neartachadh còraichean nam pàrantan a bhith ag iarraidh gun tèid sgoil Ghàidhlig a stèidheachadh anns na sgìrean aca, agus bheir e a-steach targaidean a thaobh àireamh nan daoine a tha a’ bruidhinn na Gàidhlig.
    “Tha sinn cuideachd ag obair gus leasachaidhean a bhrosnachadh ann an coimhearsnachdan Gàidhlig, airson ’s gum bi barrachd dhaoine aig a bheil an cànan fhathast a’ fuireach anns na sgìrean sin.”

    Thuirt Ceannard Chomhairle na Gàidhealtachd, an Comhairliche Raymond Bremner: “Tha a’ Ghàidhlig air leth cudromach dhan slàinte sòisealta, cultarail agus eaconamach ann an sgìre na Gàidhealtachd. Bidh sin gu math follaiseach nuair a thilleas Am Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail a Loch Abar san Dàmhair.

    “Chaidh deagh phrògram ullachadh leis an luchd-eagrachaidh – bidh rudan ann a fhreagras air a h-uile duine is tha mi cinnteach gun tachair tòrr rudan air an cuimhnich daoine aig Mòd Nàiseanta na bliadhna. Cruthaichidh e cuideachd càirdeasan ùra agus buannachdan eaconamach mòra don sgìre.

    “Tha fhios agam fhìn cho cudromach ’s a tha Mòd Nàiseanta do chleachdadh na Gàidhlig agus cho math sa bhios na tachartasan don sgìre.

    “Aithnichidh Comhairle na Gàidhealtachd cho cudromach ’s a tha cànan is cultar na Gàidhlig do ar eaconamaidh. Chithear dearbhadh air a’ sin nar sgoiltean Gàidhlig – tha sinn am bliadhna a’ comharrachadh 40 bliadhna foghlam tro mheadhan na Gàidhlig sa sgìre – agus nar coimhearsnachdan.

    “Tha sinn air ar dòigh gu bheil A’ Mhòd Nàiseanta a tilleadh dhan Ghàidhealtachd a bhios na fhìor dheagh fhèis ann an Loch Abar.”

    Thuirt Ealasaid Dhòmhnallach, Ceannard Bhòrd na Gàidhlig: “Bidh am Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail a’ taisbeanadh ar cànan is ar cultar tro cho-fharpaisean, tachartasan agus cruinneachaidhean a-rithist am-bliadhna, le prògram mìorbhaileach a bheir seachad tòrr chothroman airson a’ Ghàidhlig a chleachdadh agus a chomharrachadh. Gun teagamh, ’s e àite math a th’ ann an Loch Abar airson am Mòd a chumail agus tha sinn uile a’ coimhead air adhart ri bhith a’ tadhal ann san Dàmhair.”

    Tha Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail am-bliadhna ann an Loch Abar a’ faighinn taic bho EventScotland, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Comhairle na Gàidhealtachd, Riaghaltas na h-Alba, Caledonian Mac a’ Bhriuthainn, BBC ALBA, Alba Chruthachail agus SQA.

    Tillidh Am Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail a Loch Abar 10 – 18 Dàmhair 2025. Tha tiogaidean prìomh thachartasan rim faighinn aig: https://buytickets.at/ancomunn.

     

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Ratcliffe: “Children’s safety must come before policy – lower the speed limit at Markethill High”

    Source: Traditional Unionist Voice – Northern Ireland

    TUV Councillor Keith Ratcliffe has called on the Department for Infrastructure to urgently reconsider its refusal to reduce the speed limit on the Mowhan Road in Markethill, directly outside Markethill High School.
    In a letter to Roads Service, Cllr Ratcliffe highlighted persistent concerns raised by local parents, school staff, and residents about the dangers posed by fast-moving traffic on the stretch of road used daily by pupils. He also renewed calls for a pedestrian crossing at Markethill Primary School.
    “The fact that a serious injury collision hasn’t happened yet should not be used as justification for inaction. We should not wait for a tragedy to occur before acting. This is a heavily trafficked road outside a secondary school — it should be a basic priority to lower the speed limit and protect young pedestrians.”
    Cllr Ratcliffe has urged Roads Service to carry out a fresh, site-specific assessment of the Mowhan Road, taking into account the volume of traffic, pedestrian movement, and the vulnerability of school-aged children.
    “I understand the Department must follow certain criteria, but there must be flexibility where common sense and public concern demand it. A community that sees pupils crossing a busy road every day at speed expects leadership and action — not just policy compliance”.
    The TUV representative also raised the ongoing lack of a pedestrian crossing at Markethill Primary School, stating:
    “I continue to receive complaints about the absence of a safe crossing point for pupils at the primary school. In both these cases — the Mowhan Road speed limit and the lack of a crossing — the Department must put the lives of children first.”
    Cllr Ratcliffe concluded by calling on the Department to respond with urgency and show a willingness to work with the community to deliver safer roads in Markethill.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Devastating Impacts on Health Care Due to ‘Big Ugly Bill’

    Source: US State of New York

    s the Senate voted to pass the Trump Administration and Washington Republicans’ “Big Ugly Bill,” Governor Kathy Hochul today sounded the alarm about the potential devastating consequences of the Bill on New York hospitals, health systems and patients statewide. These reckless cuts to Medicaid and the Essential Plan will significantly impact health care providers across the State, endangering the health and finances of many New Yorkers who rely on these providers.

    “I’ve said it several times and I’ll say it again today — all New Yorkers deserve access to high-quality health care, it’s that simple,” Governor Hochul said. “Republicans in Washington, including seven representing New York, are trying to rip away this basic human right from New Yorkers and I will not stand by and watch it happen, I’m standing up for our hardworking hospitals and families who rely on this care to survive.”

    Hospitals and other health care providers across New York rely on Medicaid and Essential Plan funding to provide needed care to patients and maintain their operations.

    Analysis from the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) and the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS) estimates a total $8 billion in cuts to New York’s hospitals and health systems alone.

    Hospitals and health systems play a vital role in driving local economies. They often serve as the largest employers in their communities, creating numerous other jobs and ranking among the top 10 private employers in every region of New York. When hospitals are stronger, their communities thrive. GNYHA and HANYS estimate that the hospital cuts will lead to 34,000 lost hospital jobs and an additional 29,000 lost related jobs, and create a cumulative $14.4 billion in lost hospital-generated economic activity, devastating communities across New York.

    Unfortunately, many New York hospitals are already financially distressed. The collective impact of the GOP reconciliation bill in Washington, D.C., could force hospitals to curtail critically needed services such as maternity care and psychiatric treatment, not to mention to downsize operations, and even close entirely. These impacts will be devastating across the State, and especially in rural communities. These consequences will not only affect Medicaid enrollees, but also harm everyone who requires hospital care, leading to longer wait times and less access to critical services.

    In addition to hospitals, every kind of health care provider in New York State will be impacted. The Community Health Care Association of New York State estimates a direct loss of $300M for the State’s Community Health Centers, resulting in almost 2,000 layoffs. Community Health Centers are a vital lifeline that provide care to one in eight New Yorkers, regardless of their ability to pay.

    In June, a letter signed by Yale and University of Pennsylvania scientists warned that more than 51,000 preventable deaths could occur annually if the provisions in the House-passed budget reconciliation bill are enacted. The letter, addressed to Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Bernie Sanders, estimates the potential nationwide death toll that would result from the bill’s provisions including restricting Medicaid and Affordable Care Act coverage, repealing nursing home staffing regulations, and allowing Enhanced Affordable Care Act Premium Tax Credits to expire. These estimates would make the GOP bill a top ten cause of death in the United States, on par with kidney disease and liver disease.

    Estimated Impact of Hospital Cuts by New York Economic Region

    Member Hospital employment losses Total employment losses Lost economic activity ($)
    New York City 17,551 32,571 (7,405,661,000)
    Long Island 3,514 6,521 (1,482,704,000)
    Mid-Hudson 3,623 6,723 (1,528,578,000)
    Capital District 1,042 1,933 (439,512,000)
    North Country 759 1,409 (320,385,000)
    Mohawk Valley 774 1,437 (326,619,000)
    Southern Tier 856 1,588 (360,983,000)
    Central New York 1,355 2,515 (571,928,000)
    Finger Lakes 2,442 4,532 (1,030,506,000)
    Western New York 2,130 3,954 (898,943,000)
    Statewide total 34,047 63,183 (14,365,818,000)

    Estimated Impact of Hospital Cuts by Congressional District

    District Member Hospital employment losses Total employment losses Lost economic activity ($)
    1 Nick LaLota (R) 976 1,811 (411,868,000)
    2 Andrew R. Garbarino (R) 605 1,122 (255,206,000)
    3 Thomas R. Suozzi (D) 1,927 3,576 (812,998,000)
    4 Laura Gillen (D) 933 1,731 (393,628,000)
    5 Gregory W. Meeks (D) 563 1,045 (237,515,000)
    6 Grace Meng (D) 1,876 3,481 (791,359,000)
    7 Nydia M. Velázquez (D) 862 1,599 (363,593,000)
    8 Hakeem S. Jeffries (D) 790 1,466 (333,226,000)
    9 Yvette D. Clarke (D) 1,178 2,187 (497,231,000)
    10 Daniel S. Goldman (D) 1,457 2,705 (614,953,000)
    11 Nicole Malliotakis (R) 654 1,213 (275,762,000)
    12 Jerrold Nadler (D) 2,803 5,201 (1,182,612,000)
    13 Adriano Espaillat (D) 2,520 4,677 (1,063,292,000)
    14 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) 980 1,819 (413,640,000)
    15 Ritchie Torres (D) 2,942 5,460 (1,241,482,000)
    16 George Latimer (D) 1,278 2,372 (539,332,000)
    17 Michael Lawler (R) 1,462 2,713 (616,822,000)
    18 Patrick Ryan (D) 810 1,503 (341,631,000)
    19 Josh Riley (D) 797 1,479 (336,292,000)
    20 Paul Tonko (D) 1,002 1,860 (422,977,000)
    21 Elise M. Stefanik (R) 871 1,616 (367,481,000)
    22 John W. Mannion (D) 1,536 2,850 (648,033,000)
    23 Nicholas A. Langworthy (R) 759 1,409 (320,347,000)
    24 Claudia Tenney (R) 1,009 1,873 (425,748,000)
    25 Joseph D. Morelle (D) 1,899 3,524 (801,274,000)
    26 Timothy M. Kennedy (D) 1,558 2,892 (657,525,000)
    – Statewide total 34,047 63,183 (14,365,818,000)

    Greater New York Hospital Association President Kenneth E. Raske said, “This bill’s massive Medicaid cuts and health insurance eligibility restrictions will do enormous damage to New York State and its hospitals. The numbers are hard to comprehend—an estimated $8 billion cut to our hospitals, 34,000 lost hospital jobs and 1.5 million individuals losing their health insurance. Some financially fragile institutions will cease to exist. All patients will be impacted. There is no rationale for this. The bill is a clear example of ‘if you break it, you own it.’ I am grateful to Governor Hochul for defending New York’s hospitals and the patients we serve, and the entire hospital community is proud to stand with her in opposing this terrible bill.”

    Healthcare Association of New York State President Bea Grause, RN, JD. said, “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a reckless assault on our healthcare system and our local economies, as evidenced by these projections. Lost coverage, care, jobs – it is astonishing to me that there is such determination to put so many people’s health and financial security at risk. This bill will not only harm individual New Yorkers. Its impact will ripple out to their families and communities, leaving almost no one untouched in its wake.”

    Community Health Care Association of New York State President & CEO Rose Duhan said, “New York’s Community Health Centers provide access to primary and preventive care that keep people healthy and save money. Cutting Medicaid will put that care at risk for 2.4 million people across the State. Losing Medicaid will mean communities will lose CHCs that provide primary care, behavioral health, dental services, and more. Cuts of this magnitude will force impossible choices: reduce services, scale back hours, or turn patients away. Congress must protect Medicaid and the patients and health centers that depend on it.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hickenlooper Votes Against Republicans’ Budget Bill That Strips Health Care from Americans, Closes Rural Hospitals, Explodes National Deficit

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator John Hickenlooper – Colorado
    Republicans’ legislation will increase prices for Coloradans, strip health care from 17 million Americans, increase the deficit, and give tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy
    Republicans blocked Hickenlooper-backed amendments to protect funding for Medicaid and clean energy
    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper released the following statement after he voted against Republicans’ Senate budget bill:
    “This is pure lunacy, and downright cruel.
    “Republicans have voted to kick 17 million Americans off their health care, push hundreds of rural hospitals toward closure, wipe out millions of American clean energy careers, and add trillions to our national debt. And for what? For lavish tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.”
    Hickenlooper voted NO on the budget resolution after Republicans voted down critical Democratic-led amendments to prevent cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and Inflation Reduction Act clean energy funding. While Hickenlooper was successful in working with his colleagues to eliminate devastating public lands provisions and alter a few of the worst clean energy proposals, he joined a bipartisan group of senators in opposition to the final bill. The reconciliation bill now heads to the House for final passage. Hickenlooper will continue fighting against it and urge every member of the House to stop it from becoming law.
    HICKENLOOPER AMENDMENT:
    Hickenlooper spoke on the Senate floor in support of his amendment to protect the Inflation Reduction Act’s residential clean energy credit – which covers 30% of the cost of purchasing and installing residential solar, battery backup, or geothermal heat pumps. Hickenlooper’s amendment would protect the program from Republican cuts for one year, giving clean energy small businesses in Colorado and across the nation a runway (at bare minimum) to weather the storm the Republicans are causing and prepare for the loss of federal funding, in addition to  preserving more than 85,000 American jobs. Watch his full remarks about his amendment HERE.
    “They’re also taxing clean energy and cutting larger energy credits, which will create more expensive energy and more blackouts,” Hickenlooper said. “We should create jobs, cut costs, and boost energy production, not sacrifice working families so that the richest Americans pay less taxes.”
    Click to download full video
    WHAT’S IN THE BILL:
    The Republican-led Senate reconciliation bill includes a $3 trillion tax cut for the wealthiest Americans. It pays for those tax cuts by:
    Taking Health Care Away from 17 Million Americans
    The Republican budget proposal calls for extreme Medicaid cuts of more than $900 billion, which would take away people’s health benefits; make it harder for them to see their health care providers; and prevent seniors from getting nursing home care.
    The budget also fails to extend the Affordable Care Act expanded premium tax credits, which expire at the end of 2025.
    The latest CBO estimates that the combined cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act would result in 17 million Americans losing health insurance by 2034, and increase our national debt by $3.3 trillion.   
    The cuts would hit rural hospitals the hardest:
    According to initial estimates, more than 338 rural hospitals across the country are at an acute risk of closure as a result of these Medicaid cuts. Including 6 hospitals in Colorado:
    Delta County Memorial Hospital – Delta (CO-03)
    Conejos County Hospital – La Jara (CO-03)
    Grand River Hospital District – Rifle (CO-03)
    Prowers Medical Center – Lamar (CO-04)
    Southwest Memorial Hospital – Cortez (CO-03)
    Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center – La Junta (CO-03)

    Slashing Investments in Clean Energy and Driving up Energy Bills
    The Republican budget bill guts hundreds of billions in Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) clean energy investments, including tax credits for wind and solar. The results: over a million jobs lost, hundreds of billions in lost GDP and lost wages, electricity price inflation, and killing new renewable energy needed to prevent blackouts.
    Increasing Our National Debt by Trillions
    Even after gutting over $1 trillion from Medicaid and other services, the Senate reconciliation bill will still increase our national debt by more than $3.3 TRILLION.
    The Senate version of the bill adds $900 billion moreto the national debt than the previous House version of the bill.
    Hickenlooper recently took to the Senate floor to slam the bill as “fiscal madness.”
    ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS:
    In total, Hickenlooper introduced and joined 16+ amendments to the 2025 Senate reconciliation bill to oppose Republican provisions that would harm Coloradans. Specifically, he introduced and joined amendments to:
    Prevent Americans from Losing Health Care
    Protect Nursing Homes and Medicaid Patients: Hickenlooper-led amendment to strike any provision that cuts funding for Medicaid, which covers care for 60% of all nursing home residents.
    Safeguard Small Businesses and Medicaid: Hickenlooper-led amendment to strike any provision that cuts funding for Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which protects access for the 7,000,000 small businesses workers who depend on Medicaid coverage; and protects access for the 4,000,000 small businesses who depend on the ACA exchanges.
    Protect Medicaid: Led by Senator Wyden, Hickenlooper joined this amendment to strike any provision that cuts funding for Medicaid; and would ensure big corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay a fair share in taxes.
    Extend ACA Enhanced Premium Tax Credits: Led by Senator Jon Ossoff, Hickenlooper joined this amendment to permanently extend the Affordable Care Act enhanced Premium Tax Credits.
    Protect Safety Net Programs
    Safeguard SNAP-Education: Led by Senator Angela Alsobrooks, Hickenlooper joined this amendment to strike the section that eliminates the SNAP Education Program, which provides free nutrition education to SNAP recipients.
    Expand Pell Grant Eligibility: Led by Senator Tim Kaine, Hickenlooper joined this amendment to strike the workforce Pell section in the budget bill and replace it with the bipartisan JOBS Act to expand Pell Grant eligibility to include short-term workforce training programs.
    Protect Public Lands
    Block Sale of Public Lands: Hickenlooper-led amendment to block the sale of our public lands. The amendment ensures that public lands cannot be sold if they hold any of the multiple values our public lands offer, including benefits for watershed health, hunting, fishing, recreation, and critical wildlife habitat. It also excludes sale of lands with cultural or historic significance, areas sensitive for national security, areas within an Indian reservation, or lands to which Tribes hold reserved rights.
    Non-Competitive Leasing: Hickenlooper-led amendment to strike provision that would reauthorize non-competitive leasing on federal public lands.
    Maintaining National Park Service Staffing: Led by Senator Angus King, Hickenlooper joined this amendment to strike the repeal of ~$267M in Inflation Reduction Act funding for the National Park Service staffing.
    Address our Climate Crisis + Invest in Renewable Energy
    Protect the solar industry:Hickenlooper-led amendment to change the termination date of the 25D Residential Clean Energy Credit from December 31, 2025 to December 31, 2026 to save jobs and small businesses and help American households power their homes and reduce energy costs with solar, battery storage, and geothermal heat pumps. It is paid for by increasing the top tax bracket to 39.6%.
    RECA Expansion: Hickenlooper-led amendment that adds Colorado to the list of states that benefit from an expanded downwinder provision under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.
    Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit: Led by Senator Michael Bennet, Hickenlooper joined this amendment to strike all changes to the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit, but retain foreign entities of concern rules, and strike changes to 48C advanced energy tax credit.
    Maintaining Parity for Wind and Solar Facilities: Led by Senator Jacky Rosen, Hickenlooper joined this amendment to restore parity for solar and wind with other technologies under the Production Tax Credit (45Y) and Investment Tax Credit (48E), paid for with an increase to the top rate at $1 million for individual filers and $1.3M for married filing jointly.
    Eliminating the tax on wind and solar: Led by Senator Adam Schiff, Hickenlooper joined this amendment to strike the new excise tax on wind and solar, paid for with an increase to 39.6 percent for individuals making $10 million.
    Repeal of Termination of Certain Clean Energy Credits: Led by Senators Jean Shaheen and Peter Welch, Hickenlooper joined this amendment to strike provisions that would terminate the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C), the Residential Clean Energy Credit (25D), the New Energy Efficient Home Tax Credit (45L), and the Energy Efficient Commercial Building Deduction (179D).
    Maintaining Modernized Royalty Rates: Led by Senator Jacky Rosen, Hickenlooper joined this amendment to strike the repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act royalty rate modernization for oil and gas.
    Budget resolutions guide federal spending and revenue policies for the year. This is the third budget resolution the Senate has voted on during the reconciliation process. Hickenlooper voted against the first package in February, and the second package in April. The Senate and the House must pass identical versions of the budget for the reconciliation bill to become law.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Gain-of-function research as a security risk for the EU – E-002369/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-002369/2025/rev.1
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Gerald Hauser (PfE)

    Neither the Chinese nor the US Government officially disputes that the COVID-19 virus was artificially created in a laboratory as part of ‘gain-of-function’ research and that the global COVID-19 pandemic was triggered either by a laboratory accident or deliberate release. The US Government has therefore recently slashed funding for gain-of-function research or stopped it altogether in certain countries. In the last few months, a pair of Chinese researchers working at the University of Michigan was charged in the US with attempting to smuggle a dangerous pathogen – a potential bioweapon – into the United States. The US prosecutor in charge of the case described it as a matter of utmost importance for national security[1].

    • 1.Which gain-of-function research programmes and which laboratories involved have been and are being supported financially, organisationally or with personnel by the Commission, its bodies, agencies or entities since 2015?
    • 2.What measures has the Commission taken to prevent the import, manufacture or release of potential biological weapons in the EU?
    • 3.Does the Commission intend to ban gain-of-function research – i.e. the artificial creation of potentially dangerous pathogens of any kind – in the future?

    Submitted: 12.6.2025

    • [1] https://www.foxnews.com/us/patel-chinese-nationals-charged-smuggling-known-agroterrorism-agent-into-us-direct-threat
    Last updated: 1 July 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –