Human rights breaches in the DRC, Mozambique and the Philippines | News | European Parliament
, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20200910IPR86834/
Sakharov Prize 2020: the nominees | News | European Parliament
, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20200917STO87301/
MEPs call for EU sanctions against Belarusian President and Navalny’s poisoners | News | European Parliament
, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20200910IPR86829/
Latest “Bahá’í World” essays delve into economic justice, racial unity, community building | BWNS
The essay “Community and Collective Action” describes the hopeful efforts of groups of people around the world to build a new kind of community based on the oneness of humankind and explores the vision and process guiding these efforts.
Overcoming the long-standing plague of racial injustice is the subject of the article “Spatial Strategies for Racial Unity,” which inquires into the nature and approaches of Bahá’í educational programs and community building efforts which seek, in the context of neighborhoods and villages, to raise capacity for service to humanity.
The growing disparities around the globe between the wealthiest and poorest members of society is the subject of the article “Is Economic Justice Possible?” The article surveys the world’s current economic condition and explores the implications of Bahá’í principles on the enormous challenge of building an economic system that is just, benefiting all of humanity.
The Bahá’í World website makes available a selection of thoughtful essays and long-form articles on a range of subjects of interest to the wider public, conveying advancements in Bahá’í thought and action and reflecting the Faith’s purpose in the world.
An email subscription service is available, informing subscribers when new articles are published.
WHO/Europe and the Turkic Council sign a memorandum of understanding strengthening new partnerships in the WHO European Region
Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, and Mr Baghdad Amreyev, Secretary General of the Turkic Council, signed a memorandum of understanding between WHO/Europe and the Turkic Council on 11 September 2020.
The memorandum lays the legal basis for future cooperation and concrete collaboration between the 2 organizations in the field of health, including moving towards universal health coverage, protecting against health emergencies and promoting the well-being of the populations in the Member States of the Turkic Council. A work plan will be elaborated to assist the implementation of joint programmes and projects.
During the meeting, the Regional Director referred to WHO/Europe’s excellent relations with the Member States of the Turkic Council, stating that it is committed to building a strong alliance with them and to coordinating stakeholders in and across countries.
The collaboration between the Turkic Council and WHO/Europe was further strengthened by the first-time participation of the Turkic Council and Mr Amreyev at the 70th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe. Mr Amreyev addressed the Regional Committee and strongly supported the proposal of WHO/Europe to unite the efforts of regional multilateral institutions and mechanisms around health as one of the key objectives of the European Programme of Work (2020–2025), “United Action for Better Health in Europe”.
“Unusually early demand in Europe for overseas organic blueberries”
This year, in Europe, the demand for overseas organic berries has begun unusually early. Carsol Europe’s Roelant Komen has noticed this. “Many supermarkets want to start with organic berries. The Dutch season is progressing well. And the European season is nearing its end. So, clients want to continue the organic season with overseas blueberries.”
Carsol Europe get their organic berries from Argentina. “They do farm organically in Peru too. But, these berries are mostly destined for the North American market. These are grown according to American organic standards, not European ones.”
“The supply from Argentina is still limited, so prices are high. This year, air freight was also 30 to 40% costlier than last year. That’s because there were almost no Argentinian flights to Europe. The weather is currently a little chilly, so the fruit isn’t ripening as fast. But, we’re getting enough. Fortunately, it’s dry; when it rains, quality becomes challenging,” says Roelant.
Roelant expects large volumes from week 41. “The organic season really gets going in October. There’s a peak until week 45. Then, supplies start to diminish from week 46 again. I think the Argentinian season will be over in about week 49/50. The Chilean container season usually begins in January. It’ll be very interesting to see how the market will look in December. We do have air freight from Chile in December, but those berries are very expensive.”
Carsol sells its blueberries mainly to the German market. This market is supplemented with sales to other countries. These include Switzerland, Austria, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands. “The total demand for organic fruit and vegetable is climbing. But, this increase is even larger with blueberries,” concludes Roelant.
For more information:
Roelant Komen
Carsol Europe
Tel: +31 (0) 107 632 682
Email: rkomen@carsoleurope.nl
Website: www.carsolfruit.com
Protect lives, mitigate future shocks and recover better: UN-wide COVID-19 response
According to the September update of the UN Comprehensive Response to COVID-19, no country has been spared; no population left unscathed.
Among other things, the update outlines the steps needed to save lives, protect societies and recover better while pointing the way to addressing future shocks, above all from climate change, and overcoming the universal inequities.
Three-point response
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has often said that the pandemic is a human crisis that has laid bare severe and systemic inequalities.
“No country has been spared. No population group remains unscathed. Nobody is immune to its impacts”, the report spelled out.
To address this, the UN is pursuing a three-point comprehensive response focused on health, safeguarding lives and livelihoods, and addressing underlying vulnerabilities to rebuild a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable world.
Health first
The update revealed that the UN system led the global health response early on, providing life-saving humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable, establishing rapid responses to the socio-economic impact and laying out a broad policy agenda.
Solid science, reliable data, and analysis are critical for policy- and decision-making, especially for the tough choices required during a pandemic, according to the report.
To help create a knowledge base and provide support to national policymakers, the UN has also issued a series of policy brief that examines the pandemic’s diverse impacts and offers relevant information and advice.
Containing the virus
The most urgent course of action in dealing with COVID -19 has been to suppress transmission of the virus, through detecting, testing, isolating and caring for those affected.
This requires physical distancing, fact- and science-based public information, expanded testing, increased health-care facility capacities, supporting health-care workers, and ensuring adequate supplies.
Some countries can or have already achieved these conditions with their own resources but developing countries continue to need considerable support, the report noted.
Universal access
The update shone a spotlight on the need for the biggest public health effort in human history.
That means a vaccine, diagnostics and treatment for everyone, everywhere.
At the Global Vaccine Summit in June, the UN chief spelled out, “A COVID-19 vaccine must be seen as a global public good”.
Battling twin crises
As climate change is not on hold, recovery from COVID-19 must go hand-in hand with climate action.
And addressing both simultaneously requires a response stronger than any seen before, upheld the report.
It saw recovery as an opportunity to address the fragilities laid bare by the virus, including the climate crisis.
Moreover, it outlined the steps needed to move forward, such as decarbonizing transport, buildings and energy sectors; transitioning away from fossil fuels; and creating jobs to build resilient and sustainable infrastructures.
Sustaining the response
As the world is still in the acute phase of the pandemic, the UN update maintained the importance of sustained political leadership, unprecedented levels of funding, and extraordinary solidarity between and within countries to recover.
The Organization will continue to consult with Member States and all partners on how best to support these efforts over the long term.
In Europe, Native American History Celebrated During Mayflower Commemoration
LONDON – Much has been written about the 102 Europeans who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower in 1620. Much less has been written about the Wampanoag Native American community the Europeans met on the other side. After four centuries, a new …
Archbishop Gallagher’s mission in Belarus – Vatican News
By Vatican News and L’Osservatore Romano
An article appeared in the Italian edition of L’Osservatore Romano on Wednesday regarding Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher’s visit to Belarus.
On Friday, 11 September, Archbishop Gallagher traveled to Belarus. A statement released by the Holy See Press Office that evening said that he had gone there “to show the attention and closeness of the Holy Father to the Catholic Church and the whole country”.
The Archbishop was accompanied by Archbishiop Antonio Mennini, Apostolic Nuncio, and Archbishop Paul Butnaru, Secretary of Nunciature in service at the Section for Relations with States. When they arrived in Minsk, they were welcomed at the airport by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sergei Aleinik, and by the temporary Attaché of the Apostolic Nunciature in Belarus, Rev. Maher Chammas.
From there, the Delegation went directly to the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where a meeting with Minister Vladimir Makei took place. During the meeting, which lasted about an hour and a half, some of the most important moments of the collaboration between Belarus and the Holy See in the international sphere were recalled, as well as the important contribution of the local Catholic Church to the spiritual growth of the Belarusian people, to their social assistance, to the good inter-religious national coexistence and to the promotion of the cultural identity of the country. Particular attention paid to the best way in which the Catholic Church can continue to carry out its spiritual mission for the benefit of all citizens.
On Saturday, September 12, Archbishop Gallagher met with the Catholic Bishops of Belarus at the Apostolic Nunciature. The meeting allowed, on the one hand, to know more deeply the challenges that Catholic communities and their Pastors are facing and, on the other hand, to show them the concrete closeness and support of the Holy Father. The dialogue was very useful in evaluating together the path that the local Church needs to follow in order to remain faithful to its identity and its evangelical mission, while also making itself an effective instrument of social unity.
In the afternoon, the Delegation made a private visit to the Orthodox Cathedral in Minsk, the adjacent Chapel of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology, and the nearby Catholic Cathedral. The visit gave them the opportunity to discover some details of Belarus’ religious history and, above all, of its capacity for spiritual rebirth after the difficult period it lived under atheism.
That evening Archbishop Gallagher met the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to the Holy See, Mr. Sergei Aleinik in the Apostolic Nunciature. This dialogue allowed them to once again exchange points of view on various themes of national and international importance as well as to to deepen other reflections on some aspects of greater relevance and importance.
On Sunday, 13 September, Archbishop Gallagher celebrated Holy Mass in the chapel of the Apostolic Nunciature. Some Catholic Ambassadors also participated in the celebration. At the end of the liturgy, he briefly greeted those present.
On Sunday afternoon, the Delegation made a private visit to the Memorial Shrine in honor of all the Saints, meeting the Rector of the Shrine, the Most Reverend Archpriest Fyodor Povny. This time the Delegation was able to learn more about the history of the Belarusian people and the richness of their Orthodox Christian tradition.
On Monday, September 14, the Secretary for Relations with States returned to the Vatican.
EU executive to propose framework for minimal wage in EU
“For too many people, work no longer pays,” von der Leyen told the European Parliament in an annual policy speech. “Dumping wages destroys the dignity of work, penalises the entrepreneur who pays decent wages and distorts fair competition in the Single Market,” she said.
The issue is politically tricky so the Commission is not trying to set a single EU minimum wage or to impose one minimum wage setting system for all of the 27 countries in the bloc.
Instead, it wants to ensure there is a collective bargaining for wages in place, that different national systems have clear and stable criteria, that trade unions and employers are involved in the process, that there are few exemptions and that there are monitoring mechanisms in place.
White House hosts Israel-UAE- Bahrain deal signing – Vatican News
By Nathan Morley
The agreements signed at the White House on Monday formalize the normalization of Israel’s relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Now the countries will exchange embassies and ambassadors and to cooperate on a broad array of issues, including banking, education, trade and health issues.
Mr Trump said it was an incredible day for the world: “Today, the world sees that they are choosing cooperation over conflict, friendship over enmity, prosperity over poverty and hope over despair,” Trump said. “They are choosing a future in which Arabs and Israelis, Muslims, Jews and Christians can live together, pray together and dream together, side by side, in harmony, community and peace.”
Speaking at the signing, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heralded “a new dawn of peace.”
Meanwhile, following the signing of normalization deals, there was a fresh round of violence between Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israel.
According to Israel Radio, militants fired two rockets into Israel on Tuesday night. One hit the coastal city of Ashdod, wounding two men.
In response, the Israeli military bombed sites in Gaza including a weapons factory, and a military compound used for rocket launching experiments by Hamas.
Leaders in the Palestinian territories accuse U.S. President Donald Trump of being biased in favour of Israel, and condemned the deals.
EU sanctions an option to halt Turkey’s gas search
… Kourtoglou, AP
Cyprus: EU sanctions an option to halt … Nicos Anastasiades said the EU should weigh using “all … being taken against European Union member states, the European Union’s reaction … said after talks with European Council President Charles Michel in …
Ursula von der Leyen says Poland’s ‘LGBT-free zones’ have no place in EU
The head of the European commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said Poland’s “LGBT free zones” are “humanity-free zones” that have no place in the European Union in her strongest criticism yet of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party.
In a wide-ranging 77-minute speech spanning from coronavirus to the climate emergency, Von der Leyen pledged to build “a union of equality” and criticised European member states that watered down EU foreign policy messages on human rights.
She made plain her disapproval of Poland’s rightwing nationalist government, which has often hit out at “LGBT ideology”, while a number of Polish towns declared themselves “LGBT-ideology free zones”.
“Being yourself is not your ideology,” Von der Leyen told applauding MEPs in the European parliament in Brussels. “It’s your identity,” she said. “So I want to be crystal clear – LGBTQI-free zones are humanity free zones. And they have no place in our union.”
The EU is locked in a long-running dispute with Poland over the rule of law, since the ruling Law and Justice party embarked on policies that weaken independent courts. With no end in sight, that fight is set to intensify, as Von der Leyen signalled she would not back down on linking EU funds to financial probity, following questions over the use of European money in Hungary and the Czech Republic. She said protecting the EU budget “against any kind of fraud, corruption and conflict of interest” was “non-negotiable”.
The commission president lamented that EU foreign policy could be “delayed, watered down or held hostage for other motives”, as she called for an end to national vetoes.
Brussels has long called for an end to national vetoes on foreign policy, but Von der Leyen – who has pledged to lead a “geopolitical commission” – made the point by criticising EU governments for blocking stronger positions.
The EU, Von der Leyen said, needed to call out human rights abuses, whether in Hong Kong or over the fate of the Uighurs. “But what holds us back? Why are even simple statements on EU values delayed, watered down or held hostage for other motives? When member states say Europe is too slow, I say to them be courageous and finally move to qualified majority voting – at least on human rights and sanctions implementation.”
She promised her officials would draft a “Magnitsky act”, a targeted sanctions regime to punish human-rights offenders. Similar legislation already exists in the US and was recently introduced in the UK. The acts take their name from the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow jail aged 37, after uncovering a massive tax fraud by state officials.
The commission president, a close ally of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, criticised the Russian government by describing the poisoning of the opposition activist Alexei Navalny as “not a one-off” and part of a pattern of behaviour. “This pattern is not changing – and no pipeline will change that,” she added in a cryptic reference to the German-Russian Nord Stream II pipeline from which Merkel’s government is under pressure to withdraw its support.
Von der Leyen was delivering her first “state of the union” speech, since beginning a five-year term last December. The annual speech to the European parliament, an idea consciously modelled on its US namesake, is intended to set out EU legislative priorities.
In the speech that cited Andrei Sakharov, Margaret Thatcher and John Hume, she struck an upbeat tone about EU unity, after a shaky start when EU member states closed borders and slapped export bans on medical supplies.
Having chided EU governments in the past for failing to support Italy in its hour of need, Von der Leyen struck a more optimistic note, saying member states had overcome their differences; including by agreeing a €750bn (£688bn) recovery plan.
“We turned fear and division between member states into confidence in our union,” she claimed. She said the EU needed more powers to tackle future pandemics and vowed to create an agency for biomedical advanced research and development, an equivalent to the US agency funding vaccine research, Barda.
Without naming Donald Trump, she made a few swipes at the US president, criticising “vaccine nationalism” and major powers, who are “pulling out of institutions or taking them hostage for their own interests”. But the EU could be on a collision course with a new Democratic incumbent of the White House, as Von der Leyen promised to revive plans for an EU digital tax in the absence of an international agreement. Barack Obama’s administration complained that Brussels was unfairly singling out US tech giants.
As widely trailed, Von der Leyen proposed the EU should cut greenhouse gas emissions by “at least 55%” by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. Green campaigners have welcomed the increase in ambition (upping the current 40% reduction target) but fear “an accounting trick” in how the new target will be calculated.
Preoccupied by coronavirus and foreign policy crises, EU leaders have given little attention to Brexit in recent months. Von der Leyen said the chances of an agreement were fading with every day that passed, as she warned the UK government not to renege on the Brexit withdrawal agreement Boris Johnson signed last year. Noting that the Brexit deal had been ratified by MEPs and MPs, Von der Leyen said it could not be “unilaterally changed, disregarded, disapplied. This is a matter of law and trust and good faith.”
Von der Leyen, who is the first female president in the commission’s 63-year history, said the EU had to do more to confront racism in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. In a move that could trigger conflict with sovereignty-conscious member states, she proposed extending the list of EU crimes to cover all forms of hate crime and hate speech, whether linked to race, religion, gender or sexuality.
She promised to appoint the EU’s first-ever anti-racism coordinator “to keep the issue “at the top of our agenda”.
Five things from EU chief’s first State of the Union speech
image copyrightReuters
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has delivered her first State of the Union address, outlining her vision for the future of the European Union (EU).
The Commission drafts EU laws, enforces EU rules and has the power to impose fines on member states if necessary.
Here are five key areas Mrs von der Leyen touched on in her wide-ranging speech.
1) Climate change
The EU chief spoke at length about the environment, and announced an ambitious plan to cut the bloc’s greenhouse gas emissions.
She said the target was to reduce emissions by at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030 – up from an earlier goal of 40%.
“There is no more urgent need for acceleration than when it comes to the future of our fragile planet,” Mrs von der Leyen said.
“While much of the world’s activity froze during lockdowns and shutdowns, the planet continued to get dangerously hotter,” she added. “The 2030 target is ambitious, achievable, and beneficial.”
EU leaders will meet to agree on the target next month, but resistance is expected from some eastern European countries that largely rely on coal for their energy. Most states back such a target, however.
Mrs von der Leyen also said 30% of the €750bn (£677bn; $859bn) post-coronavirus recovery package agreed by EU leaders last month would be devoted to climate-friendly projects.
“I will insist that recovery plans don’t just bring us out of the crisis but also help us propel Europe forward in the world of tomorrow,” she said.
2) Coronavirus
Unsurprisingly, the EU’s response to the coronavirus pandemic featured prominently in the address.
“A virus a thousand times smaller than a grain of sand exposed how delicate life can be,” Mrs von der Leyen said. “The pandemic and the uncertainty that goes with it are not over and the recovery is still in its early stages.”
But Mrs von der Leyen praised the EU’s multi-million euro recovery package, which was agreed after four nights of talks, as a “chance to make change happen by design, and not by disaster”.
“We turned fear and division between member states into confidence in our union,” she said. “We showed what is possible when we trust each other.”
The former German defence minister also announced that a global health summit would take place next year in Italy, and that the EU would build a new agency for biomedical research and development.
3) Brexit
While the UK’s departure from the EU only received a brief mention in the speech, it prompted the loudest applause from the European Parliament members in the audience.
“[Trade] talks have not progressed as we would have wished… and that leaves us very little time,” Mrs von der Leyen said.
“[The withdrawal agreement] cannot be unilaterally changed, disregarded or dis-applied. This a matter of law, trust and good faith,” she added.
The EU chief was referring to a contentious bill published by the UK government that seeks to overrule parts of the Brexit deal with the EU.
The UK government has said the bill is a “vital safety net” needed in the event that a trade agreement is not reached. But the government has also said it breaks international law, and the EU wants the legislation scrapped.
“The Withdrawal Agreement took three years to negotiate and we worked relentlessly on it. Line by line, word by word,” Mrs Von der Leyen said.
4) Technology
The Commission’s president called for more investment in technology so the EU could keep pace with the US and China.
“We want to lead the way, the European way, to the Digital Age: based on our values, our strength, our global ambitions,” she said.
Mrs Von der Leyen said that 20% of the €750bn coronavirus recovery package would be invested in digital projects, with a further €8bn spent on the next generation of supercomputers.
She called for a “twin green and digital transition” at a time when “the global competitive landscape is fundamentally changing”.
5) Migration
Five years on from the 2015 migrant crisis, Mrs von der Leyen said it had caused “many deep divisions” within the EU and “some of those scars [are] still healing today”.
“If we are all ready to make compromises we can find a solution,” she told the audience. “Migration is a European challenge and all of Europe must do its part.”
She spoke after a fire destroyed a migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, leaving thousands of migrants and refugees homeless and bringing the issue to the fore once again.
“The images of the Moria camp are a painful reminder of the need for Europe to come together,” Mrs von der Leyen said.
“Next week, the Commission will put forward its New Pact on Migration,” she added. “We will take a human and humane approach. Saving lives at sea is not optional.”
More on this story
Fair Weather, a Prosperous Wind, But it Didn’t Stay That Way for America’s Pilgrim Fathers
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European Council’s Michel in Cyprus for talks-UPDATED
President of the European Council Charles Michel on Wednesday began talks in Nicosia with President Nicos Anastasiades as Turkey escalates tension in the Eastern Mediterranean region. And diplomatic activity to defuse the crisis is high.
Statements to the press will be made as soon as talks were over, an official announcement said.
The talks come days only before a crucial Special European Council, on September 24, which is to focus on developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and EU-Turkey relations with proposed sanctions against Ankara high on the agenda.
Deputy government spokesman Panayiotis Sentonas has already said that Michel’s visit comes on top of several important meetings of government officials, including the US Secretary of State and the Foreign Minister of Russia.
EU leaders discussed during a video conference on August 19, 2020, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and relations with Turkey, with Michel stating that the bloc is increasingly concerned about growing tensions and stresses the urgent need to de-escalate.
EU leaders also expressed full solidarity with Greece and Cyprus and reaffirmed their previous conclusions on the illegal drilling activities of Turkey.
Michel who was in Athens on Tuesday met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriacos Mitsotakis and other officials.
‘We can do it!’: EU chief announces 55% emissions reduction target for 2030
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced plans on Wednesday (16 September) to target a 55% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 as part of a broader European Green Deal programme aimed at reaching “climate neutrality” by mid-century.
“For us, the 2030 target is ambitious, it’s achievable and it is beneficial for Europe,” von der Leyen said as she unveiled the EU’s new climate proposals before the European Parliament in her first State of the Union address since she became Commission President in 2019.
“We can do it!” she said, borrowing a famous phrase used by German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the height of the 2015 migration crisis.
“Our impact assessment clearly shows that our economy and industry can manage this,” she continued, saying EU countries have already managed to reduce emissions by 25% since 1990 while growing the economy by more than 60%.
The difference today, she said, is that Europe now has the technology, the expertise and the financial firepower necessary to make it happen, with a €1.8 trillion EU budget and recovery fund that was agreed by EU leaders in July for the years 2021-2027.
“We are world leaders in green finance and we are the largest issuer of green bonds worldwide,” von der Leyen pointed out, announcing that 30% of the EU’s €750 billion recovery fund will be raised through green bonds.
“We have it all. Now it’s our responsibility to implement it and to make it happen,” she added, telling Parliamentarians: “This is our mission”.
The announcement on the EU’s new 2030 climate target was widely expected after reports emerged last week that the Commission President would announce them in her speech.
A leaked policy document, published by EURACTIV earlier this week, shows new measures at EU level will span every sector of the economy, ranging from agriculture to energy and transport. The proposal will be officially unveiled on Thursday (17 September) with a view to adopting the 55% target proposal before the end of the year.
Root-and-branch policy review
But meeting the 55% goal also represents “a significant investment challenge,” the Commission warns in the draft document, saying investments in clean energy will have to increase by “around €350 billion per year” in order to achieve the new 2030 objective.
And while many business groups are supportive of the new 55% emissions goal, others are more guarded about raising the bloc’s climate ambitions.
In July, a group of six Eastern EU countries wrote a letter to the Commission, calling on the EU executive to propose “realistic” climate goals that take into account “the real social, environmental and economic costs” of the transition.
Von der Leyen acknowledged those concerns, saying: “I recognise that this increase from 40 to 55 is too much for some and not enough for others. But our impact assessment clearly shows that our economy and industry can manage this,” she told MEPs.
“Meeting this new target will reduce our energy import dependency, will create millions of extra jobs and more than halve air pollution,” von der Leyen argued, announcing a root-and-branch review of EU climate and energy legislation “by next summer” with a view to aligning EU laws with the new 55% goal.
This will include a revision of directives on renewables, energy efficiency, as well as a reform of the energy taxation directive and the bloc’s carbon market, the Emissions Trading Scheme.
“A new European Bauhaus”
But the European Green Deal involves much more than just cutting emissions, von der Leyen said. It’s also “a new cultural project for Europe,” she added, saying an upcoming EU “renovation wave” will focus on making buildings less wasteful, less expensive and more sustainable.
“We know that the construction sector can even be turned from a carbon source into a carbon sink if organic materials like wood and smart technologies like AI are being used,” said the former German defence minister.
“We need to give our systemic change its own distinct aesthetics to match style with sustainability,” von der Leyen said, announcing the creation of “a new European Bauhaus” where architects, artists, students, engineers, designers, will work together to give the European Green Deal a distinctive look and feel.
[Edited by Sam Morgan]
Official says Polish ‘LGBT-free zones’ have no place in EU
BRUSSELS — A top European Union official strongly denounced the stigmatization of LGBT people by authorities in Poland, saying on Wednesday that “LGBT-free zones” that have been declared in parts of the country have no place in the EU.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in her first State of the Union address, said that “LGBT-free zones,” are “humanity-free zones.”
“They have no place in our Union,” von der Leyen said, adding that the commission would soon put forward a strategy to strengthen LGBT rights in Europe.
She did not mention Poland by name, but did not need to.
About one-third of Poles now live in communities that have passed resolutions declaring their opposition to the promotion of LGBT rights. The resolutions carry no binding legal powers, but they are seen by critics as discriminatory. Most were approved in the conservative eastern and southern areas of Poland.
In one such example, a resolution passed last year by the legislature of Malopolska, the region surrounding the Polish city of Krakow, expressed “firm opposition to the emerging public activities aimed at promoting the ideology of LGBT movements.”
The resolution said such activities “interfere with the social order” and were “oriented at the annihilation of values shaped by the centuries-old heritage of Christianity.”
Similar assertions are often expressed at the highest levels of government in Poland and by the powerful Catholic church.
Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the right-wing Law and Justice party that has governed Poland since 2015, recently called the LGBT rights movement “a threat to the very foundations of our civilization.”
Polish President Andrzej Duda won reelection in July after a campaign in which he called the LGBT movement an “ideology” more dangerous than communism.
In her European Parliament address on Wednesday, von der Leyen countered such rhetoric.
“I will not rest when it comes to building a union of equality,” von der Leyen said. “A Union where you can be who you are and love who you want – without fear of recrimination or discrimination.”
“Because being yourself is not your ideology,” she said. “It’s your identity. And no one can ever take it away.”
Troubled pasts, and their implication for European integration
… bridges is not easy. EU-funded researchers are analysing collective … advance European integration.
© sewcream #304603641, source:stock.adobe.com 2020
The EU-funded … connected to Europe today, and European integration.’
Northern Ireland, for instance, …
More research needed into COVID-19 effects on children, says WHO head
Joining the heads of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), at a press conference on Tuesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus outlined that since the start of the COVID pandemic, understanding its effects on children has been a priority.
“Nine months into the pandemic, many questions remain, but we are starting to have a clearer picture. We know that children and adolescents can be infected and can infect others”, he said.
“We know that this virus can kill children, but that children tend to have a milder infection and there are very few severe cases and deaths from COVID-19 among children and adolescents.”
According to WHO data, less than 10 per cent of reported cases and less than 0.2 per cent of deaths are in people under the age of 20. However, additional research is needed into the factors that put children and adolescents at an increased risk.
In addition, the potential long-term health effects in those who have been infected remains unknown.
Referring to closure of schools around the world, which has hit millions of children, impacting not only their education but also a range of other important services, the WHO Director-General said that the decision to close schools should be a last resort, temporary and only at a local level in areas with intense transmission.
Keeping classrooms open, ‘a job for all of us’
The time during which schools are closed should be used for putting in place measures to prevent and respond to transmission when schools reopen.
“Keeping children safe and at school is not a job for schools alone, or governments alone or families alone. It’s a job for all of us, working together,” added Mr. Tedros.
“With the right combination of measures, we can keep our kids safe and teach them that health and education are two of the most precious commodities in life,” he added.
Guidance on reopening schools, while keeping children and communities safe
Although children have largely been spared many of the most severe health effects of the virus, they have suffered in other ways, said Director-General Tedros, adding that closure of schools hit millions of children globally.
Given different situations among countries: some, where schools have opened and others, where they have not, UNESCO, UNICEF and WHO, issued updated guidance on school-related public health measures in the context of COVID-19.
Based on latest scientific evidence, the guidance provides practical advice for schools in areas with no cases, sporadic cases, clusters of cases or community transmission. They were developed with input from the Technical Advisory Group of Experts on Educational Institutions and COVID-19, established by the three UN agencies in June.
Schools provide critical, diverse services
Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General, also highlighted the importance of school, not only for teaching, but also for providing health, protection and – at times – nutrition services.
“The longer schools remain closed, the more damaging the consequences, especially for children from more disadvantaged backgrounds … therefore, supporting safe reopening of schools must be a priority for us all”, she said.
In addition to safely reopening schools, attention must focus on ensuring that no one is left behind, Ms. Azoulay added, cautioning that in some countries, children are missing from classes, amid fears that many – especially girls – may not ever return to schools.
Alongside, ensuring flow of information and adequate communication between teachers, school administrators and families; and defining new rules and protocols, including on roles of and trainings for teachers, managing school schedules, revising learning content, and providing remedial support for learning losses are equally important, she said.
“When we deal with education, the decisions we make today will impact tomorrow’s world,” said the UNESCO Director-General.
A global education emergency
However, with half the global student population still unable to return to schools, and almost a third of the world’s pupils unable to access remote learning, the situation is “nothing short of a global education emergency”, said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.
“We know that closing schools for prolonged periods of time can have devastating consequences for children,” she added, outlining their increased exposure risk of physical, sexual, or emotional violence.
The situation is even more concerning given the results from a recent UNICEF survey which found that almost a fourth of the 158 countries questioned, on their school reopening plans, had not set a date to allow schoolchildren back to the classrooms.
“For the most marginalized, missing out on school – even if only for a few weeks – can lead to negative outcomes that last a lifetime,” warned Ms. Fore.
She called on governments to prioritize reopening schools, when restrictions are lifted, and to focus on all the things that children need – learning, protection, and physical and mental health – and ensure the best interest of every child is put first.
And when governments decide to keep schools closed, they must scale up remote learning opportunities for all children, especially the most marginalized.
“Find innovative ways – including online, TV and radio – to keep children learning, no matter what”, stressed Ms. Fore.