European Union

The chair of Parliament's Committee on Fisheries wants to trigger the EU’s crisis and transition temporary framework due to the impact of the conflict in the Middle East.
Committee on Fisheries

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

US President Donald Trump has demanded that Nato member states take action to secure the Strait of Hormuz, warning that otherwise the future of the alliance looked "very bad". His appeal has found little support in Europe. EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner Kaja Kallas stressed that "This is not our war", and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasised that the war with Iran was not a matter for Nato as a defence alliance. The media take stock.

The 98th edition of the Academy Awards was held in Hollywood on Sunday evening. Commentators take stock and ask whether cinema can still live up to its role today, or if it's being swept away by the whirlwind of current events.

Shortly before the parliamentary elections in Denmark on 24 March, the leader of the centre-right Liberal Alliance, Alex Vanopslagh (34), has caused a stir by confessing that he has used cocaine at parties. He added, however, that his life was different now and that the Danish people should judge him on that basis. Commentators are nonetheless critical.

In the first round of municipal elections on Sunday, the left-wing populist La France Insoumise (LFI) and the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) gained ground in many areas. In the run-up to the second round on March 22, candidates are trying to form alliances in many municipalities, particularly between moderate left-wing parties and the controversial LFI.

International support has failed to keep pace with the growing numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons, thus creating a financing gap between their needs and available resources. The recent US withdrawal from funding development and humanitarian programmes has only compounded this financing gap which has existed for more than a decade.
In response to this, the international community – through Agenda 2030, the Grand Bargain, the 2016 New York Declaration, and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) – has advocated for a shift from seeing refugees as emergencies to integrating them into the host countries’ developmental agenda. In Kenya, these policy proposals are most recently being implemented through the Shirika Plan, the Differentiated Assistance (DA) model, and development plans of refugee-hosting counties such as Turkana and Garissa. First, the Shirika Plan is a government-led initiative that was proclaimed in 2023 to realise the socio-economic inclusion of refugees within the local context in line with the progressive provisions of the Refugee Act of 2021. Implementation of this policy is yet to begin as it is pegged on elusive donor funding. Second, the DA model is led by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) and is aligned with the Shirika Plan. The preparatory activities for DA were undertaken throughout 2024 and implementation commenced in August 2025. DA seeks to increase refugee self-reliance through livelihood interventions and providing support based on the specific needs and capabilities of different refugee households as opposed to the previous blanket support that was based on refugee registration status. However, implementation has so far only focussed on reducing aid, without corresponding investment in self-reliance measures.
DA and the Shirika Plan are framed in government and international circles as solutions for addressing funding shortfalls and fostering refugee integration by supporting self-reliance. However, there has been little progress in enhancing refugee self-reliance. At the same time, aid cuts are implemented based on a needs-categorisation of refugee households that proceeds without adequate background information. The lack of alternative livelihoods has exacerbated vulnerabilities and has sparked protests in refugee camps. Emerging evidence points to negative coping mechanisms, including higher school drop-out rates; reported cases of youths joining criminal religious groups; increased conflicts at family level; and rising cases of women becoming sex workers. This Policy Brief highlights the emerging ramifications of implementing DA that is anchored in the provisions contained in the Shirika Plan. The Brief also goes further to suggest recommendations for action to the government of Kenya and the international community.
Key policy messages:
• There is a need to enhance synergy between UNHCR and the Kenyan government such that the state implements the Shirika Plan alongside DA without premising its implementation on donor aid.
• UNHCR needs to obtain more extensive household economic data and involve refugees in deciding who is most vulnerable to more accurately disaggregate refugee households into appropriate categories.
• The Kenyan government and international actors need to closely monitor and address potential nega-tive implications of implementing DA and the Shirika Plan.

Fred Ikanda is a Senior Lecturer in the department of Sociology and Anthropology, Maseno University, Kenya, and associated researcher at IDOS.
Michael Owiso is Director, Odera Akang’o Campus, and Dean, School of Development and Strategic Studies, Maseno University, Kenya, as well as associated researcher at IDOS.