Africa

The crash involved two buses, a lorry and a car, police said, with many also injured.

Armed guards and special buses are increasingly used to coax terrified farmers back into growing food.

Armed guards and special buses are increasingly used to coax terrified farmers back into growing food.

Armed guards and special buses are increasingly used to coax terrified farmers back into growing food.

People rushed to collect fuel from the overturned tanker when it suddenly exploded, engulfing them in flames.

Women’s rights have steadily eroded in Afghanistan since 2021. Credit: UN Women
 
The recent blackout exposed how vital the Internet has become for Afghan women and how, when that connection is lost, hope fades and isolation takes hold.

By UN Women
NEW YORK, Oct 22 2025 (IPS)

When the Taliban recently cut off the Internet and phone networks across Afghanistan, millions of women and girls were silenced. For those with connectivity, the blackout severed their last link to the outside world – a fragile connection that had kept education, work, and hope alive.

Many women in Afghanistan still lack access to the Internet, a basic phone, or the literacy to use digital tools. For those that do, that connection is a rare lifeline to life-saving services and the outside world.

For now, access has largely been restored. But the message was clear: in Afghanistan, this valuable gateway to learning, expression, and services for women and girls can be shut down at any moment.

Afghan women are already banned from secondary and higher education, from most forms of work, and public spaces such as parks, gyms, and sports clubs.

Many women are also receiving humanitarian aid, including in earthquake-affected eastern Afghanistan, and among those returning – many forcibly – from Iran and Pakistan.

The digital and phone blackout intensified feelings of stress, isolation and anxiety among women and girls.

Women entrepreneurs participate in business development training in a UN Women-supported Multi-Purpose Women’s Centre in Parwan province, eastern Afghanistan in January 2025. Photo: UN Women/Ali Omid Taqdisyan

What happens when Afghan women and girls go offline?

In Afghanistan, the impact of Internet and phone blackouts falls more heavily on women and girls. It eliminates what is, for many, a final means of learning, earning, and connecting.

When women and girls lose Internet access, they lose the ability to:

• Access aid: Those who are connected can use the Internet or phones to find out about support available, and aid agencies rely on connectivity to continue operations.
• Learn about disasters: Recent data shows 9 per cent of women use the Internet to access information on climate disasters.
• Seek services and reporting mechanisms for survivors of gender-based violence or those at risk.
• Learn: Online classes and study groups were a lifeline for girls banned from secondary schools, and women banned from universities.
• Work: Online businesses are a vital source of income for many women to sustain their families after being pushed out of many formal roles.
• Connect: Social apps and social media provided safe spaces to support one another and exchange information.
• Be visible: For women already excluded from public life, the digital world is one the last places to exist and resist.

For more on what life looks like for women in Afghanistan today, see our FAQs.

Going dark in the middle of humanitarian crises

The national internet blackout started a month after a 6.0 earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan on 31 August, with major aftershocks continuing throughout September and the emergency response and early recovery continuing.

Despite facing many challenges, women-led organizations have played a crucial role delivering life-saving aid and services to women and girls affected by the earthquake, and Afghan women and girl returnees from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan.

During the blackout, NGOs were forced to halt humanitarian operations and cease field missions to emergency sites. Staff could not process payments or place orders for essential goods destined for women and their families.

When banks went offline, women affected by humanitarian crises were unable to access emergency cash assistance to buy essentials such as food.

The shutdown also made it much harder for survivors of gender-based violence to access help at a time when household tensions were rising across the country, and the risk of violence was escalating.

A UN Women team assessed the earthquake damage in Nurgal, one of the worst affected districts in Kunar province, northeastern Afghanistan.

Online livelihoods switched off

In Afghanistan, waves of directives banning women from most jobs and restricting their movement without a male guardian have systematically pushed them out of public life.

For many women entrepreneurs, the Internet offers a rare space to work, build small businesses, and sell their products – such as nuts, spices, handicrafts, clothes and artworks – to customers within Afghanistan and overseas.

“There is no space for us to work outside our homes,” explained business owner Sama*, from Parwan in eastern Afghanistan. “There’s also no local market where we can display and sell our products.”

With the support of UN Women, Sama built an online shop selling knitted bags, purses and jewelry.

“Through my online shop, I became well known,” she says. “I’m earning money, solving my financial problems, and becoming self-sufficient.”

When the blackout struck, women like Sama lost their only source of income overnight – a warning that for many Afghan women, connectivity is not a luxury, but a lifeline.

From blackout to global action

The Internet blackout in Afghanistan was a stark reminder that the digital world is not neutral. It can be space of empowerment. It can also be a tool of exclusion and isolation.

The stories of Afghan women remind us what is at stake: education, mental health, livelihoods, and hope. When women are silenced online, they are cut off further from opportunity and from the world.

How UN Women is supporting women and girls in Afghanistan

Through its flagship programme, Rebuilding the Women’s Movement, UN Women in Afghanistan partnered with 140 women-led organizations across 24 provinces and supported 743 women staff with salaries and training – amplifying resilience even as public life is restricted.

Read more about our work in Afghanistan.

*Name was changed to protect her identity.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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View of a plant owned by Aguas Antofagasta, a company created 20 years ago that now has three desalination plants to supply drinking water to 184,000 families in that desert city in northern Chile. Credit: Courtesy of Acades

By Orlando Milesi
SANTIAGO, Oct 22 2025 (IPS)

Desalination projects are booming in Chile, with 51 plants planned to process seawater and a combined investment of US$ 24.455 billion. However, these initiatives hardly benefit small-scale farmers, who are threatened by the prolonged drought, and cause environmental concerns.

A survey by the Capital Goods Corporation and the Chilean Desalination and Reuse Association (Acades) revealed that these projects, already in the engineering and construction phases, will add 39,043 liters of water per second in production capacity."Using seawater, desalinated or saline, and reusing wastewater relieves pressure on rivers and aquifers, ensuring water for people, ecosystems, and productive activities" –Rafael Palacios.

Fifteen of these projects belong to the mining sector, eight to the industrial sector, eight to the water utility sector, and 20 are linked to green hydrogen, a clean fuel but very water-intensive, which the country aims to be a major producer of.

Of the future plants, 17 are located in the desert region of Antofagasta, in the far north of this elongated South American country, which lies between the Andes mountain range and the Pacific Ocean.

There are 11 projects in the southern region of Magallanes, followed in number by the regions of Atacama, Coquimbo, and Valparaíso, in the north and center of Chile, which concentrate most of the investment.

Rafael Palacios, executive director of Acades, told IPS that this country “faces a scenario in which water availability in northern and central Chile could decrease by up to 50% by 2060, so we cannot continue to depend solely on continental sources.”

“Using seawater, desalinated or saline, and reusing wastewater relieves pressure on rivers and aquifers, ensuring water for people, ecosystems, and productive activities,” he emphasized.

Currently, 23 desalination plants are already operating in Chile with a capacity of 9,500 liters per second. They primarily serve mining needs, but also industrial and human consumption.

One of the large greenhouses for the hydroponic cultivation of vegetables irrigated with desalinated water, on the farm of one of the 90 members of the Association of Agricultural Producers of Altos de la Portada, in the northern Chilean region of Antofagasta. Credit: Courtesy of the Association of Agricultural Producers of Altos de la Portada.

Small-scale farmers benefit

Dolores Jiménez has been president for the last eight years of the Association of Agricultural Producers of Altos de la Portada, in Antofagasta. The association has 90 active members who collectively own 100 hectares where they have created a Hydroponic City.

“We have no water problems thanks to an agreement with Aguas Antofagasta. We have an oasis which we would otherwise not have without that agreement,” Jiménez told IPS by telephone from Antofagasta, the capital of the region of the same name.

Aguas Antofagasta is a private company that desalinates water in the north of this country of 19.7 million inhabitants. The company draws water from the Pacific Ocean using an outfall that extends 600 meters offshore to a depth of 25 meters.

In desalination, outfalls are the underwater pipes that draw seawater and return and disperse the brine in a controlled manner, far from the coast and at an adequate depth.

Founded 20 years ago, the company currently desalinates water in three plants in the municipalities of Antofagasta, Tocopilla, and Tal Tal, supplying 184,000 families in that region.

Dolores Jiménez, president of the Association of Agricultural Producers of Altos de la Portada, shows the strength of the crops thanks to the use of desalinated water that reaches small farmers due to an agreement with Aguas Antofagasta. Credit: Courtesy of the Association of Agricultural Producers of Altos de la Portada

In its project to supply the general population, it included the association of small-scale farmers who grow carrots, broccoli, Italian zucchini, cucumbers, medicinal herbs, and edible flowers.

“They support us with water from the pipeline that goes to Mejillones (a coastal city in the region). They financed the connection for us to fill six 30,000 liter tanks, installed on a plot at the highest point. From there, we distribute it using a water tanker truck,” informed Jiménez.

“Now, thanks to a project by the (state) National Irrigation Commission, we were able to secure 280 million pesos (US$294,000) for an inter-farm connection that will deliver water through pipes to 70 plots,” she added.

This will mean significant savings for the farmers.

Jesús Basáez in his farm in Pullally, on the central coast of Chile. There he grows quinoa, which he irrigates with highly saline water that the grain tolerates without problems. Previously, that saline water forced him to stop producing strawberries. Credit: Orlando Milesi / IPS

In Pullally, in the municipality of Papudo, in the central Valparaíso region, 155 kilometers northwest of Santiago, Jesús Basáez used to grow strawberries alongside a dozen other small farmers. But the crop failed due to the salinity of the groundwater, apparently caused by the drought affecting the La Ligua and Petorca rivers and proximity to the sea.

He then switched to quinoa, which tolerates salinity well. Today he is known as the King of Quinoa, a grain valued for its nutritional properties and versatility, which was an ancestral food of Andean highland peoples and has now spread among small Chilean farmers.

Basáez has three hectares planted with white, red, and black varieties of quinoa, which he irrigates with water obtained from a well, as he told IPS during a visit to his farm.

The public University of Playa Ancha, based in the city of Valparaíso, installed a mobile desalination plant on his farm that uses reverse osmosis to remove components from the saltwater that are harmful for irrigation. Pressure is applied to the saltwater so that it passes through a semipermeable membrane that filters the water, separating the salts.

After successful tests, Basáez is now about to resume his strawberry cultivation.

“It was three years of research, and it was concluded that it is viable to produce non-brackish water to grow strawberries again. The problem is that the cost remains very high and prevents replicating this experience for other farmers,” he said. The mobile plant cost the equivalent of US$ 84,000.

The mobile desalination plant installed on Jesús Basáez’s farm to research the high salinity of the water at the site. For three years, teachers and students from the University of Playa Ancha, in the central Chilean region of Valparaíso, researched how to reduce the water salinity on this agricultural property. Credit: Orlando Milesi / IPS

Debating the effects of desalination

Since 2010, Chile has been facing a long drought with water deficits of around 30%. There was extreme drought in 2019 and 2021, and the country benefited from a normal period in 2024, although the resource deficit persists, in a country where water management is also privatized.

A report from the Climate and Resilience Center of the public University of Chile, known as CR2, indicated that current rates of groundwater use are higher than the recharge capacity of the aquifers, causing a decline in reserves.

In the 23 already operational desalination plants, seawater is extracted using outfalls that are not very long, installed along the coastline of a shore that has numerous concessions and uses dedicated to aquaculture, artisanal fishermen, and indigenous communities.

The main problem is the discharge of brine following the industrial desalination process.

“I will never be against obtaining water for human consumption. Although this highly concentrated brine that goes to the seabed has an impact where a large part of our benthic resources (organisms from the bottom of water bodies) are located. On a local scale, except in the discharge area, this impact has never been evaluated,” Laura Farías, a researcher at the public University of Concepción and at CR2, told IPS.

“There is literature that points out that there is undoubtedly an impact. There are different stages of biological cycles, from larvae to settled organisms. There is even an impact on pelagic organisms that have the ability to move. And also an impact at the ecosystem level,” the academic specified by telephone from Concepción, a city in central Chile.

She added that this impact is proportional to the volume of desalinated water.

Jesús Basáez, in the municipality of Papudo, poses showing a mature quinoa plant in one hand and in the other a container designed to sell each kilogram of the grain he produces in its white, red, and black varieties. Credit: Orlando Milesi / IPS

According to Farías, the water crisis has led to desalination being part of the solution, despite its impact on marine ecosystems, coastal vegetation, and wildlife.

“It is a maladaptation, because in the end it will have impacts that will affect the coastal inhabitants who depend on those resources,” she emphasized.

There are currently initiatives to legislate on the use of the coastal zone, but according to Farías, they seek to “normalize, regularize, and standardize those impacts, after these plants already exist and there are others seeking approval.”

Palacios, the director of Acades, has a different opinion.

The concerns about the environmental impact of desalination on coastal ecosystems are legitimate, but current evidence and technology demonstrate that this impact can be managed effectively, he says.

“In Chile, recent studies show no evidence that the operation of desalination plants has so far caused significant environmental impacts, thanks to constant monitoring and advanced diffusion systems,” he detailed.

He added that “in most cases, the natural salinity concentration is restored within two or three seconds and at less than 20 meters from the outfalls.”

Palacios explained that research by the Environmental Hub of the University of Playa Ancha “confirms increases in salinity of less than 5% within 100 meters.” And in areas like Caldera, a coastal city in the northern Atacama region, they are “less than 3% within 50 meters, limiting the areas of influence to small zones.”

“We are already implementing the first Clean Production Agreement in desalination and water reuse, promoted together with the (state) Agency for Sustainability and Climate Change, advancing towards voluntary standards for sustainable management, transparency, and strengthening the link with communities,” he emphasized.

Der Schweizer Reto S. (66) wurde vor drei Wochen auf den Philippinen verhaftet. Die Behörden beriefen sich dabei auf Verurteilungen wegen Kinderpornografie, zudem wird im Aargau wieder gegen ihn ermittelt. Nun meldet sich der Mann aus der Untersuchungshaft in Manila.

The Council today approved conclusions on the European water resilience strategy, reinforcing the EU’s commitment to safeguarding water resources, boosting resilience and addressing climate challenges.

Credit: Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters via Gallo Images

By Inés M. Pousadela
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Oct 21 2025 (IPS)

When thousands of Georgians filled the streets of Tbilisi in 2023 to protest against their government’s proposed ‘foreign agents’ law, they understood what their leaders were trying to do: this wasn’t about transparency or accountability; it was about silencing dissent. Though the government was forced to withdraw the legislation, it returned with renewed determination in 2024, passing a renamed version despite even bigger protests. The law has effectively frozen Georgia’s hopes of joining the European Union.

Georgia’s repressive law is just one example of a disturbing global trend documented in CIVICUS’s new report, Cutting civil society’s lifeline: the global spread of foreign agents laws. From Central America to Central Asia, from Africa to the Balkans, governments are adopting legislation that brands civil society organisations and independent media as paid agents of foreign interests. Foreign agents laws are proliferating at an alarming rate, posing a growing threat to civil society. Since 2020, El Salvador, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua and Zimbabwe have all enacted such laws, while many more states have proposed similar measures.

Russia established the blueprint for this architecture of repression in 2012, when Vladimir Putin’s government introduced legislation requiring any civil society organisation that received foreign funding and engaged in broadly defined ‘political activity’ to register as a foreign agent. This offered an impossible choice: accept a stigmatising designation that effectively brands organisations as foreign spies, or cease operations. Russia repeatedly expanded its crackdown, and by 2016, at least 30 groups had chosen to shut down rather than accept the designation. The European Court of Human Rights has unequivocally condemned Russia’s law as violating fundamental civic freedoms, yet this hasn’t prevented other states eagerly adopting the same model.

The pretence that these laws promote transparency is fundamentally disingenuous. Civil society organisations that receive international support are already subject to rigorous accountability requirements imposed by their donors. In contrast, governments often receive substantial foreign funding yet face no equivalent disclosure obligations. This double standard reveals the true purpose of these laws: not transparency, but control. In practice, almost any public interest activity can be deemed political under foreign agents laws, including human rights advocacy, election monitoring and efforts to strengthen democracy. States deliberately leave definitions vague and broad to allow discretionary enforcement and targeting of organisations they don’t like.

The impacts can be devastating. Nicaragua provides a particularly extreme example of the use of foreign agents laws to dismantle civil society. President Daniel Ortega has used such legislation as part of a comprehensive repressive arsenal that has shuttered over 5,600 organisations, roughly 80 per cent of all groups that once operated in the country. State security forces have raided suspended organisations, seized their offices and confiscated their assets, while thousands of academics, activists and journalists have been driven into exile. With only state-controlled organisations remaining operational, Nicaragua has become a full-blown authoritarian regime where independent voices have been eliminated and civic space has slammed shut.

In Kyrgyzstan, a foreign agents law passed in March 2024 has had an immediate chilling effect. Organisations have scaled back their activities, some have re-registered as commercial entities and others have proactively ceased operations to avoid fines for non-compliance. The Open Society Foundations closed its long-established grant-making office in the country. Meanwhile, in El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele’s government imposed a punitive 30 per cent tax on all foreign grants alongside stigmatising labels and registration requirements, forcing major civil society organisations to shut down their offices.

Foreign agents laws impose systematic barriers through complex registration processes, demanding reporting requirements and frequent audits that force many smaller organisations to close. The threat of harsh penalties – including heavy fines, licence revocations and imprisonment for non-compliance – creates a climate of fear that frequently leads to self-censorship and organisational dissolution. By restricting foreign funding while offering no measures to expand domestic funding sources, governments make civil society organisations dependent on state approval, curtailing their autonomy. And by forcing them to wear the stigmatising ‘foreign agent’ label, governments ensure they lose public trust, making it harder to mount a defence when further crackdowns follow.

Yet there are grounds for hope. Civil society has shown remarkable resilience in resisting foreign agents laws, and street mobilisation and legal challenges have sometimes stalled or rolled back these measures. Ukraine’s rapid reversal of its 2014 foreign agents law following mass protests showed that immediate pushback can come when the political moment is right. Ethiopia changed its restrictive 2009 law in 2019, while Hungary was forced to drop its 2017 law following a 2020 European Court of Justice ruling. In May 2025, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Constitutional Court suspended a foreign agents law, recognising it violated freedom of association.

International legal pressure has been vital. The European Court of Human Rights’ categorical condemnation of Russia’s legislation established crucial precedents. These decisions provided a foundation for challenging similar laws elsewhere. However, authoritarian governments may adapt their strategies and implement new versions of restrictive legislation, as seen in Hungary’s 2023 introduction of a new ‘sovereignty protection’ law.

The acceleration of this trend since 2020 reflects broader patterns of democratic regression around the world. Authoritarian political leaders are capitalising on legitimate concerns about foreign interference to create legal tools that serve their repressive agendas. The danger extends beyond current adopters. Bulgaria’s parliament has rejected foreign agents bills five times, yet a far-right party keeps reintroducing them. Turkey’s autocratic government shelved its proposed law following public backlash in 2024, only to reintroduce an amended version months later.

Coordinated resistance is essential before foreign agents laws become normalised. There’s an urgent need for international courts to expedite consideration of cases and develop emergency procedures for situations where civil society faces immediate threats. Democratic governments must avoid adopting stigmatising legislation, impose targeted sanctions on foreign officials responsible for enacting foreign agents laws and provide safe haven for activists forced to flee. Funders must establish emergency mechanisms with rapid-disbursement grants, while civil society must strengthen international solidarity networks to share resistance strategies and expose the true intent of these laws.

The alternative to coordinated action is to watch idly as independent voices are systematically silenced. Civil society’s right to exist and operate freely must be defended.

Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Head of Research and Analysis, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org

 

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British heavyweight Lawrence Okolie is set to headline a card in Nigeria in December, saying it "will be a historic moment for Africa, my family and my career".

South Africa return to the top of the table and eliminate Pakistan from the World Cup with a 150-run win on the DLS method in a rain-plagued match in Colombo.

Fifteen people died in the night-time collision in the Somali region, officials tell the BBC.

Les Béninois de la diaspora ont désormais la possibilité d'effectuer en ligne leur demande de passeport biométrique via la plateforme https://www.epass.gouv.bj

Les dossiers de renouvellement de passeport des Béninois et Béninoises de l'étranger sont soumis en ligne via https://www.epass.gouv.bj

Le nouveau passeport est délivré dans un délai garanti de quatre (04) semaines après validation du dossier.

Cette dématérialisation s'inscrit dans la vision du gouvernement béninois d'offrir à la diaspora un service rapide, sécurisé et conforme aux standards de l'Organisation de l'Aviation Civile Internationale (OACI).

Voici comment procéder

.Téléchargez l'application ePass et inscrivez-vous avec votre Numéro Personnel d'Identification (NPI) et votre numéro d'Immatriculation consulaire (IC) ;

.Soumettez vos données biométriques (photo – empreinte) depuis votre téléphone mobile. Pour les demandes concernant des enfants ou des mineurs, il est recommandé de joindre l'autorisation parentale ;

.Choisissez de recevoir votre nouveau passeport en cliquant l'une de ces options : à domicile, dans le consulat le plus proche, ou directement à la Direction de l'Emigration et l'Immigration (DEI) au Bénin.

.Suivez l'évolution de votre demande de renouvellement en temps réel.

Le passeport béninois permet de voyager sans visa préalable vers 67 destinations à travers le monde.

M. M.

Megkezdte kedden Nicolas Sarkozy volt francia elnök börtönbüntetésének letöltését, miután bűnszövetségben elkövetett bűncselekmény miatt öt év szabadságvesztésre ítélték a 2007-es elnökválasztási kampányának líbiai finanszírozásával kapcsolatos perben.

Le Zayed Sustainability Prize, récompense pionnière des Émirats arabes unis pour les solutions innovantes aux défis mondiaux, a annoncé le 3 octobre 2025, les finalistes de cette année après une évaluation rigoureuse par son jury prestigieux.

Les lauréats seront dévoilés lors de la cérémonie de remise du Prix, qui se tiendra le 13 janvier 2026 dans le cadre de la Semaine de la durabilité d'Abu Dhabi. Le jury du Zayed Sustainability Prize a sélectionné les 33 finalistes parmi 7 761 candidatures reçues, représentant une augmentation de 30% par rapport à l'année dernière, dans six catégories : santé, alimentation, énergie, eau, action pour le climat et lycées du monde.

S.E. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, ministre de l'Industrie et des Technologies de pointe des Émirats arabes unis et directeur général du Zayed Sustainability Prize, a souligné le potentiel transformateur des finalistes de cette année : « Les finalistes de cette année démontrent que la durabilité et la prospérité ne sont plus des objectifs distincts, mais les deux facettes d'une même voie à suivre. Qu'il s'agisse de diagnostics de santé basés sur l'intelligence artificielle, de systèmes alimentaires circulaires, de préparation aux catastrophes ou de résilience climatique, ils exploitent la technologie, la finance et le leadership local pour proposer des solutions abordables, fiables, évolutives et génératrices de valeur socio-économique pour les communautés qu'ils servent.

Ce faisant, ils reflètent l'héritage durable de Cheikh Zayed, dont la vision du développement durable et de l'humanitarisme continue d'inspirer l'engagement des Émirats arabes unis en faveur du progrès. Ensemble, ils réaffirment que lorsque nous donnons les moyens d'agir aux jeunes, aux entrepreneurs et aux communautés, l'ambition peut se transformer en une action inclusive, pratique et mondiale. »

Grâce aux 128 lauréats du Prix à ce jour, 11,4 millions de personnes ont accès à l'eau potable, 54,1 millions de foyers ont accès à une énergie fiable, 17 millions de personnes ont accès à une alimentation plus nutritive et plus de 1,2 million de personnes ont accès à des soins de santé abordables.

S.E. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, président du jury du Prix, a déclaré : « Les finalistes de cette année reflètent un fait incontestable : la durabilité n'est plus une ambition lointaine, c'est une réalité vécue, façonnée par les communautés, les jeunes, et les innovateurs du monde entier. Leurs solutions traduisent d'un monde qui prend conscience de l'urgence des changements rapides des réalités environnementales et socio-économiques, et le Prix continue d'être une lueur d'espoir, montrant comment des idées audacieuses peuvent transformer des vies et restaurer notre planète. »

Les finalistes de la catégorie Santé de cette année proposent des soins de santé transformateurs qui élargissent l'accès aux services essentiels dans certaines des communautés les plus défavorisées au monde. Leurs innovations couvrent le diagnostic par intelligence artificielle, la réfrigération solaire des vaccins et les outils cognitifs ludiques.

Les finalistes dans la catégorie Santé sont :

• Drop Access, une PME kényane, fournissant des systèmes de réfrigération médicale à énergie solaire via Vaccibox, permettant le transport et le stockage en toute sécurité de plus de 2,5 millions de vaccins, de médicaments et de poches de sang, au bénéfice de plus d'un million de personnes.
• Healthy Learners, une organisation à but non lucratif zambienne, qui transforme les écoles en centres de santé de première ligne en formant les enseignants à devenir des auxiliaires de santé, ce qui permet de détecter et de traiter en temps réel les maladies de plus d'un million d'enfants.
• Jade Autism, une PME des Émirats arabes unis, qui développe des outils cognitifs basés sur l'IA et la gamification pour dépister et soutenir les enfants neurodivergents, qui sont utilisés dans plus de 450 institutions dans 179 pays.

Les finalistes du Prix dans la catégorie Alimentation sont à la pointe de l'innovation en matière d'agriculture durable, de nutrition et de systèmes alimentaires circulaires. Leurs solutions couvrent l'AgriTech, la résilience des cultures et les modèles de production intelligents face au climat.

Les finalistes dans la catégorie Alimentation sont :

• E Green Global, une PME sud-coréenne qui produit des pommes de terre de semence exemptes de maladies à l'aide d'une technologie de microtubes dans des usines végétales en intérieur, bénéficiant à 15 millions de personnes et fournissant plus de 10 millions de pommes de terre de semence par an.
• INMED South Africa, une organisation à but non lucratif sud-africaine mettant en place des systèmes aquaponiques qui intègrent la pisciculture et la production maraîchère hydroponique pour les écoles et les ménages, bénéficiant à plus de 158 000 personnes.
• N&E Innovations, une PME basée à Singapour créant des sprays et des emballages antimicrobiens recyclés et biodégradables qui prolongent la durée de conservation des aliments et réduisent les déchets, permettant de recycler plus de 2 tonnes de déchets alimentaires en plus de 400 000 unités et touchant 80 000 personnes dans sept pays.

Les finalistes de la catégorie Énergie proposent des approches inclusives et évolutives en matière d'énergie durable, qui répondent aux enjeux liés à l'accès et à l'efficacité énergétique. Leurs solutions couvrent l'approvisionnement en énergie des communautés isolées, le refroidissement non polluant et le recyclage des batteries à base d'eau.

Les finalistes dans la catégorie Énergie sont :

• BASE Foundation, une organisation à but non lucratif suisse, qui promeut un modèle de refroidissement sous forme de service rendant les technologies de refroidissement propres plus accessibles grâce à une approche de paiement à l'utilisation, bénéficiant à 160 000 personnes, créant 2 500 emplois et réduisant de plus de 81 000 tonnes les émissions de CO₂ dans 68 pays.
• GRST, une PME chinoise (Hong Kong), développe des liants pour batteries au lithium sans PFAS qui permettent un recyclage à base d'eau, produisant plus de 2 millions de cellules de batterie, créant plus de 200 emplois et réduisant les émissions liées à la fabrication des batteries jusqu'à 40 %.
• Poder y Luz Maya, une organisation à but non lucratif du Guatemala, fournit des systèmes d'énergie solaire et des outils d'apprentissage numériques aux écoles autochtones, bénéficiant à plus de 49 000 personnes, réduisant la consommation d'énergie de plus de 4 700 MWh et réduisant les émissions de CO₂ de plus de 1 200 tonnes.

Les finalistes du Prix dans la catégorie Eau apportent des solutions innovantes qui améliorent l'accès à l'eau potable, renforcent les infrastructures hydrauliques et favorisent une gestion intelligente de l'eau. Leurs innovations couvrent les systèmes de purification à énergie solaire, la prévention de la pollution plastique et la détection des fuites grâce à l'intelligence artificielle.

Les finalistes dans la catégorie Eau sont :

• IRIBA Water Group, une PME du Rwanda, qui fournit des distributeurs automatiques d'eau intelligents alimentés à l'énergie solaire, équipés d'un système de purification par UV et osmose inverse, d'un système de paiement mobile et d'un système de surveillance numérique afin d'élargir l'accès à l'eau potable. Elle bénéficie à plus de 517 000 personnes grâce à 203 distributeurs automatiques d'eau et crée 194 emplois.
• Stattus4, une PME brésilienne, proposant des solutions IoT basées sur l'IA qui détectent les fuites dans les réseaux de distribution d'eau, permettant d'économiser 540 millions de litres d'eau par jour dans 250 municipalités et d'améliorer l'approvisionnement en eau de près de 4 millions de personnes.
• The Great Bubble Barrier, une PME néerlandaise, qui prévient la pollution plastique dans les rivières à l'aide d'un rideau de bulles d'air qui guide les déchets vers les systèmes de collecte sans nuire à la vie aquatique, bénéficiant ainsi à 2 millions de personnes et éliminant 180 tonnes de polluants des cours d'eau.

Les finalistes du Prix Action pour le climat mènent des efforts déterminants en matière de résilience climatique, de préparation aux catastrophes et d'innovation circulaire. Leurs solutions couvrent les briques écologiques, les systèmes de biogaz et les technologies de valorisation des déchets.

Les finalistes du Prix Action pour le climat sont :

• Build Up Nepal, une organisation à but non lucratif népalaise qui développe des éco-briques résistantes aux séismes favorisant la construction durable. Cela bénéficie à plus de 58 000 personnes, autonomise 200 entrepreneurs et permet de réduire les émissions de CO₂ de plus de 110 000 tonnes.
• CLIC RECYCLE, une PME espagnole, transforme les cheveux humains en paillis biodégradable et en filtres marins, mobilisant plus de 7 000 utilisateurs, éliminant 180 tonnes de polluants et améliorant la rétention d'eau du sol jusqu'à 40 %.
• GREE Energy, une PME chinoise (Hong Kong), crée des systèmes modulaires de biogaz pour les transformateurs alimentaires ruraux, bénéficiant à 4 000 agriculteurs, générant 9,3 GWh d'énergie propre et réduisant les émissions de CO₂ de 140 000 tonnes.

Les finalistes de la catégorie Lycées du monde ont présenté des solutions durables basées sur des projets menés par des élèves, répartis en six régions. Les finalistes régionaux sont les suivants :
Amériques : Centro de Ensino Médio 111 - Recanto das Emas (Brésil) ; Escuela Secundaria Técnica 117 Guillermo González Camarena (Mexique) ; et Mamawi Atosketan Native School (Canada).

Afrique subsaharienne : Likuni Boys Secondary School (Malawi) ; Kallamino Special High School (Éthiopie) ; et Kyanja High School, Mpigi (Ouganda).

Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord : Fawakhir School for Applied Technology (Égypte) ; Al-Raja School for the Hearing Impaired (Jordanie) ; et Rashaya High School (Liban).

Europe et Asie centrale : Bodrum Anadolu High School (Turquie) ; Specialized School in Angor (Ouzbékistan) ; et Istedad Lyceum (Azerbaïdjan).

Asie du Sud : Qadir Nagar High School (Pakistan) ; Faafu Atoll Education Center (Maldives) ; et Kikani Vidhya Mandir (Inde).

Asie de l'Est et Pacifique : Lycée Camarines Norte (Philippines) ; École internationale True North (Vietnam) ; et École internationale Ruamrudee (Thaïlande).

Chaque lauréat dans les catégories Santé, Alimentation, Énergie, Eau et Action pour le climat percevra 1 million de dollars US, tandis que chacun des six lycées lauréats recevra jusqu'à 150 000 dollars US.

À propos du Zayed Sustainability Prize

Le Prix, affilié à Erth Zayed Philanthropies, est la distinction phare des Émirats arabes unis dédiée aux solutions innovantes face aux défis mondiaux.

Créé en hommage à l'héritage et à la vision du père fondateur des Émirats, le Cheikh Zayed ben Sultan Al Nahyane, le Prix vise à accélérer le développement durable à l'échelle planétaire.

Chaque année, dans les catégories Santé, Alimentation, Énergie, Eau, Action pour le climat et Lycées du monde, le Prix distingue des organisations et des établissements scolaires pour leurs solutions révolutionnaires répondant aux besoins les plus pressants de la planète.

En 17 ans et à travers 128 lauréats, le Prix a eu un impact positif sur plus de 400 millions de vies, inspirant les innovateurs à amplifier leur action et à tracer un avenir durable pour tous.

The death of the veteran politician is likely to alter the political landscape, analysts say.

The death of the veteran politician is likely to alter the political landscape, analysts say.

The death of the veteran politician is likely to alter the political landscape, analysts say.

Bosznia-Hercegovina kiutasított terrorizmussal kapcsolatba hozható két orosz állampolgárt - közölte hétfőn a külföldiekkel foglalkozó boszniai szolgálat.