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Women stand in a damaged displacement settlement in Khan Younis, Gaza. Credit: UNFPA/Media Clinic

By the Peace Research Institute Oslo
OSLO, Norway, Sep 25 2025 (IPS)

The battlefield is no longer distant; for millions of women, it’s next door. An estimated 676 million women – nearly 17 percent of the global female population – lived within 50 kilometres of a deadly conflict last year, according to a new report from the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). That is the highest figure recorded since the end of the Cold War.

https://www.prio.org/about

Women at risk

2024 marked a historic peak in women’s exposure to armed conflict. The number of women living in conflict zones has more than doubled compared to 1990, reflecting both the rising scale of global violence and the increasing reach of conflicts into densely populated areas.

The study found that last year, around 245 million women lived in areas where conflict caused more than 25 battle-related deaths, while 113 million women were located in zones with over 100 deaths.

Bangladesh recorded the highest absolute number of women exposed, with nearly 75 million living within 50 kilometres of conflict. The violence was primarily linked to nationwide protests in July and August, which culminated in the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

In Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine, all women were affected, meaning entire female populations were directly exposed to deadly violence.

Living near conflict zones has severe consequences for women’s lives. Armed conflict undermines inclusion, justice and security, and is consistently associated with higher maternal mortality, greater risks of gender-based violence, reduced access to education for girls, and widening gender gaps in employment.

These impacts threaten women’s immediate safety, but also their long-term wellbeing and economic prospects, weakening the foundations needed for recovery.

‘Conflict doesn’t just happen on the battlefield – it reaches into women’s homes, schools and workplaces, disrupting the very foundations of their lives,’ said PRIO Research Director Siri Aas Rustad, who is the author of the report. ‘While some may find new roles in crisis, these opportunities are fragile. The hard truth is that war widens gender inequalities and leaves women at greater risk.’

Regional variation

The report highlights striking regional and national differences. In Lebanon in 2024, 100 percent of the female population lived within 50 kilometres of a conflict event where the death toll exceeded 100 – this means that all women in Lebanon are exposed to high-intensity conflict.

In the Palestinian territories, nearly 80 percent of women reside near areas with more than 100 fatalities, with the other 20 percent living in conflict areas with between 1 and 99 killed. Over one third of women live close to zones with more than 1,000 deaths. Syria shows a similarly severe pattern, with most women exposed to medium- and high-intensity conflict.

In Nigeria, the report reveals that women in Borno State face particularly high-intensity violence linked to Boko Haram and the Islamic State, while women in the South-South region are increasingly affected by separatist violence.

Long-term toll

The developmental costs of the impact on women are profound. Countries with a high proportion of women living near conflict consistently score lower on the United Nations Human Development Index, underlining the long-term effects of violence on education, health and livelihoods.

Protracted conflicts, often overshadowed by more visible wars, steadily erode social and economic structures. At the same time, cuts in international aid threaten to further weaken infrastructure and deepen vulnerabilities

The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) is a world-leading institute for the study of peace and conflict. Through cutting-edge research, PRIO examines the drivers of violence and the conditions that enable peaceful relations between states, groups and individuals.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Devant les eurodéputés de la commission de la Santé du Parlement jeudi 25 septembre, le commissaire européen Olivér Várhelyi s’est dit ouvert à un système de taxation des produits riches en sucre, en graisses et en sel afin de contribuer au financement de la santé publique.

The post La Commission envisage une taxe sur les aliments ultra-transformés appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

The European Defence Agency (EDA), NATO and the Portuguese Navy co-organised the 15th Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Unmanned Systems (REPMUS), the world’s largest event for testing unmanned maritime systems, held off the coast of Portugal. 

Running from 1 to 26 September in the waters south of Lisbon, the Portuguese-led exercise brought together 24 nations and tested some 300 uncrewed platforms across sea, air, and land domains.

It also marked the first time NATO’s military exercise ‘Dynamic Messenger’ was linked with REPMUS, combining operational training with experimental testing.

REPMUS/Dynamic Messenger 25 gave both militaries and industry the chance to trial robotics and artificial intelligence in real-world scenarios, including electronic jamming and dummy underwater mines.

“This was an opportunity to experiment on unmanned vehicles across all domains and in a real environment,” said Captain Nuno Palmeiro Ribeiro, Director of the Portuguese Navy Operational Experimentation Centre (CEOM). “What’s special about this zone is that we can do experimentation that is not possible elsewhere.”

Swarms, standards

Scenarios included Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) in coastal zones, electronic warfare in GPS-denied environments, and amphibious landings supported by robotic scouts and logistics drones. One highlight saw multiple uncrewed aerial vehicles performing ‘swarm’ operations, demonstrating the ability to operate autonomously in coordinated missions.

EDA, the EU agency tasked with strengthening defence cooperation among Member States, hosted seminars to highlight the importance of interoperability and ensuring allied and partner nations’ systems can work together. “Unmanned underwater vessels have different batteries, different chargers. We need to develop standards to improve interoperability and even interchangeability,” said Juergen Scraback, Head of EDA’s Maritime Domain Unit.

EDA is also establishing best practices. To address the lack of common regulations and safety procedures, the Agency is leading the Safety and Regulations for European Unmanned Maritime Systems (SARUMS) which provides a safety framework and guidance for design, operations, and legal compliance.

EDA has also supported a project to develop a swarm of biomimetic underwater vehicles for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (SABUVIS). EDA’s leadership in such projects emphasises its aim to accelerate Europe’s use of tested, mission-ready autonomous technologies in NATO and EU operations. 

 

Several start-ups supported by NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) used the event to test technologies for communications resilience, protecting undersea infrastructure and improving mine countermeasures. The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto and NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation were also contributors.

Undersea warfare

The addition this year of Dynamic Messenger, led by NATO’s Allied Command Transformation and Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), added a more operational dimension. While REPMUS focused on experimentation and integration, Dynamic Messenger provided a live operational framework, showing how new technologies can be deployed with NATO fleets.

More than 2,000 participants from 22 NATO nations took part, alongside observers from 13 other countries including Australia, Brazil, and South Korea. Ships from Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 also joined, highlighting the alliance’s focus on maritime readiness.

Unmanned systems are not intended to replace crewed forces, but to support them, taking on tasks such as high-risk reconnaissance or supply runs in contested environments.

With EDA now firmly embedded as a co-organiser in REPMUS, officials expect the annual event to continue serving not only as NATO’s largest unmanned systems exercise, but also as a platform for closer EU-NATO cooperation in defence technology. 

Le Premier ministre espagnol Pedro Sánchez a confirmé qu’il briguerait un nouveau mandat en 2027, et ce malgré la profonde fragmentation politique dans le pays et les enquêtes pour corruption qui visent son parti et son entourage.

The post Malgré les scandales de corruption, Pedro Sánchez sera candidat à sa succession appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Un régime de l'assurance agricole indicielle est instauré au Bénin. La décision a été prise ce mercredi 24 septembre 2025 en Conseil des ministres.

En plus de l'assurance agricole traditionnelle, un régime de l'assurance agricole indicielle est instauré au Bénin. A la différence de l'assurance agricole traditionnelle qui se base sur l'évaluation des pertes réelles sur le terrain après un sinistre, l'assurance indicielle selon le gouvernement, déclenche le paiement d'une indemnisation en fonction de l'atteinte d'un "indice" prédéfini. Lequel est corrélé au rendement des cultures ou à la production agricole.
Selon les chiffres du gouvernement, une expérience pilote menée au cours de la campagne écoulée, a permis à 2.341 riziculteurs sinistrés sur un total de 11 000, de bénéficier d'une indemnité conséquente. De fait, la formule suscite l'engouement des producteurs aussi bien pour les trois filières ciblées dans la phase pilote (riz, coton et bétail) que pour d'autres filières pour lesquelles 100.000 bénéficiaires sont impactés, renseigne le communiqué du Conseil des ministres.
Le gouvernement en adoptant le décret portant instauration du régime de l'assurance agricole indicielle en République du Bénin, entend créer les conditions réglementaires pour la généralisation de l'assurance agricole indicielle au Bénin.

Spyros Blavoukos, Professor at the Athens University of Economics & Business; Head of ELIAMEP’s EU Institutions & Policies Programme and Panos Politis Lamprou, Junior Research Fellow, ELIAMEP outline the broader framework of the EU defence cooperation, seeking to provide a concise overview of the Union’s key initiatives that shape its actions in the fields of defence (industrial) policy.

Read the ELIAMEP Explainer here (in Greek).

En Grèce, un scandale de fraude aux subventions agricoles européennes menace de fragiliser tout le secteur, les agriculteurs s’inquiétant de devoir supporter les conséquences d’un système administratif jugé défaillant.

The post Grèce : la fraude aux aides européennes sème le chaos parmi les agriculteurs appeared first on Euractiv FR.

• The creation of additional fiscal space (NEC) and the provision of low cost lending (SAFE) of ReArm Europe will enhance Greece’s defence expenditures as well as demand for weapon systems throughout the EU.
• The Greek defence industry will exploit these growing opportunities due to its integration in pan-European supply chains, an outcome of the offset agreements of the 1990s and 2000s.
• With three additional policies the Greek defence industry can position itself with even greater effectiveness in this new environment.
• First, build further on the government’s ongoing energetic management of defence-related assets under state ownership, primarily with the exit of the Hellenic Aerospace Company from tight state control.
• Second, reform defence procurement so that the need for speed is addressed which is necessary for realizing Civil-Military Fusion (CMF), including through the transition of the Hellenic Court of Audit from ex ante to ex post review of defence procurement contracts.
• Third, strengthen the Hellenic Center for Defence Innovation (HCDI) with additional financial resources and appointment to its Board of distinguished Greek diaspora scientists so that HCDI can catalyse the participation of diaspora start-ups and diaspora scientific talent in the generation, by the Greek defence industry, of asymmetric force to counter the Turkish threat.

Read here (in Greek) the Policy paper by Antonis Kamaras, Research Associate, ELIAMEP.

Le Bénin dispose désormais d'un Registre des associations et fondations. La décision a été prise ce mercredi 24 septembre 2025, lors de la session ordinaire du Conseil des ministres.

Un Registre des associations et fondations mis en place. Ceci, conformément aux dispositions de la loi n° 2025-19 relative aux associations et aux fondations en République du Bénin, promulguée le 22 juillet 2025. La décision a été prise ce mercredi 24 septembre 2025 en Conseil des ministres.
Ledit Registre selon le communiqué du gouvernement, va recevoir les déclarations d'existence, les inscriptions modificatives concernant les associations et fondations ainsi que toutes autres déclarations prescrites par les lois et règlements pour y être mentionnées. L'inscription à ce registre constitue une formalité substantielle sans laquelle les associations et fondations qui seraient créées postérieurement à la loi sus évoquée, ne peuvent avoir d'existence juridique, précise le communiqué du gouvernement. Sa mise en place détaille le Conseil des ministres, est d'une importance capitale car, il est destiné à recevoir les déclarations d'existence, les décisions administratives ou judicaires relatives à la délivrance ou au refus de délivrance de récépissé de déclarations d'existence. « S'y ajoutent, les déclarations d'inscription de tous changements survenus dans la composition des organes dirigeants, les déclarations d'inscription de toutes autres modifications des statuts ainsi que les décisions de reconnaissance d'utilité publique ou leur retrait », renseigne le communiqué qui précise par ailleurs que, les décisions relatives à la délivrance ou au refus de délivrance aux associations, fondations et organisations non gouvernementales, l'autorisation d'exercice au Bénin y seront mentionnées. Il en est de même des déclarations de ressources financières reçues de toute institution privée nationale ou internationale, des rapports d'exercice indiquant notamment, l'origine des ressources, l'état d'exécution des activités et programmes. Il en va de même des perspectives, des décisions de dissolution et toutes autres informations légalement prescrites, lit-on dans le communiqué du gouvernement.

F. A. A.

Le bénéfice du mécanisme de garantie du Fonds National de Développement Agricole (FNDA) sera étendu à la couverture des opérations de vente à crédit d'équipements agricoles de la Société Nationale de Mécanisation Agricole (SoNaMA). C'est l'une des décisions prises en Conseil des ministres ce mercredi 24 septembre 2025.

« La SoNaMA, dans le cadre de la production et la mise en place des matériels et équipements agricoles, a opérationnalisé un mécanisme de financement des ventes par tempérament », informe le Conseil des ministres. Ce mécanisme, informe la même source, devrait bénéficier de la couverture du FNDA sous la forme de garantie à hauteur de 50% du montant des crédits accordés aux producteurs afin de limiter le risque de non-recouvrement dans des proportions supportables.

Dans le but de surmonter les difficultés qui entravent la mise en œuvre optimale de ce dispositif, le Conseil a marqué son accord en vue de l'extension du bénéfice du mécanisme de garantie du FNDA. Le bénéfice sera élargi à la couverture des opérations de vente à crédit d'équipements agricoles de la SoNaMA et au partage des risques pris par la Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations du Bénin, dans le cadre de son accompagnement aux entreprises du secteur agricole.

A.A.A

Après avoir réaffirmé à maintes occasions sa reconnaissance à la souveraineté du Maroc sur son Sahara, le gouvernement des Etats-Unis encourage les investissements américains dans les Provinces du Sud.

La reconnaissance par les Etats-Unis de la souveraineté du Royaume du Maroc sur son Sahara entre dans une phase concrète. Le Secrétaire d'État américain adjoint, Christopher Landau, vient d'annoncer que, dans le sillage de la reconnaissance par Washington de la souveraineté du Maroc sur son Sahara, le gouvernement US a décidé d'encourager les investissements américains dans les Provinces du Sud du Royaume.

"Les États-Unis ont reconnu la souveraineté du Maroc sur le Sahara, et dans le cadre des initiatives mondiales de l'administration Trump visant à promouvoir la diplomatie économique et commerciale, nous sommes heureux d'annoncer que nous allons encourager les entreprises américaines qui souhaitent investir dans cette région du Maroc", a souligné M. Landau dans une déclaration à la presse à l'issue d'une entrevue, mercredi à New York, avec le ministre des Affaires étrangères, de la Coopération africaine et des Marocains résidant à l'étranger, M. Nasser Bourita.

Le responsable américain a déclaré avoir abordé avec le Ministre des Affaires étrangères, de la Coopération africaine et des Marocains résidant à l'étranger, Nasser Bourita, les relations excellentes et de longue date liant le Maroc et les Etats-Unis d'Amérique, soulignant la disposition de l'administration Trump à œuvrer de concert avec le Royaume en vue de "promouvoir la prospérité, la paix et la stabilité dans la région".

Le Ministère du Cadre de Vie et des Transports en charge du Développement Durable, en collaboration avec l'Agence Nationale des Transports Terrestres (ANaTT), a procédé, mercredi 24 septembre 2025 au lancement officiel de la phase expérimentale de la Lettre de voiture électronique internationale.

La professionnalisation du secteur des transports se poursuit au Bénin. Grâce au projet PASport financé par Enabel, le ministère du Cadre de Vie lance la phase expérimentale de la Lettre de voiture électronique internationale. Elle est délivrée via la plateforme SYGFR (Système de Gestion du Fret Routier) qui compte plus de 1.300 transporteurs depuis novembre 2023. Ce système améliore la traçabilité du fret, en réduisant les risques de fraude et en harmonisant les pratiques entre les acteurs du transport terrestre.

La Lettre de voiture électronique internationale est désormais obligatoire pour les cargaisons transfrontalières. Pour obtenir la lettre de voiture électronique, il faut enregistrer son véhicule, avoir une carte de transport (3.000 FCFA/an pour le national, 1.000 FCFA/an/pays pour l'international) et fournir des informations sur les marchandises transportées. Il est également possible d'avoir via le SYGFR, le Certificat de Conformité de la remorque, moyennant 12.000 FCFA.

A.A.A

Lors du sommet des Nations unies sur l’action climatique mercredi 24 septembre, la présidente de la Commission européenne, Ursula von der Leyen, a promis que le monde pouvait compter sur le leadership de l’Europe en matière de climat, bien que le bloc n’ait pas encore fixé sa contribution déterminée au niveau national, comme le requiert l’Accord de Paris sur le climat.

The post Aux Nations unies, l’UE défend son leadership en matière de climat appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Event Video 
Photos

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In an age of crises and armed conflicts, women continue to play a central role in preventing conflicts, maintaining peace and security, protecting civilians, and strengthening societal resilience and recovery. They do so as political leaders, negotiators, mediators, peacekeepers, humanitarian workers, or civil society representatives—both on the ground and on the international stage. Their contribution is recognised in several mandates that promote the integration of gender perspectives in peacekeeping, as well as in the work of the UN peacebuilding architecture (UNSCR 2282).

At the same time, women and girls are increasingly bearing the brunt of crises and conflicts. Their exposure to armed conflicts has risen by 50% over the past decade, and the number of UN-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence—primarily targeting women and girls—has steadily increased in recent years. Attacks on women’s rights are multiplying, while negotiations on gender issues at the UN have become increasingly contentious, threatening hard-won progress.

This challenging context is further compounded by severe financial constraints facing the UN and the urgent need for reforms aimed at efficient multilateralism, as highlighted by the ongoing UN80 reform initiative.

On September 25th, IPI together with the Permanent Missions of Colombia and France to the United Nations, cohosted a ministerial-level event taking place at UN Headquarters on “Women Building Peace in an Age of Crises and Armed Conflicts: How Feminist Approaches to Foreign Policy Can Advance Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding.” Phoebe Donnelly, IPI Senior Fellow and Head of Women, Peace, and Security, moderated the conversation.

This event highlighted the “peace dividends” of women’s leadership—in other words, the essential roles women play in achieving sustainable and lasting peace at every stage of conflict: before, during, and after. The event offered an opportunity to showcase the role of feminist and gender-based approaches as drivers of democracy, human rights, equality, sustainability and lasting peace. Integrating a gender perspective is not just an added value—it is a key driver of sustainable peace. It also reflects our collective commitment to reinforcing the participation and representation of women, in the spirit of CEDAW Committee General Recommendations n°30 and n°40.

The event welcomed four new members to the FFP+ (Morocco, Nepal, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom) and recognized their exceptional commitment to gender equality, women’s rights, and women’s empowerment in their foreign policy agendas. It also build momentum for the upcoming 4th Feminist Foreign Policy Ministerial Conference, which will take place in Paris in October 2025, following the successful conference hosted by Mexico in 2024.

Participants reflected upon national, regional, and international experiences that underscore the peace, security, democracy, and social dividends of women’s and girls’ agency and leadership.

The post Women Building Peace in an Age of Crises and Armed Conflicts: How Feminist Approaches to Foreign Policy Can Advance Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding appeared first on International Peace Institute.

In Mongolia, a mining boom has significantly increased pressures on water resources, negatively affecting human health and ecosystems. In this chapter, we ask how polycentric water governance and the interaction of different modes of coordination play out in Mongolia and what this implies for the protection of rivers against pollution from mining. By presenting a case study from a developing and transitioning country, this chapter also contributes to a better understanding of how contextual factors affect different coordination modes. We find that protecting rivers from mining pollution remains a considerable challenge in Mongolia. While new rules and actors at the basin level have fostered cooperation among public-sector agencies, due to power asymmetries, public agencies tend to avoid direct cooperation with mining companies. Instead, interaction with mining operators mainly happens through different types of hierarchical interrelations, but their effectiveness is undermined through lobbying, collusion, and corruption. Next to power asymmetries, economic, political, cultural, and environmental contextual factors constrain mining pollution abatement.

In Mongolia, a mining boom has significantly increased pressures on water resources, negatively affecting human health and ecosystems. In this chapter, we ask how polycentric water governance and the interaction of different modes of coordination play out in Mongolia and what this implies for the protection of rivers against pollution from mining. By presenting a case study from a developing and transitioning country, this chapter also contributes to a better understanding of how contextual factors affect different coordination modes. We find that protecting rivers from mining pollution remains a considerable challenge in Mongolia. While new rules and actors at the basin level have fostered cooperation among public-sector agencies, due to power asymmetries, public agencies tend to avoid direct cooperation with mining companies. Instead, interaction with mining operators mainly happens through different types of hierarchical interrelations, but their effectiveness is undermined through lobbying, collusion, and corruption. Next to power asymmetries, economic, political, cultural, and environmental contextual factors constrain mining pollution abatement.

In Mongolia, a mining boom has significantly increased pressures on water resources, negatively affecting human health and ecosystems. In this chapter, we ask how polycentric water governance and the interaction of different modes of coordination play out in Mongolia and what this implies for the protection of rivers against pollution from mining. By presenting a case study from a developing and transitioning country, this chapter also contributes to a better understanding of how contextual factors affect different coordination modes. We find that protecting rivers from mining pollution remains a considerable challenge in Mongolia. While new rules and actors at the basin level have fostered cooperation among public-sector agencies, due to power asymmetries, public agencies tend to avoid direct cooperation with mining companies. Instead, interaction with mining operators mainly happens through different types of hierarchical interrelations, but their effectiveness is undermined through lobbying, collusion, and corruption. Next to power asymmetries, economic, political, cultural, and environmental contextual factors constrain mining pollution abatement.

Exemption mutuelle de visa pour les citoyens des des Emirats Arabes Unis et du Bénin. Le mémorandum d'accord a été signé par Son Excellence Cheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, ministre d'État des Émirats Arabes Unis, et Son Excellence Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, ministre des Affaires étrangères de la République du Bénin, en marge de la 80e session de l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies à New York.

L'accord d'exemption mutuelle de visa entre les deux pays a été signé par Son Excellence Cheikh Shakhbout bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, ministre d'État des Émirats Arabes Unis, et Son Excellence Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, ministre des Affaires étrangères de la République du Bénin.

Cet accord vise à renforcer la coopération bilatérale et à faciliter la mobilité des personnes entre les deux nations. Il contribuera au développement des relations diplomatiques, économiques et touristiques entre les Émirats Arabes Unis et le Bénin.

Cette initiative s'inscrit dans le cadre des efforts continus des Émirats pour élargir leur réseau de partenariats internationaux et promouvoir les échanges avec les pays africains.

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Haftungsausschluss : Die Verdolmetschung der Debatten soll die Kommunikation erleichtern, sie stellt jedoch keine authentische Aufzeichnung der Debatten dar. Authentisch sind nur die Originalfassungen der Reden bzw. ihre überprüften schriftlichen Übersetzungen.
Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2025 - EP