A Fatah meeting in the town of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, was violently disrupted by Hamas police on Saturday 8 March. Fatah members gathered in remembrance of martyrs who fell during the Intifada. About twenty people got arrested, but were released after a short while.
The law proposed on the 5th of March by the European Commission on responsible sourcing of minerals falls far short of expectations and is too weak to prevent European companies’ mineral purchases from financing conflict or human rights abuses.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has given a warning that his government will block social media networks YouTube and Facebook, which feature in the growing corruption scandal. “If necessary” he would ban them, suggesting that “he would not sacrifice the Turkish people” to the two websites. Both platforms were used to spread the leaks of alleged phone calls between Erdoğan and his son in which they discuss how to hide vast sums of money. The Prime Minister dismisses those phone calls as being a fake montage by his rivals, which he deems ‘vile’ and ‘immoral’. After the local elections on 30th of March, he warned, new steps will therefore be taken to tighten the government’s grip over the internet.
CAR president Catherine Samba-Panza arriveerde op 4 maart in Angola om de banden tussen deze twee landen te versterken.
The parliament of Ukraine’s southern region, Crimea, has voted unanimously in favor of joining Russia. The vote coincided with an announcement that a referendum on Crimea's status was being brought forward to March 16. The question to be put to voters will be whether their region should enjoy autonomy within Ukraine or join Russia.
Israeli Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu said he was prepared to discuss peace with the Palestinians, but offered no concessions. He demanded that the Palestinians would recognize the state of Israel in return. Netanyahu made the statement at the annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the US leading Israel-lobby organization.
On March 1 it was announced that Macedonia is set to call early parliamentary elections in order to end a political deadlock sparked by the two main ruling coalition members. They cannot agree on a candidate for the upcoming presidential vote. Yesterday all parties have given their consent, therefore parliament is expected to dissolve tomorrow.
Afgelopen weekend (28 februari-2 maart) organiseerden wij in samenwerking met de zusterpartij in Marokko de Unified Socialist Party (PSU) een training voor jonge activisten en vrouwen die gelieerd zijn aan de PSU. Zowel jongeren als vrouwen zijn belangrijke doelgroepen voor en binnen de partij en vandaar dat de partner graag een training wilde organiseren waarin allebei de doelgroepen waren vertegenwoordigd.
De afgelopen twee jaar was er in Nederland veel ophef over de internationale ODA norm van 0,7 %, die door bezuinigingen op ontwikkelingssamenwerking komend jaar voor het eerst in de geschiedenis zal zakken naar 0.55 % van het BNP. In de zomer van 2013 heeft het IBO (het interdepartementale beleidsonderzoek) onderzoek gedaan naar de ODA-definitie. Half februari is het eindrapport gepresenteerd aan de Kamer, vergezeld van een reactie van Minister Ploumen.
Afgelopen weekend organiseerde de FMS een training voor de jongeren van onze partner daar, de Social Democrats for the Development of Georgia (SDD). De jongerenafdeling van de partij, Young Social Democrats (YSD), zijn hard bezig met de opbouw van hun organisatie en het werven van nieuwe leden. Hier vroegen ze dan ook een training over aan.
Meeschrijven voor de FMS? Stuur je inzending (maximaal 400 woorden) naar info@foundationmaxvanderstoel.nl
