Africa

Despite Labour's heavy losses in local elections and demands that he step down, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer intends to remain in office. While acknowledging his responsibility for Labour's poor performance, he also emphasised that it was his duty to deliver the changes that the party had promised. But the pressure is mounting: four ministers have now resigned.

There has been huge pushback against the official participation of Russia and Israel at this year's Venice Biennale. The jury of the Golden Lion all resigned, and the EU withdrew two billion euros worth of funding. The Russian pavillion was forced to temporarily close during a protest by the feminist protest groups Pussy Riot and Femen. Voices in the press are divided.

Le gouvernement togolais a officiellement donné, mardi à Lomé, le coup d’envoi des consultations nationales devant conduire à l’élaboration de la nouvelle feuille de route gouvernementale 2026-2031.

Cette nouvelle stratégie quinquennale, voulue par les autorités togolaises, devra définir les grandes priorités du pays autour de trois axes majeurs annoncés par le Président du Conseil, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé : « protéger, rassembler et transformer ».

La cérémonie de lancement a réuni plusieurs acteurs institutionnels, partenaires techniques et financiers, représentants du secteur privé, organisations de la société civile, ainsi que des jeunes et des femmes appelés à contribuer aux réflexions.

Prenant la parole à cette occasion, la ministre, secrétaire générale de la Présidence du Conseil, Sandra Ablamba Johnson, a dressé le bilan de la feuille de route 2020-2025. Elle a notamment mis en avant les performances enregistrées malgré un environnement international marqué par les crises sécuritaires, sanitaires et économiques.

Selon les autorités, le Togo a su maintenir une croissance économique relativement stable tout en enregistrant des avancées dans plusieurs domaines sociaux. Parmi les acquis évoqués figurent l’élargissement de la couverture de l’assurance maladie, l’amélioration de l’accès à l’électricité ainsi que le développement de la finance inclusive.

Le futur programme gouvernemental entend désormais mettre un accent particulier sur la sécurité, la cohésion sociale et la transformation structurelle de l’économie. Les autorités souhaitent également renforcer l’inclusion citoyenne et rapprocher davantage l’action publique des populations afin de soutenir une croissance jugée plus compétitive, résiliente et durable.

Ces consultations nationales, entamées à Lomé, seront progressivement déployées dans les différentes régions du pays afin de recueillir les contributions des diverses couches socioprofessionnelles.

Plusieurs participants ont salué l’approche participative adoptée par le gouvernement, estimant qu’elle pourrait permettre une meilleure appropriation des politiques publiques et accélérer les ambitions de transformation économique et sociale du Togo.

The post Togo : le gouvernement lance les consultations nationales pour bâtir la feuille de route 2026-2031 appeared first on Togo Actualite - Premier site d'information du Togo.

Cette star de Nollywood, qui a commencé sa carrière d'acteur dans les années 2010, n'a rien publié sur ses réseaux sociaux depuis près de deux ans, mais elle a continué à jouer.

Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé a poursuivi mardi son agenda diplomatique sur le continent africain à l’occasion d’une visite officielle à Kampala, capitale de l’Ouganda. Le Président du Conseil togolais y a pris part à la cérémonie d’investiture du président Yoweri Museveni, réélu à l’issue du scrutin général du 15 janvier 2026.

La cérémonie, marquée par la présence de plusieurs chefs d’État africains ainsi que de délégations internationales, s’est déroulée sous le signe de la consolidation des acquis économiques et politiques de l’Ouganda. Les autorités ougandaises ont également réaffirmé leur ambition de hisser le pays au rang des nations à revenu intermédiaire supérieur dans les prochaines années.

À cette occasion, Faure Gnassingbé a adressé ses félicitations à son homologue ougandais pour sa réélection et lui a souhaité plein succès dans l’exercice de ce nouveau mandat. En retour, Yoweri Museveni a salué la présence du dirigeant togolais, qu’il a présentée comme un témoignage des relations de coopération et d’amitié entre le Togo et l’Ouganda.

Mais au-delà du caractère protocolaire de cette visite, les discussions entre les deux dirigeants ont porté sur plusieurs dossiers liés à la paix et à la sécurité sur le continent, avec une attention particulière accordée à la situation dans la région des Grands Lacs.

Dans ce contexte, Faure Gnassingbé, désigné médiateur de l’Union africaine pour la crise dans l’est de la République démocratique du Congo, a réaffirmé sa volonté de poursuivre les consultations avec les différentes parties prenantes afin de favoriser une issue durable au conflit.

Cette nouvelle étape diplomatique à Kampala s’inscrit dans une dynamique plus large de consultations régionales menées par le dirigeant togolais autour des questions sécuritaires et de stabilité politique en Afrique. Elle traduit également la volonté affichée du Togo de renforcer la coopération interafricaine et de promouvoir le dialogue comme instrument privilégié de résolution des crises sur le continent.

The post Ouganda : Faure Gnassingbé échange avec Yoweri Museveni sur la sécurité régionale appeared first on Togo Actualite - Premier site d'information du Togo.

Après plusieurs années de restriction et d’interdiction des manifestations publiques, l’opposition togolaise a réussi, ce week-end, à organiser un rassemblement à Lomé. Une rencontre autorisée par les autorités et qui relance une question : assiste-t-on à une ouverture du paysage politique togolais, ou à une simple accalmie passagère ?

Regroupement du CNCC

Plusieurs centaines de personnes ont participé, ce samedi, à cette première réunion publique du nouveau Cadre national de concertation pour le changement au Togo, le CNCC. Cette coalition regroupe quatre partis politiques d’opposition et des organisations de la société civile.

Davdi Dosseh, du Front citoyen Togo debout, l’un des organisateurs, explique: “Nous voulons un changement de gouvernance, parce que le Togo, c’est un système de corruption endémique, parce que le Togo, ce sont des services sociaux de base qui sont en déliquescence, parce que le Togo, c’est un pays qui ne va pas, c’est un pays qui n’avance pas.”

Il ajoute que “depuis pratiquement plusieurs années, à chaque fois, il y a des motifs fallacieux qui sont présentés et qui conduisent à une interdiction systématique des réunions publiques pacifiques. Mais nous n’allons jamais abdiquer”.

Un assouplissement ponctuel

Alors, faut-il voir dans cette autorisation un véritable changement politique ? Pour Paul Amégankpo, analyste politique et directeur de l’Institut togolais Tamberma pour la gouvernance, il est encore trop tôt pour parler d’ouverture définitive.

« L’autorisation par le gouvernement togolais de la marche pacifique de l’opposition, ce 9 mai 2026 à Lomé, est à saluer, estime le chercheur. Mais en considérant le contexte politique global, ce geste d’ouverture est à considérer avec prudence, comme une volonté du gouvernement togolais de lever les restrictions sur les libertés de manifestation pacifique, d’association et d’exercice des activités politiques dans le pays. »

Derrière ce meeting autorisé, Paul Amégankpo reste donc prudent : « Il va falloir observer d’autres signes de volonté politique d’ouverture pour confirmer une tendance certaine vers plus d’ouverture, plus de liberté politique et associative au niveau du pays. »

Toutes nos tentatives pour avoir une réaction officielle sont restées vaines.

Les prochaines semaines permettront peut-être de savoir si cette manifestation marque le début d’un nouvel espace démocratique, ou simplement une parenthèse dans un climat politique toujours tendu.

Source: DW/ Noël Tadégnon

The post Au Togo, l’espoir d’une ouverture politique appeared first on Togo Actualite - Premier site d'information du Togo.

Will the current oil supply shock hold back the region’s green transition, or accelerate it?

Les médias américains ont spéculé sur la possibilité que le régime de l'ayatollah utilise des animaux dressés pour attaquer les navires de guerre américains afin de briser le blocus naval imposé par Washington.

The foreign minister says the "distressed" Ghanaians registered with the embassy in Pretoria to be evacuated.

Tisza Party Leader Péter Magyar speaks to a crowd of supporters in Siófok, a town in Somogy County, southwestern Hungary, after leading a landslide election victory in April. Credit: SNRTZ

By Catherine Wilson
SYDNEY, Australia, May 13 2026 (IPS)

Péter Magyar, leader of the pro-democratic centre-right Tisza Party, which recently swept into power on an unstoppable wave of hope for change, has now been sworn into office as Hungary’s new Prime Minister.

After a decade and a half of increasing authoritarian governance by the former Fidesz regime, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the pro-democracy movement in the central European nation delivered a democratic rebound at the general election held on 12 April.

“I will not rule over Hungary; I will serve my homeland,” the 45 year old Magyar pledged during the taking of the oath of office ceremony in the Hungarian parliament on 9 May. The formal beginning of a new era in the country was followed by a massive public festival dedicated to freedom and democracy in the streets of Budapest, Hungary’s capital. The celebration took place nearly a month after the Tisza Party leader stood in front of jubilant crowds as the election result became clear to declare, “Today the Hungarian people said yes to Europe. They said yes to a free Hungary.”

The new Tisza government, which secured a supermajority of 141 of 199 parliamentary seats, has promised a roll back of the democratic decline that occurred during the Orbán era. After being elected into power in 2010, the Fidesz regime steadily stifled opposition and dissent by manipulating the electoral system, eroding the independence of the judiciary and media, threatening government critics and undermining the work of civil society organisations.

Péter Magyar (L), Leader of the Hungarian Tisza Party, and Viktor Orbán (R), Leader of the Fidesz Party, at a European Parliament Plenary Session in Brussels, 9 October 2024. Credit: European Union/Alain Rolland

“The election results have opened the door to exercising public power within appropriate constraints. Checks and balances may be revived, social participation can have a greater role, and the constant attacks against NGOS and the independent press may cease,” Gábor Medvegy at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union in Budapest told IPS.

These were the expectations of many Hungarians 37 years ago, when the nation severed ties with its Communist past. Located west of Romania and south of Slovakia and Ukraine, Hungary lived under Soviet-aligned rule from 1947 to 1989 when it began the transition to a multi-party democracy. It then became a member of NATO in 1999 and the European Union (EU) in 2004.

But the next generation after this moment of immense political and social change witnessed the gradual loss, rather than gain, in democratic rights, as Orbán implemented policies in line with his vision of “illiberal democracy”. Four years ago, the European Parliament declared that Hungary had become an ‘electoral autocracy’ which undermined the rule of law, freedom of expression, religion and association while failing to address corruption. According to Transparency International, the nation has a poor corruption perception score of 40/100. And soon it was penalised for its autocratic tendencies when the EU withheld billions of euros in funding.

The possibility of a political alternative emerged two years ago when Magyar, who held positions in the Fidesz Government, resigned to join the opposition. He remains a deeply patriotic leader speaking to Hungarian interests, but he has also articulated a clear commitment to change. The Tisza Party’s manifesto, ‘A Functioning and Humane Hungary,’ outlines a vision of accountable governance, return to the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and media and a renewed fight against corruption, while also improving public services and addressing the cost of living and rural disadvantage. At present the nation’s public spending on health is about half the EU average and its preventable mortality rate of 333 per 100,000 people is well above the EU average of 168, reports the European Commission.

The party’s focus on core voter concerns and strong policies is likely to have been a factor in the high voter turnout of 77 percent and strong youth participation in the April poll. An estimated 30 percent of the country’s population of 9.7 million people are aged under 30 years, and media reports claim that 65 percent of voters in this age group were Tisza supporters.

And the new government has made a rapid start on its policy promises.  Negotiations with the EU have begun to re-establish democratic norms in Hungary and secure the release of the withheld funding. “What is important is the economic development in Hungary,” Dr Anton Shekhovtsov, Visiting Professor at the Central European University in Vienna, told IPS. “If Magyar is able to de-block the EU funding that was withheld for a few years now, the economic situation will hopefully improve.” It will also be important to enable Hungarian industries to thrive in order to boost the domestic economy, he added.

But, to achieve this, the new government will have to address nepotism in state institutions and key public office posts. “Essentially Hungary, under Orbán, is a captured state. The power of Fidesz has penetrated state institutions very deeply. So the task for Tisza is now to drain the swamp, get rid of the deep state,” Shekhovtsov emphasised.

Democracy more widely in Europe could also benefit from the influence of Hungary’s new leadership. The EU’s support of Ukraine, following the Russian invasion in 2022, was impeded by the Fidesz government’s repeated alignment with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Orbán opposed the bloc’s Russian sanctions and, in February, vetoed a critical 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine after a damaged pipeline halted the supply of oil from Russia. However, Hungary lifted its veto by 23 April, with oil flows resuming, and approved the EU’s next round of sanctions on Russia.

“Unlike Orbán, Magyar has no ties to Russia and, therefore, his government will not be subordinated to Moscow and its interests,” Bálint Madlovics, research fellow at the Central European University in Budapest, told IPS. He has also “clearly framed Ukraine as a victim of aggression, strongly opposing any external pressure on Kyiv to cede territory”.

However, on migration, another regional issue, Hungary’s new prime minister made it clear in the months before the election that he opposes illegal migration and intends to maintain the southern border fence which was constructed in 2015 to prevent unauthorised migrants from entering the country. Although Hungary may need to alter its stance when the EU’s new migration and asylum agreement, which requires member states to contribute to the regional responsibility for managing refugees, is implemented in June.

Yet, arguably, the new government has, in a short time, begun to build confidence with its own people and with other European nations that are committed to a democratic region.  In the long term, strengthening civic rights and liberties and improving equality are crucial for the new Hungary, Medvegy said. And “we must help ensure that people are not merely spectators of politics but active participants,” he emphasised.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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A residential building in Beirut, Lebanon, lies in ruins. Credit: UNICEF/Fouad Choufany

By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, May 13 2026 (IPS)

Violence has metastasized into humanity’s baseline condition. Yet international institutions remain paralyzed by vetoes and rivalry, offering hollow declarations while dehumanization becomes normalized. Coordinated action, not gestures, is desperately needed.

Global violence today is metastasizing, not contained; over 180,000 violent events reported globally by the International Institute for Strategic Studies signal a world in which conflict has become a baseline condition rather than an exception. More than 130 armed conflicts now rage—over twice the number of 15 years ago—shattering infrastructure, tearing apart social fabric, and normalizing dehumanization as a political weapon.

Women and children bear the brunt: hundreds of millions live within range of armed clashes, with millions of preventable deaths and lifelong trauma caused not only by bullets and bombs but by hunger, disease, and gender-based violence unleashed by war’s chaos.

Yet the UN system and the world’s democracies appear increasingly paralyzed—trapped in vetoes, geopolitical rivalries, and hollow declarations—offering gestures of concern rather than the coordinated, enforced accountability this modern plague of violence so desperately demands.

The global escalation of violence is a structural crisis rather than an aberration—one that reveals the failure of international institutions, exposing the normalization of suffering across political, economic, and societal dimensions.

The proliferation of violence signals not just an increase in armed confrontations but a breakdown in the very mechanisms meant to constrain conflict, rendering dehumanization a routine tool of power, as demonstrated in the following.

The Philosophical Angle

Violence represents the collapse of legitimate political authority and the rise of impotence masquerading as force. Hannah Arendt’s foundational insight remains essential: “Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent. Violence appears where power is in jeopardy, but left to its own course, it ends in power’s disappearance” (On Violence, 1970).

This speaks directly to today’s proliferation of conflicts, which indicate not state strength but institutional failure, where violence substitutes for the consent and legitimacy governments can no longer command. The resort to violence signals the exhaustion of political dialogue and the absence of legitimate power structures capable of resolving disputes.

Economic Disenfranchisement

Economic drivers are critical accelerants of contemporary violence through resource competition, commodity exploitation, and systemic inequality. Slavoj Žižek’s concept of systemic violence captures the pervasive economic roots: “Therein resides the fundamental systemic violence of capitalism, much more uncanny than the direct pre-capitalist socio-ideological violence: this violence is no longer attributable to concrete individuals and their ‘evil’ intentions, but is purely ‘objective,’ systemic, anonymous.”

The greed-driven exploitation of natural resources—from diamonds in Sierra Leone to oil in Venezuela and cobalt and other conflict minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo—finances rebellions and turns conflict into a profitable enterprise. Economic deprivation, geoeconomic confrontation through weaponized tariffs and sanctions, and commodity price shocks directly shape military capacity and conflict outcomes.

The Political Compulsion of Violence

Political violence emerges not merely from divergent interests but from the deliberate choice to pursue objectives through coercion rather than negotiation. The paralysis of the UNSC and democratic institutions reflects what Arendt identified as bureaucratic tyranny: “In a fully developed bureaucracy, there is nobody left with whom one can argue, to whom one can present grievances, on whom the pressures of power can be exerted. … everybody is deprived of political freedom, of the power to act… where we are all equally powerless, we have a tyranny without a tyrant.”

This captures the international community’s inability to enforce accountability—vetoes and geopolitical rivalries create a structural void where violence thrives unchecked. Political fragility and weakening institutions, seen in Syria and Myanmar, make societies vulnerable to breakdown, radicalization, and violent dissent.

Societal Fragmentation

Societal conditions create climates where violence becomes normalized through inequality and the erosion of social cohesion. Thomas Hobbes’s bleak assessment of unconstrained human nature remains relevant: in the state of nature, “the life of man [is] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” While Hobbes described a pre-political condition, his insight applies to societies where governance collapses and fear dominates, conditions now afflicting millions living within range of armed clashes.

Social norms that accept violence as conflict resolution, combined with economic inequalities and a lack of community participation, create environments where aggression flourishes. This normalizes dehumanization, where, as in Nigeria, Israel and South Africa, gendered violence, ethnic tensions, and historical grievances fuel recurring cycles of brutality.

Nationalism, Repression and State Complicity

State-level factors amplifying violence include the failure to address ethnic marginalization, resource competition, and the absence of functional governance. Walter Benjamin warned of violence’s relationship to law and state power: “There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism” (On the Concept of History, 1940).

This observation underscores how national institutions perpetuate violence through their foundational structures and exclusionary practices. Nations repeatedly falling victim to civil and international wars demonstrate governments’ inability to recognize and address destabilizing issues like political, religious, or ethnic marginalization. The weaponization of state apparatus through totalitarian mobilization of violence destroys the very space where political thinking and resistance might occur, as demonstrated in China and Eritrea.

Religious Instrumentalization

Religion, when co-opted by political actors or stripped of its ethical core, becomes a potent catalyst for violence, sanctifying exclusion and legitimizing brutality. Sectarian divides—whether in the Middle East, South Asia, or parts of Africa—transform identity into a battlefield where compromise is heresy and annihilation becomes duty. René Girard’s insight is instructive: “Religion shelters us from violence just as violence seeks shelter in religion.” When faith is manipulated to justify power or grievance, such as in India, Israel or Iraq, it ceases to restrain violence and instead consecrates it, deepening cycles of retribution and rendering conflicts existential rather than negotiable.

The convergence of these dimensions explains why violence has become a baseline condition rather than an exception. Several measures must be considered to de-escalate global violence. Although effecting change is extremely difficult, every effort must still be made, provided the public leads the charge through sustained protest, continuous advocacy, and relentless pressure on policymakers to enact change.

Reform UN Security Council Veto Power

Governments must constrain veto authority by restricting its use in cases involving genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Permanent members should abstain when directly involved, transforming the veto from obstruction into accountability and addressing institutional paralysis that enables unchecked violence.

Establish Functional Early Warning Systems

International bodies should implement systems linking detection to preventive action, closing the warning-response gap. These must integrate predictive analytics, local expertise, and cross-border coordination to anticipate violence months before eruption, enabling timely diplomatic and humanitarian intervention.

Address Economic Inequality and Insecurity

Governments should implement policies that reduce income inequality—including wage increases, tax reform, and financial assistance—aimed at addressing violence triggers. Targeted lending, job creation, and redistributive policies alleviate financial strain that fuels conflict and crime, making structural prevention more effective than reactive measures.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is President of the Institute for Humanitarian Conflict Resolution.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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