Day: December 15, 2016

UN-DESA Awards $1 Million Grant to Tunisia Solar-Powered Vessel Project

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The United Nations (UN) has announced that the project “Solar Fuelled Electric Maritime Mobility” by Norway-based non-profit research institute SINTEF, which works to promote solar-powered electric vessels in Tunisia, Middle East, and North Africa has been awarded $1 million from the 2016 Energy Grant from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA). “We are extremely honoured to receive this grant from the United Nations, rewarding SINTEF for leadership and innovative practises in energy for sustainable development,” said Alexandra Bech Gjorv, CEO of SINTEF. “Our vision is ‘Technology…

The Countries Where People Trust The News Most And Least

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Amid a deluge of fake news stories, do people still believe what they hear on the radio, watch on television and read in their newspapers every morning? Fact and fiction are becoming increasingly blurred in global news columns with the U.S. presidential election in particular experiencing a flood of misinformation. Worryingly, a recent survey from Buzzfeed and Ipsos claimed that Americans are fooled by news headlines 75 percent of the time. The Reuters Institute For The Study Of Journalism recently released a report showing trust levels in news provision across different…

Ex-EU Commissioner for ENP: Factors Behind Morocco’s and Tunisia’s ‘Success Story’ – Civil Society, Domestic Politics and Openness to Learn

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Štefan Füle (Former EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy) EUBULLETIN: European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was an important part of your portfolio during the tenure in the European Commission. It is quite conspicuous that most of the countries involved in the ENP process seem to have been more stable 10-15 years ago than they are today, so there is an obvious question: What went wrong with the European Neighbourhood Policy? Štefan Füle: You know I wish the European Union had sometimes the power to decide about…

Can society and government join hands in the fight against corruption in the Arab world?

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Despite the promise of democratic reforms by newly elected governments, Transparency International’s 2016 report found that corruption practices have risen in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to a majority of Arab respondents (61%). One in three public service users in the Arab world – that’s nearly 50 million people – admitted they bribed someone in the last year to access basic services, such as water, medicine and education. “We demand that civil society be a partner in lawmaking to create an anti-corruption and good governance commission,” said Najet…

Southern Mediterranean countries benefit from common legal area with Europe as they push for reform

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Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan are all countries participating in an initiative, implemented jointly by the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union (EU), aiming to establish a common legal area between the two shores of the Mediterranean. This in turn will help them implement European standards, when dealing with problems, such as human trafficking, violence against women or cyber crime and corruption, according to Verena Taylor, the CoE Director for Development Cooperation. Both organizations are working together to implement the “South Programme II”, aiming to help countries in the…

Sweden missing trash

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Recycling and renewable energy are big in Sweden. More than 99% of household waste was reportedly recycled last year and half of the country’s electricity and heating coming from renewable energy. The director of communications for the Swedish Waste Management’s recycling association, Anna-Carin Gripwall was quoted as saying: “In the southern part of Europe they don’t make use of the heating from the waste, it just goes out the chimney. Here we use it as a substitute for fossil fuel.” According to the Interesting Engineering site, the term “recycling” in Sweden also…

The World’s Most Powerful People 2016 (Forbes)

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There are nearly 7.4 billion humans on planet Earth, but these 74 men and women make the world turn. Forbes’ annual ranking of the World’s Most Powerful People identifies one person out of every 100 million whose actions mean the most. To compile the list, we considered hundreds of candidates from various walks of life all around the globe, and measured their power along four dimensions. First, we asked whether the candidate has power over lots of people. Pope Francis, ranked #5, is the spiritual leader of more than a…

Social Entrepreneurship Among Algeria’s Youth

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Algeria’s youth are increasingly turning to social entrepreneurship to find creative solutions to persistent unemployment and an austerity economy. As Algeria enforces austerity measures in response to declining oil-related revenues, it is unable to comfortably drown social contestation with handouts and a generous welfare program. These cuts to education, housing, and health programs risk spurring violent and overwhelming standoffs with the authorities—particularly among Algeria’s youth, who represent around 60 percent of the population of 40 million. Algerian youth are unemployed at nearly three times the national average (30 percent versus…