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Middle East & North Africa (MENA)
The policy of the European Union towards the North African and Middle Eastern countries seeks to encourage political and economic reform in each individual country in due respect for its specific features and regional cooperation among the countries of the region themselves and with the EU.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child turns 30 this year but we are not throwing a party just yet. Even though we have come a long way since its inception, children’s rights are still being violated on a daily basis.
24 October marks UN Day. On this day in 1945 the UN Charter entered into force and the United Nations formally came into existence as the ashes of the Second World War were settling.
EU foreign affairs ministers, gathered today in Luxembourg for a Foreign Affairs Council, have condemned Turkey's military action in north east Syria. "We have a common united European Union position … on the developments in the north-east of Syria … there is a clear condemnation from the European Union’s side of Turkey’s military action", said High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini at the press conference following the Council.
The demolition and seizure of Palestinian property by Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, continued during the reporting period.
Each year 12 million girls under 18 are married; 130 million girls worldwide are still out of school; and approximately 15 million adolescent girls aged 15-19 have experienced forced sexual activity. The EU is committed to continue its full support to see progress and not regress, for girls and women to achieve gender equality.
