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Rights group condemns EU’s continued funding of Uganda despite anti-LGBTQ law

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The European Union’s decision not to cut funding to Uganda over a harsh anti-LGBTQ law has been criticised by gay rights activists.

The European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, in a statement on Wednesday, said suspending financial aid to Uganda over the law would affect innocent broader vulnerable populations.

“Disengagement by the EU would also create gaps which may be further filled by other players who do not share EU values,” she added.

In response to the EU’s stand in a statement on Friday, advocates for equality from the Convening for Equality (CFE) alliance claimed that the regional bloc’s stance did not guarantee that its funding would not be used to support violence and discrimination against the LGBTQ community.

One of the leaders of CFE, Clare Byarugaba, said, “The recent EU announcement misses a critical opportunity to take more strategic action to protect the fundamental principle of non-discrimination – something the EU and EU member states profess a deep commitment to.”

Another leader, Frank Mugisha, said he did not disagree that European disengagement from Uganda would be misguided, but said the EU had options for repurposing its financial support.

“An effective response is one that fine-tunes and reallocates EU assistance to Uganda in ways that ensure that those who spout hatred and catalyze violence and discrimination against LGBTIQ people – including Ugandan government officials – won’t benefit from EU taxpayers’ money,” Mugisha said.

A law prohibiting the LGBTQ community was passed by the Ugandan legislature in May. Several of the stringent regulations established in March were incorporated into the legislation which drew strong criticism from the international community, including the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and major corporations at the time.

Last month, multilateral lender, World Bank vowed to stop lending to Uganda over the country’s legal stance against the LGBTQ community.

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Musings From Abroad

Seeking to expand ties in Africa, Indonesia’s Prabowo attends D-8 economic meeting in Egypt

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According to the government, Indonesian President, Prabowo Subianto, travelled to Egypt on Tuesday to attend meetings of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, a group of eight significant Muslim developing nations.

To enhance collaboration between the nations spanning from Southeast Asia to Africa, the D-8 was formed in 1997 and consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. Beginning in January 2026, Indonesia will serve as the group’s chair.

Prabowo said that he would meet with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt.

“Egypt is our close friend, our strategic partner and an important country in the Middle East,” he said before his departure, adding he would also meet the Egyptian business community.

He would go to Malaysia from Egypt and then return to Indonesia.

Since taking office in October, Prabowo has stated that his administration will uphold Indonesia’s long-standing non-alignment foreign policy.

Since winning the presidency earlier this year, he has been to more than 20 nations, including China, the US, Japan, and Russia.

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Musings From Abroad

UN warns Sudan rebels may be getting weapons in Chad from UAE cargo planes

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Flight data and satellite photographs reveal that dozens of UAE cargo planes have landed at a small Chad airstrip since Sudan’s civil war began last year, which some U.N. experts and diplomats fear is being used to transport guns into the fight.

At least 86 UAE planes have landed at Amdjarass airfield in eastern Chad since the war started in April 2023.

According to flight data and business records examined by Reuters, three-quarters of them were operated by airlines accused by the U.N. of transporting Emirati weaponry to a Libyan warlord.

The UAE, a key Western partner in the Middle East, insists it sends Sudan aid through Chad, not armaments.

The UAE denied “credible” allegations that it was supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese army in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, via the Chad airstrip in January.

Reuters uncovered footage from Amdjarass this year, revealing two pallets loaded with khaki containers, some labelled with the UAE flag, on the tarmac.

Reuters is obscuring the footage’s date and provenance for fear of reprisals.

Three weapons specialists, two of whom were U.N. inspectors, said the containers were unlikely to convey humanitarian material, generally bundled in cardboard boxes coated in plastic and stacked high on pallets due to its lightweight. The footage shows metal containers packed low on pallets.

One U.N. weapons inspector said the contents were “highly probably ammunition or weapons, based on the design and colour of boxes,” but requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.

He stated that right-hand pallet cases are long and slender, suggesting weaponry.

Reuters could not independently verify the containers’ contents. The filming date is being withheld to protect the source.

The UAE government told Reuters it has deployed 159 relief planes with more than 10,000 tonnes of food and medical assistance to feed its Amdjarass field hospital.

“We firmly reject the baseless and unfounded claims regarding the provision of arms and military equipment to any warring party since the beginning of the conflict,” the statement said.

To counter Islamist militants, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom has interfered in crises from Yemen to Libya since the Arab Spring protests of 2011. The UAE views Muslim Brotherhood and other groups as threats to internal stability.

In Sudan’s army, Islamists affiliated with deposed President Omar al-Bashir have long held power.

Senior RSF official Brigadier General Omar Hamdan rejected foreign help. He told Nairobi media on Nov. 18 that Sudanese firms made its guns and ammunition. The RSF declined to comment on this topic.

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