Announcing Green Horizons, a Trailblazing Cannabis Cultivation and CPG Brand Campus

Green Horizons’ State-of-the-Art Cannabis Cultivation and CPG Brand Campus is on Track to Make Coachella Valley to Cannabis What Silicon Valley is to Tech

GREEN HORIZONS’ CULTIVATION CAMPUS

The state of the art facility will feature scaled cannabis cultivation alongside CPG brand development

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif., April 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today Green Horizons announced plans for its massive, trailblazing Canna-Campus in Coachella Valley, which broke ground late last year and is under construction. The first-of-its-kind facility will feature scaled cannabis cultivation alongside CPG brand development, positioning the Company to become one of the largest vertically integrated brand platforms in the world. Green Horizons will also offer campus tours, education and workshops to outside visitors.

Green Horizons is launching the first 226,787 sq. ft. of its campus with options to scale to 1,000,000 sq. ft. as market conditions dictate. Phase I of the Green Horizons campus will consist of 101,787 sq. ft. of a state-of-the-art, sealed, Class “A” automated light deprivation greenhouse. Phase II adds an additional 125,000 sq. ft. that will serve as the Company’s corporate headquarters as well as its brand incubator, along with additional light deprivation greenhouse cultivation space.

Green Horizons’ mission is to fuel a portfolio of in-house brands with in-house supply to guarantee consistency and uniformity. Combining the management team’s track record of cultivation excellence with the Company’s high-tech sun powered cultivation facilities, Green Horizons aims to redefine the cultivation landscape to create a blue ocean of top shelf flower at greenhouse COGS. In leveraging its low-cost basis, Green Horizons will be able to continue scaling as commoditization exerts downward pressure on higher cost producers.

The Company will be formally announcing their much-anticipated debut brand, a crossover from the fashion world, which will launch in Q3 of 2022, to be followed by a value brand paying homage to the Coachella Valley, anticipated in summer 2023. Upon completion of the facility, the brands will be exclusively powered by proprietary genetics bred in-house by the Company, a cornerstone differentiator for all Green Horizons portfolio brands.

“The Coachella Valley is the perfect place to build a world class cultivation and CPG brand campus at this scale,” said Carlos “Los” Arias, Chief Executive Officer of Green Horizons. “Coachella has long been a stalwart agricultural community, and I am honored to now help make Coachella a global cannabis destination. Being built to last is more important than being first, and we’re just getting started.”

Green Horizons was co-founded by Arias and Michael C. Meade. Arias leads the Company’s vision to create culturally relevant brands that bring people together. Known for his high vibrational presence, Arias is an exemplar of community-minded collaboration that serves as the bedrock of the Company’s culture. Meade serves as Green Horizons’ President and largest investor. Through an unrelated entity, Meade is developing Coachella Cann Park, which is being leased to Green Horizons. Meade’s development company has secured an $18.5M construction loan from Innovative Industrial Properties to fund construction of the property.

Arias and Meade are joined by founding investor Star Branding Investment Group, LLC, which brings its global entrepreneurial prowess to Green Horizons, drawing on its success in building global brands and experience in a wide range of operational matters. Brought together, Green Horizons and its principals have the requisite capabilities in-house to scale a profitable cultivation and CPG enterprise, synchronizing facility operations expertise and global brand prowess.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Green Horizons recognizes the privilege to work within the legal cannabis space and is committed to positive social change at the local level.

Education is a pillar of the Company. With a mission to destigmatize cannabis through education and transparency, Green Horizons will open its doors to offer campus tours to outside visitors, along with workshops and educational programs for the community and those interested in learning more about the cannabis plant and the industry.

The Company is partnering with the City of Coachella in launching the Build the Valley Initiative, which will consist of two prominent initiatives: first, building infrastructure for the community; and second, advocacy for expungement and job creation for which Green Horizons will create a dedicated Coachella Valley program. In addition to their local community activism, Green Horizons is also invested in the sustainable future of the cannabis industry and is a member of an industry task force, comprised of top operators, financiers and attorneys, whose aim is to eradicate the use of plastics in the cannabis supply chain.

ABOUT GREEN HORIZONS

Green Horizons is a next gen, vertically integrated cannabis company that builds CPG brands. With world class facilities to fuel globally relevant brands, the Company’s aim is to crossover and create meaningful brands that bring people together. www.greenhorizons.io

ABOUT CARLOS “LOS” ARIAS, J.D.

CO-FOUNDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF GREEN HORIZONS

Arias is regarded industry wide as a plant medicine expert, honed from his Cuban/Brazilian lineage and years of dedication to studying and working with medicinal plants all over the world. A lawyer by training, Arias is responsible for the Company’s key strategic partnerships.

ABOUT MICHAEL C. MEADE

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF COACHELLA CANN PARK, CO-FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF GREEN HORIZONS

In addition to securing the first issued cannabis licenses in Riverside County 15 years ago for cultivation and retail, Meade went on to build a cannabis real estate empire in the desert valley, fueled by Wilson Meade commercial brokerage and Desert Rock Development.

ABOUT STAR BRANDING INVESTMENT GROUP

Star Branding Investment Group, LLC is a private investment vehicle founded by Mr. Tommy Hilfiger and Mr. Joe Lamastra, through which it, and its subsidiaries seek investments in businesses across a broad range of industries.

For media inquiries please contact: press@weareprismatics.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/02b2422e-e386-488a-b236-26245b458b36

Zoom Announces New Education Features, Enhancing Hybrid Learning Experience for Educators and Students

Zoom responds to educator requests with debut of virtual background support for Chromebooks, video messages in Zoom Chat, Breakout Rooms enhancements, and Anywhere Polls

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) today announced, at the CoSN2022 national conference, new features for education in response to requests from teachers and administrators. These features span Zoom’s Chat and Meetings offerings and are designed to support teachers who need to engage and manage students joining class remotely or submitting homework assignments.

Virtual Background & Blur for Chromebooks
Chromebooks are a popular choice for students and teachers. Virtual background and blur are now available for Zoom for Chrome Progressive Web Application (PWA) users. Zoom developed this capability after requests from various education customers, including Clayton County Public Schools, one of the 100 largest school districts in the United States, serving more than 52,000 students in Georgia.

“Virtual background and blur for Chromebooks are extremely beneficial to our students and teachers. Many students were reluctant to turn their cameras on before this feature enhancement,” said Rod Smith, Chief Technology Officer, Clayton County Public Schools.

Breakout Rooms Enhancements
Breakout Rooms, a popular education feature, also received enhancements in this latest release. Program Audio allows meeting hosts to share content with audio to Breakout Rooms, adding the ability to share videos with audio. With the LTI Pro integration enhancement, educators can populate Breakout Rooms from the course roster. This can be used to assign Breakout Rooms in advance, then automatically sort students into Breakout Rooms.

Additional Features for Chat and Waiting Room
Other new features include sending audio and video messages into Zoom Chat, and the ability to rename participants in the Waiting Room. Asynchronous video allows users the time to consider their responses and then record as needed to provide thoughtfully crafted responses. Users can click “video” at the bottom of the chat client and record up to a 3-minute video message that goes directly into the out-of-meeting chat channel. This is useful for situations such as students submitting brief video assignments. Renaming participants before they join the meeting can be useful for attendance taking where students may be using shared devices, for creating an anonymous student group, or for affirming gender identity.

Anywhere Polls
Anywhere Polls will allow polling content to live in a central repository that can be accessed from any meeting on an account, instead of being associated with a particular meeting. This will make it easier for instructors to reuse polls and will also be beneficial for grading. This feature will be available soon.

“We’re looking forward to the Anywhere Polls feature,” said John J. “Ski” Sygielski, Ed.D., President and CEO of HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College. “The polling enhancements will make it simpler for large groups of students to provide feedback across the College. It will be easier than ever for instructors to replicate content for each course.”

“Delivering happiness to our customers is the core of what we do at Zoom,” said Johann Zimmern, Global Education Strategy Lead, Zoom. “We work closely with our global K-12 and higher education customers, taking their requests into account and involving them in feature development. As a direct result of this, Zoom developed these exciting new features for education.”

For more details about Zoom’s new education features, please see our blog here.

About Zoom
Zoom is for you. Zoom is a space where you can connect to others, share ideas, make plans, and build toward a future limited only by your imagination. Our frictionless communications platform is the only one that started with video as its foundation, and we have set the standard for innovation ever since. That is why we are an intuitive, scalable, and secure choice for large enterprises, small businesses, and individuals alike. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ:ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom.

Zoom Public Relations
Beth McLaughlin
PR Specialist
press@zoom.us

Anúncio de lançamento do Green Horizons, um Cultivo de Cannabis Pioneiro e o Campus da Marca CPG

Cultivo de Cannabis de última geração da Green Horizons e campus da marca CPG está no caminho certo para fazer com que o Vale de Coachella represente para a Cannabis o que o Vale do Silício representa para a tecnologia

CAMPUS DE CULTIVO DA GREEN HORIZONS

A instalação de última geração terá cultivo de cannabis em escala, juntamente com o desenvolvimento da marca CPG

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif., April 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A Green Horizons divulgou hoje seus planos para o enorme e pioneiro Canna-Campus no Vale de Coachella, cuja construção teve início no final do ano passado. A primeira instalação deste tipo contará com cultivo de cannabis em escala, juntamente com o desenvolvimento da marca CPG, posicionando a Empresa para se tornar uma das maiores plataformas de marca verticalmente integradas do mundo. A Green Horizons também oferecerá tours pelo campus, educação e workshops para visitantes.

A Green Horizons está inaugurando os primeiros 226.787 pés quadrados do seu campus de última geração com opções para alcançar até 1.000.000 pés quadrados conforme as condições de mercado exigirem. A Fase I do campus Green Horizons consistirá em uma estufa automatizada de 101.787 pés quadrados de privação de luz de última geração, selada, Classe “A”. A Fase II adiciona 125.000 pés quadrados que servirão como sede corporativa da Empresa, bem como a incubadora da marca, juntamente com espaço de cultivo de estufa de privação de luz adicional.

A missão da Green Horizons é alimentar um portfólio de marcas internas com fornecimento interno para garantir consistência e uniformidade. Combinando o histórico de excelência de cultivo da equipe de gerenciamento com as instalações de cultivo de alta tecnologia da empresa, a Green Horizons visa redefinir a paisagem de cultivo para criar um oceano azul de flores de prateleira superior em COGS de estufa. Ao alavancar sua base de baixo custo, a Green Horizons poderá continuar a escalar à medida que a mercantilização exercer pressão sobre os produtores de custo mais alto.

A empresa anunciará formalmente sua tão esperada marca de estreia, um crossover do mundo da moda, que será lançado no terceiro trimestre de 2022, a ser seguido por uma marca de valor que homenageia o Vale de Coachella, previsto para o verão de 2023. Após a finalização da construção da instalação, as marcas serão alimentadas exclusivamente pela genética proprietária criada internamente pela Empresa, um diferenciador fundamental para todas as marcas do portfólio da Green Horizons.

“O Vale de Coachella é o lugar perfeito para a criação de um cultivo internacional e um campus da marca CPG nesta escala”, disse Carlos “Los” Arias, Diretor Executivo da Green Horizons. “Coachella tem sido uma comunidade agrícola forte há muitos anos, e tenho a honra de agora ajudar a tornar o Coachella um destino global de cannabis. A longevidade é mais importante do que o pioneirismo, e estamos somente no começo.”

A Green Horizons foi cofundada por Arias e Michael C. Meade. Arias lidera a visão da Empresa de criar marcas culturalmente relevantes que unam as pessoas. Conhecido por ser uma pessoa vibrante, Arias é um exemplo de colaboração com a comunidade que serve como a base cultural da Empresa. Meade atua como Presidente e maior investidor da Green Horizons. Por meio de uma entidade não relacionada, a Meade está desenvolvendo o Coachella Cann Park, que está sendo arrendado para a Green Horizons. A empresa de desenvolvimento de Meade conseguiu um empréstimo de US $ 18,5 milhões da Innovative Industrial Properties para financiamento da construção da propriedade.

Arias e Meade se juntam ao grupo investidor fundador Star Branding Investment Group, LLC, que traz sua força empreendedora global para a Green Horizons, aproveitando seu sucesso na construção de marcas globais e experiência em uma ampla gama de questões operacionais. Juntos, a Green Horizons e seus principais têm os recursos necessários internos para escalar um cultivo lucrativo e uma empresa de CPG, sincronizando a experiência em operações de instalações e as forças globais da marca.

JUSTIÇA SOCIAL

A Green Horizons reconhece o privilégio de trabalhar dentro do espaço legal da cannabis e está concentrada nas mudanças sociais positivas a nível local.

A educação é um pilar para a Empresa. Com a missão de destigmatizar a cannabis através da educação e transparência, a Green Horizons abrirá suas portas para oferecer tours pelo campus para visitantes, juntamente com workshops e programas educacionais para a comunidade e aqueles interessados em aprender mais sobre a planta e a indústria de cannabis.

A Empresa fez parceria com a Cidade de Coachella no lançamento da Iniciativa Construa o Vale, que consistirá em duas etapas: primeiro, a construção de infraestrutura para a comunidade; e segundo, a defesa da expurgação e criação de empregos para os quais a Green Horizons criará um programa dedicado ao Vale de Coachella. Além do seu ativismo comunitário local, a Green Horizons também investe no futuro sustentável da indústria de cannabis e é membro de uma força-tarefa da indústria, composta por operadores, financiadores e advogados de alto nível, cujo objetivo é erradicar o uso de plásticos na cadeia de fornecimento de cannabis.

SOBRE A GREEN HORIZONS

A Green Horizons é uma empresa de cannabis de próxima geração, verticalmente integrada, que constrói marcas de CPG. Com instalações de categoria internacional para alimentar marcas globalmente relevantes, a Empresa tem o objetivo de cruzar e criar marcas significativas que unam as pessoas. www.greenhorizons.io

SOBRE CARLOS “LOS” ARIAS, J.D.

COFUNDADOR, DIRETOR EXECUTIVO DA GREEN HORIZONTS

Arias é considerado em toda a indústria como um especialista em medicina vegetal, aperfeiçoado a partir da sua linhagem cubana/brasileira e anos de dedicação ao estudo e trabalho com plantas medicinais em todo o mundo. Com formação em advocacia, Arias é responsável pelas principais parcerias estratégicas da Empresa.

SOBRE MICHAEL C. MEADE

DIRETOR EXECUTIVO DA COACHELLA CANN PARK, COFUNDADOR E PRESIDENTE DA GREEN HORIZONS

Além de garantir as primeiras licenças de cannabis emitidas no condado de Riverside há 15 anos para cultivo e varejo, Meade passou a construir um império imobiliário de cannabis no vale do deserto, alimentado pela corretagem comercial Wilson Meade e Desert Rock Development.

SOBRE O STAR BRANDING INVESTMENT GROUP

O Star Branding Investment Group, LLC é um veículo de investimento privado fundado pelo Sr. Tommy Hilfiger e pelo Sr. Joe Lamastra, através do qual ele e suas subsidiárias buscam investimentos em negócios em uma ampla gama de indústrias.

Para perguntas da mídia contate: press@weareprismatics.com

Foto deste comunicado disponível em: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8e0a25ab-d6fc-4a35-a6fa-7dbeb5d5ce4a/pt

Green Horizons annonce un campus pionnier de culture du cannabis et de produits de marque emballés

Le campus de culture du cannabis et de produits de marque emballés de pointe de Green Horizons est sur la bonne voie pour faire de la Coachella Valley pour le cannabis ce que la Silicon Valley est à la technologie

CAMPUS DE CULTURE DE GREEN HORIZONS

L’installation de pointe comprendra une culture du cannabis à grande échelle parallèlement au développement de produits de marque emballés

COACHELLA VALLEY, Californie, 11 avr. 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Green Horizons a annoncé aujourd’hui les plans pour son immense campus de cannabis pionnier dans la Coachella Valley, dont la construction a débuté l’année dernière et est encore en cours. La première installation en son genre comprendra une culture du cannabis à grande échelle parallèlement au développement de produits de marque emballés, positionnant la société comme l’une des plus grandes plateformes de marques verticalement intégrées au monde. Green Horizons proposera également des visites du campus, des formations et des ateliers aux visiteurs extérieurs.

Green Horizons lance le premier site d’une superficie approximative de 21 000 m² de son campus ultramoderne avec la possibilité d’atteindre jusqu’à 93 000 m² selon les besoins du marché. La phase I du campus Green Horizons comprendra une superficie approximative de 9 500 m² avec une serre de privation de lumière automatisée de classe « A », scellée et à la pointe de la technologie. La phase II ajoute une superficie de 11 500 m² supplémentaires qui tiendra lieu de siège social de la société ainsi que d’incubateur de marque et d’espace supplémentaire de culture en serre à privation de lumière.

La mission de Green Horizons consiste à alimenter un portefeuille de marques internes avec un approvisionnement interne pour garantir la cohérence et l’uniformité. Combinant l’expérience de l’équipe de direction en matière d’excellence de la culture avec les installations de culture solaire de haute technologie de la société, Green Horizons vise à redéfinir le paysage de la culture afin de créer un océan bleu de fleurs de haut niveau dans la serre COGS. En tirant parti de sa base à faible coût, Green Horizons sera en mesure de continuer à s’étendre alors que la marchandisation exerce une pression à la baisse sur les producteurs à coûts plus élevés.

La société annoncera officiellement sa première marque très attendue, un dérivé du monde de la mode, qui sera lancée au troisième trimestre 2022, suivie d’une marque de valeur rendant hommage à la Coachella Valley, prévue pour l’été 2023. Une fois l’installation achevée, les marques seront exclusivement alimentées par une variété génétique brevetée cultivée en interne par la société, un facteur de différenciation essentiel pour toutes les marques du portefeuille de Green Horizons.

« La Coachella Valley est le lieu idéal pour construire un campus de culture et de produits de marque emballés de classe mondiale à cette échelle », a déclaré Carlos « Los » Arias, président-directeur général de Green Horizons. « Coachella abrite depuis longtemps une communauté agricole dynamique, et je suis honoré d’aider à faire de la vallée une destination mondiale du cannabis. Être construit pour durer est plus important que d’être le premier, et nous n’en sommes qu’au début. »

Green Horizons a été cofondée par M. Arias et Michael C. Meade. M. Arias mène la vision de la société visant à créer des marques culturellement pertinentes qui rassemblent les gens. Connu pour sa forte présence remarquée, M. Arias est un exemple de collaboration communautaire qui sert de fondement à la culture de la société. M. Meade est le président et le plus grand investisseur de Green Horizons. Par le biais d’une entité non liée, il développe le Coachella Cann Park, qui est loué à Green Horizons. La société de développement de M. Meade a obtenu un prêt à la construction de 18,5 millions de dollars auprès d’Innovative Industrial Properties pour financer la construction de la propriété.

MM. Arias et Meade sont accompagnés par l’investisseur fondateur Star Branding Investment Group, LLC, qui apporte ses compétences entrepreneuriales mondiales à Green Horizons, en s’appuyant sur son succès dans la construction de marques mondiales et son expérience dans un large éventail de questions opérationnelles. Ensemble, Green Horizons et ses directeurs disposent des capacités requises en interne pour développer une entreprise de culture et de produits emballés rentable, synchronisant l’expertise des opérations des installations et le talent de la marque mondiale.

JUSTICE SOCIALE

Green Horizons est consciente du privilège de travailler dans l’espace légal du cannabis et s’engage à apporter des changements sociaux positifs au niveau local.

L’éducation est un pilier de l’entreprise. Avec la mission de destigmatiser le cannabis par l’éducation et la transparence, Green Horizons ouvrira ses portes pour offrir des visites de campus aux visiteurs extérieurs, ainsi que des ateliers et des programmes éducatifs pour la communauté et les personnes qui souhaitent en savoir plus sur l’usine de cannabis et l’industrie.

La société s’associe à la ville de Coachella pour lancer l’initiative Build The Valley, qui consistera en deux initiatives importantes : premièrement, la construction d’infrastructures pour la communauté ; et deuxièmement, la défense de la radiation et la création d’emplois pour lesquelles Green Horizons créera un programme dédié à la Coachella Valley. Outre son activisme communautaire local, Green Horizons est également impliquée dans l’avenir durable de l’industrie du cannabis et est membre d’un groupe de travail de l’industrie, composé d’opérateurs, de financiers et d’avocats de premier plan, dont l’objectif est d’éliminer l’utilisation de plastiques dans la chaîne d’approvisionnement en cannabis.

À PROPOS DE GREEN HORIZONS

Green Horizons est une société de cannabis de nouvelle génération verticalement intégrée qui crée des marques de produits emballés. Avec des installations de classe mondiale pour alimenter des marques pertinentes à l’échelle internationale, l’objectif de la société est de croiser et de créer des marques significatives qui rassemblent les gens. www.greenhorizons.io

À PROPOS DE CARLOS « LOS » ARIAS, J.D.

CO-FONDATEUR, PRÉSIDENT-DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL DE GREEN HORIZONS

M. Arias est reconnu au sein de l’industrie pour son expertise en médecine des plantes, affûtée par son ascendance cubaine/brésilienne et ses années de dévouement à étudier et travailler avec des plantes médicinales dans le monde entier. Avocat de formation, M. Arias est responsable des partenariats stratégiques clés de la société.

À PROPOS DE MICHAEL C. MEADE

PRÉSIDENT-DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL DE COACHELLA CANN PARK, CO-FONDATEUR ET PRÉSIDENT DE GREEN HORIZONS

En plus d’obtenir les premières licences de cannabis délivrées dans le comté de Riverside il y a 15 ans pour la culture et la vente au détail, M. Meade a poursuivi la construction d’un empire immobilier du cannabis dans la vallée du désert, alimenté par le cabinet de courtage commercial Wilson Meade et Desert Rock Development.

À PROPOS DE STAR BRANDING INVESTMENT GROUP

Star Branding Investment Group, LLC est un véhicule d’investissement privé fondé par M. Tommy Hilfiger et M. Joe Lamastra, par le biais duquel ses filiales et lui recherchent des investissements dans des entreprises opérant dans un large éventail de secteurs.

Pour toute demande d’ordre médiatique, veuillez contacter : press@weareprismatics.com

Une photo accompagnant ce communiqué de presse est disponible à l’adresse suivante : https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8e0a25ab-d6fc-4a35-a6fa-7dbeb5d5ce4a/fr

 

Zimbabwe: Integrated Context Analysis (ICA) – June 2021

1 ICA Overview

The Integrated Context Analysis (ICA) is the first of three toolsthat inform a three-pronged approach (3PA) to integrated programming. The 3PA comprises a national level, data-driven context analysis (the ICA) which guides in positioning broad programme strategies around the country, and flags where discussions with sub-national and community representatives could be undertaken to create accurate seasonal livelihood calendars (Seasonal Livelihood Programme (SLPs)) that capture common practices, shocks and stressors to inform specific activities and interventions at sub-nation/ District level. SLPs can then suggest participatory discussions with specific communities and local authorities to help refine local development plans.

This ICA classifies and colour-codes the Districts of ZIMBABWE based on whether they have historically experienced high, medium or low levels of food insecurity and/or natural hazards. This provides evidence to support discussions around where, and for how long, preparedness, disaster risk reduction, social protection and market access efforts could be most appropriate in meeting the needs of the most vulnerable and food insecure populations.

This ICA was completed in JUNE 2021 under the leadership of the World Food Programme, in collaboration with government stakeholders and the technical support and guidance of the National University of Science and Technology.

At the outset of the exercise, the main stakeholders discussed and agreed on expectations and priorities of the ICA. In brief, these are related to: identification of broad national programmatic strategies; the possibility of its use as an advocacy tool to influence policy; and indication of hot spots and areas needing further interrogation. The ICA presented an opportunity to stakeholders to look at issues differently. The processes were very valuable as they challenged data management and stakeholders noted gaps and value of certain data. The ICA mapped high risk areas based on the recurrence of natural shocks and food insecurity levels.

The maps and tables in this Overview section summarise the ICA results and recommendations for an initial reading. The sections that follow elaborate on detailed thematic findings, general policy recommendations, general programme recommendations for more detailed discussions and decision-making, and technical annexes and data tables.

Source: World Food Programme

EU Halting Military Training in Mali but Staying in Sahel

The EU on Monday decided to halt its military training missions in Mali but will keep a presence in the Sahel, the bloc’s top diplomat said Monday.

“We are halting the training missions for the (Malian) armed forces and national guard,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told a media conference but added: “The Sahel remains a priority. We’re not giving up on the Sahel, far from it. We want to commit even more to that region.”

He spoke after chairing a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers that discussed the issue.

Borrell said it was decided that developments in Mali “have forced us to see there were not sufficient guarantees … on noninterference by the Wagner group,” a Russian private military organization that France and other countries say is operating in Mali as an armed force.

Russia says it has only supplied what it officially describes as military instructors to Mali.

Borrell said the “notorious Wagner group … is responsible for some very serious events which have led to tens of people being killed in Mali in recent times.”

France last week expressed concern over reports that Malian soldiers and Wagner mercenaries killed more than 200 civilians in an operation last month in the Malian village of Moura.

Paris in February announced the withdrawal of its troops from Mali, a former colony, after a breakdown in relations with the country’s ruling junta that seized power last year, ending a near 10-year deployment.

France’s deployment, to fight Islamic extremists, operated separately from the EU missions.

Talks this week

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will hold talks with the junta in Mali this week amid uncertainty over the future of German troops there, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Baerbock will travel to Mali on Tuesday where she will meet the leader of the junta, Assimi Goita, and Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, the spokesman said.

Her aim is to “get a precise picture of the political and security situation on the ground” as Germany weighs its ongoing participation in military missions in Mali, he said.

Germany has about 1,100 soldiers deployed as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA.

The European state has also contributed some 300 troops to the EU military training mission in Mali.

Human Rights Watch has said Malian soldiers and foreign fighters executed 300 civilians between March 27 and 31 in Moura.

Borrell called the Moura operation a “massacre” and said: “We cannot collaborate with reprehensible events … We cannot be training people who are responsible for those kinds of behaviors. So the military training for troops, we’re going to stop.”

He said the EU ministers discussed hopes that west Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS would reach agreement with Mali’s junta for “an acceptable election” to be held for a return to civilian rule.

Source: Voice of America