Issue #119 – Jul 31, 2018

Events

For more upcoming events on environmental peacebuilding, please visit our online calendar of events.

November 11, 2018 - 2018-11-13 Sciences Po, The French Republic, Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Körber Foundation, Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI), and Institut Montaigne
Paris, France

Inspired by the COP 21 model, the Paris Peace Forum will be a forum for discussion and debate with special emphasis on civil society initiatives, and for sharing experiences and innovative solutions involving…

The Future of Humanity: The Challenge of Global Peace and Security

October 16, 2018 - 2018-10-17 The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace
College Park, MD

With increasing challenges to the creation of a sustainable global peace and the decline in security, new thinking and solutions are needed.

Stockholm World Water Week: Creating Peace Through the Water-Energy-Food and Security Nexus Perspective

August 28, 2018 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
Stockholm, Sweden

This event discusses how an integrated perspective on water, land and energy resources (and their interdependencies) can reduce competition over these resources.

Stockholm World Water Week: Water Diplomacy: A Tool for the Future?

August 27, 2018 Stockholm International Water Institute
Stockholm, Sweden

Water diplomacy is increasingly seen as a means to facilitate dialogue and cooperation between countries and communities at different levels who share water freshwater resources.

Library

In the last two weeks, 31 new publications were added to our online library of materials on environmental peacebuilding. Here is a sampling of the new additions:

Role of Technology in Promoting Peace

January 1, 2018 | Kiran Kumari and Gargi Bhardwaj
Researchers' Guild

Technology in itself has a very broad meaning. From wheel to the latest launched satellite, all comes under the development of technology for the peace of world.

Infrastructure Vulnerability Index of Drinking Water Systems to Terrorist Attacks

January 1, 2018 | M. Maiolo and D. Pantusa
Cogent OA (Engineering and Technology)

Drinking water supply systems are vulnerable targets for which counter-terrorism measures have been raised worldwide.

Agricultural Production amid Conflict: Separating the Effects of Conflict into Shocks and Uncertainty

January 1, 2018 | María Alejandra Arias, Ana María Ibáñez, and Andrés Zambrano
World Development Journal

This paper examines the effect of conflict on agricultural production of small farmers.

Natural Resource Rents and Internal Conflicts: Can Decentralization Lift the Curse?

January 1, 2018 | Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, Christian Lessmann, and Gunther Markwardt
Elsevier - Economic Systems

We study how natural resource rents affect the risk of internal conflict within countries and how the federal structure of countries influences this relationship.

The Effects of Violent Conflict on Household Resilience and Food Security: Evidence from the 2014 Gaza Conflict

January 1, 2018 | Tilman Brück, Marco d’Errico, and Rebecca Pietrelli
World Development Journal

This paper studies how conflict affects household resilience capacity and food security, drawing on panel data collected from households in Palestine before and after the 2014 Gaza conflict.

Building Back Better: Achieving Resilience through Stronger, Faster, and More Inclusive Post-Disaster Reconstruction

January 1, 2018 | Stephane Hallegatte, Jun Rentschler, and Brian Walsh
The World Bank

Beyond this traditional understanding of building back better, there are many opportunities to improve the recovery and reconstruction phase that follows a disaster, so that wellbeing impacts can be minimized.

Nexus Brief: Climate Change & Environment: Fragility and Conflict

January 1, 2018 | Anik Kohli, Myriam Steinemann, Nickolai Denisov, and Simone Droz
SDC Climate Change and Environment Network

Violent conflicts are increasing in number and intensity.

Transforming Forest Landscape Conflicts: the Promises and Perils of Global Forest Management Initiatives Such as REDD+

January 1, 2018 | Seth Kane, Ahmad Dhiaulhaq, Lok Mani Sapkota, and David Gritten
Forest and Society

Implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is designed to relieve pressure on tropical forests, however, many are concerned that it is a threat to the rights of forest communities.

Blockchain and the Extractive Industries: Cobalt Case Study

January 1, 2018 | Usman Chohan
UNSW Business School

This discussion paper examines the possibilities of relationships between two seemingly disparate industries, blockchain and the extractive sectors, by considering the potential for blockchain solutions in the mining of Cobalt, a precious metal,…

Corruption, Natural Resources and Development: From Resource Curse to Political Ecology

January 1, 2017 | Aled Williams and Philippe Le Billon
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited

This book provides a fresh and extensive discussion of corruption issues in natural resources sectors.

Collateral Damage: Impacts of Ethno-Civil Strife on Biodiversity and Natural Resource Use Near Indian Nature Reserves

January 1, 2014 | Nandini Velho, Meghna Agarwala, Umesh Srinivasan, and William Laurance
Biodiversity & Conservation

Civil conflicts often affect the control of natural resources, altering their access and use.

Jobs

Please visit our jobs page to view these positions and other job opportunities.

Iraq: Project Manager - WASH

July 27, 2018 | ACTED - Iraq

Since 2003, ACTED has been working in Iraq to provide humanitarian support to vulnerable populations through a multi-sectoral response to the Syrian refugee crisis and the Iraqi mass displacement challenges.

Jordan: Food Security and Livelihoods - Head of Department

July 27, 2018 | Action Contre la Faim

The Action Contre la Faim Jordan mission is dynamic and rapidly growing, with large-scale WaSH and Livelihoods programmes being implemented in host communities and the Azraq refugee camp.

Iraq: Project Manager - Food Security and Livelihood

July 27, 2018 | ACTED - Iraq

Syria/Jordan: Food Security and Livelihood Technical Coordinator

July 27, 2018 | ACTED - Syria

Since 2012, ACTED has been implementing projects with vulnerable communities in Syria with a two-fold approach: ACTED provides life-saving support to vulnerable displaced persons, returnees, and host communities across Syria, through multi-sectorial rapid…

West Africa: Results Manager

July 16, 2018 | Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters

Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) is a flagship Department for International Development (DFID) programme under the International Climate Fund (ICF).

International News

In the last two weeks, 31 international news items on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. The following is a sampling:

Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Oil Minister Says Received More Than 90 Offers for Kirkuk Pipeline

April 20, 2018 | Reuters

Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said on Friday the planned new Kirkuk oil pipeline was still under analysis and more than 90 offers had been received for it.

Brazil: 2017 One of 'Bloodiest Years' for Land Conflicts

April 20, 2018 | Sam Cowie, Al Jazeera

Data released this week by Brazil rural violence watchdog Comissao Pastoral da Terra (CPT) showed there had been at least 70 killings related to land and resource conflicts in 2017, the bloodiest year…

Local Firm Hires 2,000 Workers for Rose Farming

April 20, 2018 | Ziar Yaad, TOLOnews

A local firm in Nangarhar province, in the east of Afghanistan, has leased 300 hectares of land to grow rose and process it for perfume industry.

Colombia: Open Destruction in the Colombian Amazon after FARC’s Exit

April 20, 2018 | Esteban Montaño and Semana Sostenible, Mongabay

The Amazon is one of the first victims of peace with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Iraq: Exxon Faces Setback in Iraq as Oil and Water Mix

April 19, 2018 | Ahmad Ghaddar and Aref Mohammed, Reuters

Talks between Exxon Mobil and Iraq on a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure contract have reached an impasse, Iraqi officials and two industry sources said, in a potential setback to the oil major’s ambitions to expand…

Sudan/South Sudan/Abyei: EU Concerned over Situation in Abyei Disputed by Sudan and South Sudan

April 19, 2018 | Xinhua

The European Union (EU) on Wednesday expressed concern over the situation of the people of Abyei area, disputed over by Sudan and South Sudan.

Colombia: Meet the People Building Alternatives to Mining in Colombia

April 19, 2018 | Hannibal Rhoades and Benjamin Hitchcock Auciello, Red Pepper

On the 26th March 2017, citizens from the mountainous municipality of Cajamarca, Colombia, voted, with a 98% majority, to ban South African miner AngloGold Ashanti’s vast La Colosa gold mining project, in a…

DRC: WFP-FAO Launch Innovative German-Funded Project to Support Peace and Rebuild Lives in Post-Conflict Areas of Eastern DR Congo

April 19, 2018 | Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are launching an innovative joint project to rebuild livelihoods shattered by conflict in eastern Democratic…

Afghanistan: Action Urged on Afghan Flooding

April 19, 2018 | Yousef Zarifi, Institute for War & Peace Reporting

Residents of Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan are urging the government to act after suffering years of catastrophic flooding.

Pakistan: Protests Break out as Karachi Runs out of Water

April 17, 2018 | Syed Khursheed Alam, Samaa

Protests are taking place in many parts of Karachi due to water shortage. The city is facing shortage of water as it is not getting the required 100 million gallons of water.

Liberia: Catholic Church: Land Rights Bill Crucial in Keeping the Peace

April 17, 2018 | Bettie K. Johnson-Mbayo, FrontPage Africa

Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia (CABICOL) has said that the Land Rights Bill is crucial and should properly be reviewed before it is passed into law.

Colombia: Colombia Grants ‘Historic’ Protections to Rainforest, Indigenous Groups

April 13, 2018 | Morgan Erickson-Davis, Mongabay

In a move described as “unprecedented,” Colombia’s president Juan Manuel Santos announced Tuesday that the country intends to add 8 million hectares (80,000 square kilometers or 31,000 square miles) to its protected areas.

Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi MPs: Hashd al-Shaabi Smuggling Oil to Iran, Government Cannot Intervene

April 12, 2018 | Baxtiyar Goran, Kurdistan 24

The Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi has been smuggling crude oil from Kirkuk and using the revenue to strengthen itself amid silence from the Iraqi government, a Kurdish Member of the Iraqi Parliament told Kurdistan…

Colombia: 8 Police Killed in Attack on Land Restitution Commission in Northwest Colombia

April 11, 2018 | Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports

At least eight policemen were killed in an alleged paramilitary attack on a judicial commission investigating land theft in northwest Colombia.

Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Temperature up by 2°C against Average

April 11, 2018 | Tamim Hamid, TOLOnews

Afghanistan Meteorological Department on Tuesday said this year the average temperature around the country has increased by about two degrees.

Norway: Nazi Legacy Found in Norwegian Trees

April 11, 2018 | Jonathan Amos, BBC

The relentless campaign to find and sink Germany's WWII battleship, the Tirpitz, left its mark on the landscape that is evident even today.

Blogs & Opinion

In the last two weeks, 7 blogs & opinion pieces on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. Here is a sampling:

Mapping Climate Security: New Dashboard Tool Visualizes Complex Vulnerability in Asia

July 25, 2018 | Olivia Smith

In many parts of South and Southeast Asia, high population density and vulnerability to climate change combine with low levels of household resilience and poor governance to increase security concerns and the potential…

Momentum Builds in the Fight for Land Rights in Guatemala: Making Us All a Bit Braver

July 20, 2018 | Shona Hawkes

In 2011, 769 families in the Polochic Valley in Guatemala were evicted to make way for the Chabil Utzaj sugar mill.

Colombia's Price for Peace: Cocaine and the Environment

July 19, 2018 | Simeon Tegel

Sometimes winning the peace can be more complicated than winning the war.

How Cocoa Farming Can Preserve Forests and Peace in Colombia

July 17, 2018 | Edward Davey

Victor Combita is a cocoa farmer and community leader from San José del Guaviare in the heart of the Colombian Amazon.

War, Drought, and Upstream Dams Hinder Water Access in Iraq

July 16, 2018 | Kayla Ritter

In Iraq, water availability has been both a casualty and a catalyst of conflict.

Sharing and Posting Materials

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About Our Community of Practice

Environmental Peacebuilding is a knowledge platform and global community of practice on natural resources, conflict, and peace, hosted by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association. The platform unites a global network of researchers, practitioners, and decision makers in sharing experiences and lessons from managing natural resources in fragile states and conflict-affected settings. The platform also helps people to access new publications on the topic, conduct new research, and participate in events to support the growth of the field. As part of our Community of Practice, we bring you biweekly updates on recent developments, including news about our program as well as links to new publications, upcoming conferences and events, and job openings.

Please visit us at www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org for more information.

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