Issue #183 – Jan 12, 2021

Announcements

Environmental Peacebuilding: 2020 in Review

January 12, 2021 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association

2020 saw many practical, conceptual, and institutional developments in environmental peacebuilding. We are pleased to share with you some highlights from the year.

Events

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

Care for Creation as a Common Denominator: Interfaith Approaches to Environmental Peacebuilding (A Road to Geneva Event)

February 11, 2021 Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies & Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion (both at the University of Notre Dame); Environmental Peacebuilding Association; and Young Evangelicals for Climate Action
online

This event was recorded and can be viewed here: https://www. youtube. com/watch?

Environmental Degradation, Climate Change, and Mass Violence: Intersections with Gender (A Road to Geneva Event)

February 10, 2021 International Association of Genocide Scholars, Raphaël Lemkin Genocide Prevention Program, and Environmental Peacebuilding Association
online

This event was recorded and can be viewed here: https://www. youtube. com/watch?

Indigenous Perspectives on Conflict and Conservation: Sámi and Ainu Communities (A Road to Geneva Event)

February 8, 2021 Mirali Shukla
online

Community resilience in the face of drastic environmental changes requires a deeper understanding of the struggles being felt most dramatically.

Indigenous Perspectives on Conflict and Conservation: Māori and Ni'Van Communities (A Road to Geneva Event)

February 7, 2021 Mirali Shukla
online

Community resilience in the face of drastic environmental changes requires a deeper understanding of the struggles being felt most dramatically.

Launch Event: International Affairs’ Special Issue on Environmental Peacebuilding

January 27, 2021 Wilson Center
online

"In a new special issue of International Affairs, contributors illustrate the value of environmental peacebuilding both as an integrative research field and as a practice for furthering peace, sustainability, and development globally.

Environmental Degradation, Climate Change, and Mass Violence: Ecocide and Law (A Road to Geneva Event)

January 26, 2021 International Association of Genocide Scholars, Raphaël Lemkin Genocide Prevention Program, and Environmental Peacebuilding Association
online

This event was recorded and can be viewed here: https://www. youtube. com/watch?

Environmental Degradation, Climate Change, and Mass Violence: Intersections with Indigenous Issues (A Road to Geneva Event)

January 14, 2021 International Association of Genocide Scholars, Raphaël Lemkin Genocide Prevention Program, and Environmental Peacebuilding Association
online

This event was recorded and can be viewed here: https://www. youtube. com/watch?

Environmental Peacebuilding - The Year in Review and the Year Ahead

January 13, 2021 Environmental Peacebuilding Association
online

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association will host its third year-in-review seminar on “Environmental Peacebuilding: The Year in Review and the Year Ahead.

Library

In the last two weeks, 22 new publications were added to our online library of materials on environmental peacebuilding. Here is a sampling of the new additions:

Fighting for Black Stone: Extractive Conflict, Institutional Change and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone

January 1, 2021 | McKenzie F. Johnson
International Affairs

Environmental governance reform—especially in the minerals sector—has featured prominently in Sierra Leone’s peacebuilding agenda.

Slow Violence and Corporate Greening in the War on Drugs in Colombia

January 1, 2021 | Irene Vélez-Torres and Diego Lugo-Vivas
International Affairs

Next to a broader agrarian reform, the Peace Accord signed between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) and the Colombian Government (2016) was designed to support the voluntary substitution of illicit crops…

Formalization as a Tool for Environmental Peacebuilding? Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in Liberia and Sierra Leone

January 1, 2021 | Christina Ankenbrand, Zabrina Welter, and Nina Engwich
International Affairs

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has long been a vital source of livelihoods for rural populations in the global South.

The Past and Future(s) of Environmental Peacebuilding

January 1, 2021 | Tobias Ide, Carl Bruch, Alexander Carius, Ken Conca, Geoffrey D. Dabelko, Richard Matthew, and Erika Weinthal
International Affairs

Environmental peacebuilding is a rapidly growing field of research and practice at the intersection of environment, conflict, peace and security.

Investing in Rural People in Afghanistan

January 1, 2020
International Fund for Agricultural Development

Afghanistan is a landlocked country with mountainous terrain and a population estimated at around 38 million in 2020 (Worldometers, 2020).

Understanding Mechanisms of Conflict Resolution Beyond Collaboration: An Interdisciplinary Typology of Knowledge Types and Their Integration in Practice

January 1, 2020 | Olga Stepanova, Merritt Polk, and Hannah Saldert
Sustainability Science

Conflicts over land use and their resolution are one of the core challenges in reaching sustainable development today.

Sharing Oil Rents and Political Violence

January 1, 2020 | Tito Cordella and Harun Onder
European Journal of Political Economy

This paper investigates how the devolution of oil windfalls affects the likelihood of political violence.

The Pitfalls of Unilateral Legislation in International Law: Lessons from Conflict Minerals Legislation

January 1, 2020 | Phoebe Okowa
Cambridge University Press

This article examines the compatibility of the extraterritorial application of unilateral legislation with the project of international law.

A Green Peace How Implementing a Peace Ecology Paradigm in Post-Conflict Situations Can Create an Atmosphere Where Positive Peace May Blossom

January 1, 2020 | Marisa Sauret
Arctic University of Norway

Positive peace has not yet been achieved worldwide. The closest version of ‘peace’ one can see is a negative sort that is full of different forms of violence.

When Two Elephants Fight: Insurgency, Counter-Insurgency and Environmental Sufferings in Northeastern Nigeria

January 1, 2020 | Azeez Olaniyan and Ufo Okeke-Uzodike
Journal of Contemporary African Studies

The consequences of Boko Haram insurgency on the Nigerian state has enjoyed robust interrogation. However, most of the studies have concentrated on human and material losses to the neglect of the environment.

Land and Peacebuilding: The Case of the Peacebuilding Process in Colombia through the Peasant Reserve Zones (Chapter in "A Requiem for Peacebuilding?")

January 1, 2020 | Cinthya Carillo Perdomo
Springer

In order to answer if the Peasant Reserve Zones, one of the most important projects on rural development of the last decades in Colombia and the most recent expression of peasants’ aspiration for…

Jobs

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

CAR: Project Coordinator for Indigenous Peoples Support Project

January 10, 2021 | World Wide Fund for Nature

In the Central African Republic, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is active in the complex of protected areas of Dzanga-Sangha (DSPA).

Somalia: Administrative Officer

January 10, 2021 | Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger…

Agriculture and Natural Resource Adviser

January 10, 2021 | Concern Worldwide

Concern Worldwide is a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and the elimination of extreme poverty in the world's poorest countries.

Jordan: Regional Projects Manager

January 10, 2021 | EcoPeace Middle East

EcoPeace Middle East is a unique trilateral environmental organization. Our primary objective is the promotion of cooperative efforts to protect our shared environmental heritage.

CAR: Consultant for the Characterization of the Aquatic Ecosystems of 4 Reference Sites in the Chinko Conservation Area and its Periphery

January 10, 2021 | African Parks

African Parks is a non-governmental organization focused on conservation, established in 2000 and headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Post-Doctoral Researcher in 'Toxic Crimes Project'

January 5, 2021 | Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights, University of Helsinki, Finland

The University of Helsinki is among the leading multidisciplinary research universities in the world.

West Africa: Environmental Security Advisor

January 5, 2021 | UN Environment Programme

The United Nations Environment Programme is responsible for coordinating the UN's environmental activities and assisting developing countries in having environmentally sound policies and practices.

International News

In the last two weeks, 19 international news items on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website. The following is a sampling:

Myanmar: Myanmar Forgoes Revenue from Gem Emporiums

August 27, 2020 | Aung Loon, Myanmar Times

The Myanmar government has potentially lost billions in revenue from having to suspend this year's gems emporiums due to the outbreak of COVID-19, according to U Zaw Bo Khant, vice chair of the…

South Sudan: South Sudan Residents Protest Oil Facilities

August 27, 2020 | David Mono Danga, Voice of America

Residents around South Sudan’s Palouch and Melut oil fields in Upper Nile state demonstrated Wednesday for a third consecutive day against environmental pollution caused by the oil companies.

Afghanistan: Ex-Minister, 16 Employees Referred to AGO over Corruption Charges

August 26, 2020 | Pajhwok Afghan News

At least 17 employees of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP), including former acting minister Nargis Nehan, have been referred to the Attorney General Office (AGO) on graft charges.

South Sudan: South Sudan Set to Take over China-Operated Oilfields by 2027

August 26, 2020 | Tsvetana Paraskova, OilPrice.com

South Sudan’s state-controlled Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet) has started preparations to take over the management of some oilfields in the country by 2027, when it will let the contract with China National Petroleum…

Afghanistan: Minerals Have become Integral to Conflict in Afghanistan: UNDP

August 26, 2020 | Ariana News

UNDP Afghanistan has found that decades of mining without a clear vision has done little to reduce poverty but has instead helped insurgent groups fund their wars, triggered local conflicts and harmed the…

Myanmar: Over 550 Tons of Illegal Timbers Seized across Myanmar in a Week

August 26, 2020 | Xinhua

Myanmar authorities confiscated over 550 tons of illegal timbers across Myanmar in a week, according to a release from the Forest Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation on Wednesday.

Ethiopia: Women in Ethiopia Face Challenges During COVID-19 Pandemic

August 24, 2020 | Crux

Women in Ethiopia often suffer from “traditional gender roles” where they are expected to defer to men in society.

Afghanistan: Taliban Taxes Illegal Gold Mines in Northeastern Afghanistan

August 24, 2020 | Nimatullah Ahmadi and Abubakar Siddique, Gandhara

Residents and officials in Afghanistan’s northeastern province of Badakhshan say the Taliban is raking in considerable revenues by taxing illegal gold mining in the remote region bordering China, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.

Liberia: Charcoal Burners to Plant Trees for Sustainability

August 24, 2020 | Global News Network

As part of efforts in sustainably managing the forest, members of the Suehn/Mecca District Charcoal Producers Association in Suehn/Mecca District, Bomi County have taken the lead in the Liberia’s charcoal industry to begin…

Myanmar: The Fight over Myanmar's Marble Hills

August 20, 2020 | Asean Post

Around 80 percent of the village of some 2,000 households work in the marble business, but people fear they are being pushed out.

Blogs & Opinion

In the last two weeks, 3 blogs & opinion pieces on environmental peacebuilding were posted on our website.

Weapon Proliferation Challenges Biodiversity Protection in South Sudan

January 7, 2021 | Adrian Garside

The availability of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) is a factor in the decline of wildlife numbers due to their use in poaching and hunting.

Conflict Cycles and the Management of Protected Areas in South Sudan

January 7, 2021 | Adrian Garside

South Sudan, and southern Sudan prior to its independence, has been in a cycle of conflicts for more than 65 years, spanning three civil wars with numerous armed conflicts in between.

Congress Continues to Affirm that Climate Security Is National Security

January 5, 2021 | Shana Udvardy

Last week Congress voted to override the president’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), enacting H. R. 6395, the “William M. (Mac) Thornberry” NDAA for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021.

Join the Association

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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.

Compiled by Rosabella Bojin, Amber Bosse, Elen Bueno, Alex Caplan, Claire Doyle, Bay Hanson, Desirée De Haven, Liz Hessami, Ellen Johnson, Avak Kahramanian, Andrew Light, Marie Mavrikios, Charly McConaghy, Rachel Mural, Anna Rossi, Tracy Stein, Rachel Stern, and Rachel Stromsta
Edited by Joel Young
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Design by Graham Campbell
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