Blogs & Opinions

Climate Security Is National Security

Dec 12, 2019 | Joanna Rozpedowski

Between 2008-2012 over 144 million people were displaced by a sudden onset of disasters in more than 122 countries, a number far higher than the…

Sierra Leone Needs Stability, It's Blessed with Resources

Dec 12, 2019 | Neil De Beer

Sierra Leone, like many of its African compatriots, is richly blessed with many natural resources like diamonds, iron, and gold. On February 14, 1972, the…

What Is the Fate of Baghdad-Erbil's Oil-for-Budget Agreement amid Ongoing Protests?

Dec 12, 2019 | Dana Taib Menmy

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has vast proven oil and gas resources; however, mismanagement, corruption and ruling parties’ monopoly on power have brought the region to the brink of financial…

Water May Help Exacerbate Violent Conflict, but This Does Not Tell the Whole Story

Dec 11, 2019 | Phoebe Sleet

A new tool, launched by the Water, Peace and Security (WPS) Partnership, has identified a number of locations where there is a high risk of water-related…

Taliban Negotiations Resume, Feeding Hope of a Peaceful, More Prosperous Afghanistan

Dec 10, 2019 | Elizabeth B. Hessami

Peace talks have resumed between the United States and the Taliban of Afghanistan, three months after negotiations ended abruptly following a deadly Taliban attack in Kabul. 

The Taliban – an armed insurgency promoting…

Three Trends to Track in Population-Environment-Security

Dec 9, 2019 | Jennifer Dabbs Sciubba

Exactly 25 years ago the international community met in Cairo for the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. In the aftermath of the Cold War,…

To Address Climate Risks, Advance Climate Security in the United Nations

Dec 4, 2019 | Malin Mobjork and Karolina Eklöw

Climate change is widely recognised as one of the major forces shaping the future. Climate impacts illustrate in stark clarity how human actions fundamentally affect…

Women in Local Governance Are Key to Building Resilience to Climate-Fragility Risks

Dec 3, 2019 | Molly Kellogg and Lauren Olosky

The United Nations has recognized climate change as having important implications for peace and security, acting as a “threat multiplier” to other drivers of insecurity.…

Climate Crisis Could Reverse Progress in Achieving Gender Equality

Dec 3, 2019 | Nitya Rao

People who directly depend on the natural world for their livelihoods, like farmers and fishers, will be among the greatest victims of the climate crisis.…

Without the Enforcement of Environmental Laws, Petroleum Infrastructure Projects in Timor-Leste Come at a Cost

Dec 3, 2019 | Adilsonio da Costa

Ignoring environmental laws in Timor-Leste to build a petroleum infrastructure project could mean serious problems for communities including environmental destruction, loss of land, and loss of…

Libera: Securing Women's Land Rights Advances Equity in Our Communities

Dec 3, 2019 | Josefa Sacko

The African Union (AU) Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges, the AU Declaration of committing 2010 - 2020 as the African Women's Decade and the…

Their Land, Our Future: To Arrest the Climate Crisis, We Need a Democratic Over-haul

Dec 2, 2019 | Musimbi Kanyoro and Beth Roberts

Both the climate crisis and inequality require a democratic overhaul. And governments globally should start by turning over legal control of land and natural resources…

The KRG's Anti-Corruption Effort Must Start from Its Oil Sector

Dec 1, 2019 | Yeveran Saeed

Iraq is one of the most corrupt countries in the world and oil has a lot to do with it. With nearly $100bn in annual…

Securing Women's Land Rights Advances Equity in Our Communities

Nov 29, 2019 | Josefa Sacko

The African Union (AU) Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges, the AU Declaration of committing 2010 – 2020 as the African Women’s Decade and the…

Land Access and Household Wellbeing in Cameroon: Does Gender Matter?

Nov 29, 2019 | Eric Feubi Pamen

Africa remains a net food importing region spending more than USD 35 billion annually on food imports, although this continent has about 65% of the…

Deepening Our Engagement with Gender Dimensions in Agriculture

Nov 27, 2019 | Krista Jacobs

The Feed the Future Advancing Women’s Empowerment (AWE) Program was delighted to partner with Agrilinks this October to raise awareness about the impacts of gender-based violence in…

An Environmental Movement for Times of War, Too

Nov 27, 2019 | Kira Walker

Oil wells set ablaze in Iraq. Forests pillaged in Colombia. Wildlife populations decimated across the Sahara-Sahel. Around the world, armed conflicts continue to cause significant…

Women Land and Water Defenders Are the Real Peacebuilders

Nov 27, 2019 | Gabriela Jimenez

Large-scale resource extraction often perpetuates violence, even in countries with peace accords. Those who mobilize to protect the land and water to build peace are…

Women in Climate Change Hotspots Face Greater Burdens When Under Environmental Stress

Nov 26, 2019 | Suzannah Lyons

Climate change has a negative impact on women's ability to make meaningful decisions in their lives, according to new research looking at climate change hotspots…

Sleepwalking into Catastrophe - Climate Change

Nov 26, 2019 | Linda Witong

Special Advisor to SI Advocacy, Linda Witong, takes a closer look at how and why climate change aggravates inequalities and increases the risks to women…

A Gender Lens is Essential to Sustaining Peace: Evidence from Mozambique

Nov 25, 2019

Despite decades of relative peace and recent efforts to promote gender equality, women and girls in Mozambique continue to experience a disproportionate amount of insecurity.…

Climate Change is Brutal for Everyone, but Worse for Women

Nov 25, 2019 | Matt Simon

The climate crisis is so epic, so vicious, so wide-reaching, that at this point there are few aspects of the human experience it isn’t transforming.…

Forest Conservation Must Address Violence Against Women

Nov 25, 2019 | Jeanette Sequeira, Juana Vera Delgado, and Ruth Nyambura

November 25th has been designated as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women by the United Nations. The day also marks the beginning…

Three Provocative Ideas in the First Environmental Peacebuilding Conference

Nov 25, 2019 | Laura Betancur

Under the umbrella of “environmental peacebuilding”, a growing community of researchers and practitioners are framing their efforts in relating the natural environment and the peacebuilding…

The Ethics of Violent Conservation

Nov 25, 2019 | Dan Brockington and Rosaleen Duffy

Conservation practices and decisions have repercussions for people, and different repercussions for different people. Conservation is inevitably a human enterprise. Conservation itself – if ever…

Climate Change: Feminists Have Pushed for Marginalised Voices to Be Heard

Nov 25, 2019

As calls grow for climate action to be more responsive to frontline communities, CIVICUS spoke to Maria Nailevu, a feminist climate activist from Fiji, about…

Colombia Must Protect the Women Risking Their Lives to Defend Black Communities

Nov 23, 2019 | Duncan Tucker

Danelly Estupiñán will never forget the first threats she received back in 2015. First came the text message declaring “Danelly, your end has come.” And…

Climate Change Affects Women More. What Can the State Do to Intervene?

Nov 19, 2019 | Sara Hayat

Climate change is affecting us all, but certain demographics more than others. Marginalised communities — and within them, women in particular — feel the discriminatory…

Mohamed's Story: The Climate Conflict Trap in the Lake Chad Basin

Nov 19, 2019 | Noah Gordon

Years ago, Mohamed’s family had enough to eat, despite being poor. His daughter owned a vegetable stall at a bustling market in northeastern Nigeria. The…

Land Portal at CFS46: Empowering Advocates for Women's Land Rights Through Open Data

Nov 15, 2019 | Laura Meggiolaro

At CFS 46, the Land Portal had the opportunity to be the co-organizer of the side event How the VGGT have changed rural women’s lives:  Key…