News

Sexual Violence Rampant and Expanding in Armed Conflicts, UN

Aug 6, 2020 | Aasim Saleem, InfoMigrants

Despite a decade of efforts and various resolutions, the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war and to spread terror remains rampant in…

Online Course: Communicating Gender Statistics for Gender Equality

Aug 5, 2020 | PARIS21 Academy

This course on Communicating Gender Statistics is designed to guide journalists and statisticians to use statistics to report on the unique situation and needs of…

Anticipatory Action for COVID-19: Building the Systems That Protect Livelihoods throughout a Pandemic

Aug 5, 2020 | Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

The impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis on food systems are vast and varied, and as of yet hard to predict. But nowhere…

Iraq: In Heat-Struck Iraq, Power Shortages Prompt Protests

Aug 4, 2020 | Samya Kullab and Nabil Al-Jurani, Associated Press

In Iraq’s oil-rich south, the scorching summer months pose painful new choices in the age of the coronavirus: stay at home in the sweltering heat…

Liberia: Land Authority Grants 6 Communities Full Ownership of Ancestral Land in Lofa

Aug 4, 2020 | FrontPage Africa

The Liberia Land Authority has officially certified six communities in Foya, Lofa County  as land-owning communities, a major milestone in the implementation of a ground-breaking…

Syria/Turkey: Turkey Joins Syria in Slamming Oil Agreement between US Firm, Syrian Kurds

Aug 3, 2020 | Joe Snell, Al-Monitor

Turkey condemned a new oil agreement between an American-based company and the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, according to a release Monday by the country’s…

South Sudan: Interview: Coronavirus Adds to South Sudan's Oil Industry's Woes

Aug 3, 2020 | Eklavya Gupte, S&P Global Platts

Logistical and technical issues continue to hinder South Sudan's oil sector, which has already been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the country's senior oil…

Afghanistan/Iran: Kamal Khan Dam in Nimroz Set to Plug Flow of Free Water into Iran

Aug 3, 2020 | Salaam Times

The days of Iran siphoning off free water from Afghanistan are numbered, according to President Ashraf Ghani. Excess water will no longer freely flow to…

Decades of Progress on Gender Equality in the Workplace at Risk of Vanishing

Aug 2, 2020 | Pamela Jeffrey

Five months into the pandemic, the warning lights for female participation in the workplace are flashing furiously as progress made toward gender equality over the…

Syria: Syria Says US Oil Firm Signed Deal with Kurdish-Led Rebels

Aug 2, 2020 | Reuters

Syria’s foreign ministry said on Sunday that an American oil company had signed an agreement with Kurdish-led rebels who control northeastern oilfields in what it…

The Exaggerated Threat of Oil Wars

Aug 2, 2020 | Emily Meierding

Over the past year, Chinese seismic survey vessels and their paramilitary escorts have interfered repeatedly with Vietnamese and Malaysian oil and natural gas exploration in the South China…

Agriculture & COVID-19: Pro Women Farmer Policies Needed

Aug 1, 2020 | Binod Sinha

A two-week survey conducted during the lockdown by Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA)…

How the Grand Renaissance Dam Might Spark Basin-Wide Water Cooperation

Aug 1, 2020 | Ashok Swain

Ethiopia’s on-going construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River has attracted speculation that it could lead to a ‘water war’.

There is no…

COVID-19 and the Food System: Setback or Opportunity for Gender Equality?

Jul 31, 2020 | Catherine Ragasa and Isabel Lambrecht

Agriculture and the food sector are critical to food and nutrition security. They not only produce food for growing populations but also contribute to economic…

Reviving Energy Cooperation in South Asia

Jul 31, 2020 | Saheb Singh Chadha

Recent developments in South Asian energy security such as the India-Nepal petroleum products pipeline and the India-Bhutan joint venture hydroelectric project have revived conversations on…

Colombia: Double Blow to Colombian Amazon and Indigenous Groups from Armed Militants, COVID-19

Jul 31, 2020 | Dimitri Selibas, Mongabay

Colombia’s environment minister, Ricardo Lozano, says 70% of deforestation in the country stems from illegal activities, for which he blames former FARC rebels and other…

Syria/Yemen: Years of Fighting in Middle East Has Devastated Food Security, Says UN

Jul 31, 2020 | Gerald Butt, Church Times

More than 22 million people in Yemen and Syria are “in crisis or worse” in terms of food security, according to the UN World Food…

Mali: The Wells Bringing Hope in the Desert

Jul 30, 2020 | Soumaila Diarra, BBC

Water has long been at the centre of conflict in the northern regions of Mali, in West Africa. This vast water-scarce area spans 827,000 square…

The Role of Afghanistan’s Resources in Security

Jul 30, 2020 | Farzad Ramezani Bonesh

During the last two decades, we have witnessed the Afghan government’s efforts to identify natural resources in the country with the help of foreign governments…

Liberia: River Gee Citizens Reject Internal Affairs Ministry-Guided Land Dispute Resolution

Jul 29, 2020 | Gerald C. Koinyeneh, FrontPage Africa

A group of citizens hailing from River Gee County have rejected the latest decision reached by Internal Affairs Minister Varney Sirleaf in a bid to…

DRC: Workers at Copper Cobalt Mining Companies in DRC at COVID19 Risk

Jul 29, 2020 | Steelguru

Workers in the industrial copper-cobalt mines of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga provinces, many owned and operated by multinationals, have been forced to choose between being confined…

Sudan: Sudan Exports Two Tonnes of Gold to Improve Economy

Jul 29, 2020 | Xinhua

Sudan on Monday exported two tonnes of gold in a bid to provide foreign currencies for the Central Bank of Sudan and improve the status…

EnPAx Launches Survey to Understand COVID-19 Impact on Environmental Peacebuilding

Jul 28, 2020 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) invites you to share your insights on COVID-19’s effects on environmental peacebuilding efforts via this survey.

COVID-19 has had far-reaching impacts…

Alec Crawford

Senior Policy Advisor and Lead, Environment Conflict and Peacebuilding
International Institute for Sustainable Development
Canada
Jul 28, 2020

Alec Crawford is a Senior Policy Advisor with the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD)’s Resilience and Economic Law and Policy programs, and is the…

Scale Climate Action by Engaging With Women’s Organizations: Why Climate and Gender Funders Must Work Together

Jul 28, 2020 | Jeannette Gurung

Global frameworks for climate action, including but not limited to the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, have recognized that they must…

We Can't Build Back Better Without Economic Justice for Racialized Women

Jul 28, 2020 | Carmina Ravanera and Anjum Sultana

This summer has been one of racial reckoning. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions joined in Black Lives Matter protests around the world, protesting…

Afghanistan: Solar Sows Surge in Afghan Opium Harvest

Jul 28, 2020 | Pamela Largue, Power Engineering International and Clarion

Solar panel arrays have been popping up across farmlands in Afghanistan to turn arid land into fertile ground. This has been widely evident in the…

Climate Change: Pacific Expert Urges UN Security Council to Help Stop Climate Change

Jul 28, 2020 | Radio New Zealand

A Pacific climate change expert has told the UN Security Council that stopping climate change and reversing its effects is still the most important measure…

Sudan: 'We Had to Eat Our Seeds for Planting': 10 Million in Sudan Facing Food Shortages

Jul 28, 2020 | Zeinab Mohammed Salih, Guardian

Almost a quarter of the population of Sudan are going hungry as conflict, rising food prices and the coronavirus take their toll. About 9.6 million…

Ukraine/Russia: Crimea Running out of Water Due to Annexation, Looks for Water Sources

Jul 28, 2020 | Oleg Sukhov, Kyiv Post

The situation with water supply in Ukraine’s Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula is becoming more critical as the Russian occupation government is looking for new water sources.…