Blogs & Opinions


Why Gender Provisions in Peace Agreements Are Not Enough to Ensure Post-Conflict Progress for Women

Jul 20, 2020 | Nicole Smith

The United Nations recently announced that almost 80 million people were forcibly displaced around the world last year due to war, conflict, or persecution. As COVID-19 continues…


Crisis Reveals the Fault Lines of Gender in Environmentalism—How Do We Value Everyday Environments?

Jul 20, 2020 | Nathalie Blanc, Sandra Laugier, Pascale Molinier, and Anne Querrien

These are times of crisis. One might even think that the COVID-19 crisis looks like a an alternative expression of crises that are already building,…


Science Suppression Is a Security Threat – Whether Climate or Covid

Jul 20, 2020 | Francesco Femia

A little over a year ago, the White House tried to block the testimony of a respected professional, Dr. Rod Schoonover – senior analyst and senior…


In Mozambique, Promoting Biodiversity Includes Greater Gender Equality

Jul 17, 2020 | Amanda Jerneck and Carmen Lahoz Rallo

Increasing girls’ access to education and empowering women has become a core intervention area of the Mozambique Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) Portfolio, of which MozBio is…


Conflict in South China Sea Again?

Jul 16, 2020 | Elfren S. Cruz

The pandemic is at the center of public attention because it is the most relevant among current threats to the Philippines. There are, however, other…


How Women Can Power the Green Transition

Jul 15, 2020 | Irene Giner-Reichl

The world needs to shift from the current fossil-fuel-based energy system to carbon neutrality. Most obviously, this will require countries to roll out renewable energy…


COVID-19 and Gender Equality: Countering the Regressive Effects

Jul 15, 2020 | Anu Madgavkar, Olivia White, Mekala Krishnan, Deepa Mahajan, and Xavier Azcue

As COVID-19 continues to affect lives and livelihoods around the world, we can already see that the pandemic and its economic fallout are having a regressive…


Why the Nile Constitutes a New Kind of Water Dispute – and Why That’s Dangerous

Jul 15, 2020 | Peter Schwartzstein

Ever since workers first broke ground on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in 2011, international commenters have fixated on the Nile as a possible…


Tajikistan Shows Why Humanitarian Disarmament Must Adapt to Climate Change

Jul 15, 2020 | Linsey Cottrell

Together with Norwegian People’s Aid, we have been considering how climate change may affect humanitarian disarmament. Tajikistan is affected by landmines and cluster munitions and…


Gender Equity and Climate Change Have More in Common Than You Think

Jul 14, 2020 | Katica Roy

Gender equity is a lot like climate change. It’s a horizontally-integrated issue that largely exists inside a vertically-integrated policy framework. Now is the time to change…


The United States Needs a Natural Security Strategy to Regain Our Global Leadership

Jul 13, 2020 | Sherri Goodman and Johan Bergenas

The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly reshaping global economic, security and diplomatic conditions. In only a few months, we found ourselves in a new normal because…


A Dashboard Overview: Gender Inequality and the COVID-19 Crisis

Jul 13, 2020 | Carolina Rivera, Yu-Chieh Hsu, Fernanda Pavez Esbry, and Esuna Dugarova

The human development crisis unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic is putting the fight for gender equality at risk. The immediate effects of COVID-19 are already…


Myanmar’s Jade-Rich Hpakant Caught in a ‘Winner’s Curse’

Jul 13, 2020 | Joe Kumbun

Natural resources are bestowed by the Earth and seem a blessing for human beings. However, an abundance of natural resources is not necessarily a blessing…


The Power of Women on Pathways to Net-Zero Emissions

Jul 9, 2020 | Linda Coady

When we think about transforming our energy systems, we need to make sure that transformation happens in a way that is not only innovative and…


Mainstreaming Gender When Incorporating Advanced Technology In Agriculture

Jul 8, 2020 | Novela Acharya

With the globalization, massive technological advancement has been observed which has revolutionized the whole world and transformed our daily lives. This digital revolution has not…


Why Investing in Women's Land Rights Helps Overall Gender Equality

Jul 7, 2020 | Karol Boudreaux

It is depressing, discouraging, infuriating – pick your word – to see the scale and scope of abuse and discrimination aimed at women and girls…


Egypt and Ethiopia: The Curse of the Nile

Jul 7, 2020 | Marina Ottaway

A slow-motion crisis has been developing in the Nile Valley since the Ethiopian government announced the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on…


Countdown to a Bitter Battle Over the Water of the Nile?

Jul 6, 2020 | Ricard González

In the 1990s, after the collapse of the USSR, the idea that water would drive the wars of the future took hold among analysts and…


Depopulating Military Installations Because of Sea Level Rise

Jul 6, 2020 | Marc Kodack

In case you missed it, an audit of the U.S. Department of Defense’s installation climate resilience from last year, conducted by the Government Accountability Office, found that…


Exploitation Of The Environment In War Or Armed Conflict Is Inevitable; Three Case Studies Including Gaza Strip, Yemen, And Iraq

Jul 2, 2020 | George Stacey

Any kind of war or armed conflict is a miserable thing as it kills numbers of innocent civilians. Conflict destroys communities, cultures, infrastructure, and most…


Unlocking the Biggest Resource We Have to Fight COVID-19 and Climate Change: Women in STEMM

Jul 2, 2020 | Anna Madlener and Natalie Unterstell

In times of the Covid-19 outbreak, social isolation is illuminating the gender gap perhaps like never before. Just count how many online “manels’’ (a panel…


Climate Change, Disease and the Legitimacy of Armed Non-State Actors

Jul 1, 2020 | Farah Hegazi

To many, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic came as a surprise. It has placed enormous strain on governments to contain the spread of the…


Disasters Meet Political Unrest, Displacing Millions in East Africa

Jul 1, 2020 | Clémentine André, Ivana Hajzmanova, and Maria Teresa Miranda Espinosa

In recent weeks, our news channels have been flooded with stories about the Covid-19 pandemic, political and social unrest around the world, natural hazards upending…


The Coffee Crisis in Colombia

Jun 30, 2020 | Yanis Iqbal

With the unabated march of the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic situation of Colombian coffee farmers is rapidly deteriorating. The price of Arabica coffee has reduced to an…


Three Cheers for the Power, Promise of Gender Equity in Agriculture

Jun 29, 2020 | Denise E. Antonio

We need the talents and energy of both men and women to power this sector and contribute to Jamaica's economy — an economy which must…


Gender and Climate – Scaling Impact with a Cross-Cutting Agenda

Jun 29, 2020 | Ting Nan Wang

Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the destructive nature of global crises without immediate resolutions. Likewise, the effects of climate change are slated to be…


In Guatemala, Investing in Indigenous Women's Economic Empowerment is Key to Building Back Better After COVID-19

Jun 29, 2020

Since March 2020, Guatemala has recorded more than 600 COVID-19 deaths and over 11,000 infections. Amidst this crisis, indigenous women have continued to use their…


Prioritizing Gender Equality in Post COVID-19 Tourism

Jun 27, 2020 | Jennifer Musson

Covid-19 has had an unprecedented impact on tourism with the UNWTO anticipating a 60-80% decline in international tourism. The crisis has laid bare structural inequalities…


COVID-19 Impact on Agriculture and Food Security: Regional Perspective

Jun 27, 2020 | Centre of Excellence on Emerging Development Perspectives

Even before COVID-19 hit the world, more than 820 million people were already struggling with hunger and 2 billion people were malnourished. At the end of 2019,…


Op-ed: Build Back Better: Women at the Centre of Decision-Making

Jun 26, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our world and our world view, deepening pre-existing inequalities, and exposing vulnerabilities in social, political, and economic systems. Across every…