Blogs & Opinions

"Women, Peace, and Security" Initiatives Are National Security Initiatives

Feb 19, 2020 | Alexandra A.K. Melse

Welcome to today’s symposium, “National Security as a Feminist Issue: Twenty Years of Women, Peace, and Security Initiatives.” In recognition of UN Security Council Resolution…

Sharing the Nile Beats War over It

Feb 19, 2020 | Christian Science Monitor

Hot wars often get more attention than efforts to cool the passions that ignite them. This is not the case, however, in a dispute between…

Climate Change More Prominent Than Ever at Munich Security Conference with “World Climate Security Report 2020” Release

Feb 19, 2020 | Caitlin Werrell and Francesco Femia

Climate change has never been very prominent at the Munich Security Conference (MSC), a leading forum for senior military, security and foreign policy leaders. That…

Gender Inequality, Health and Safety of Women in Small-Scale Mining

Feb 18, 2020 | Gibson Mhaka

Narrating her life as a female miner, Ms Joyce Mpofu (54), a single mother from Bubi District of Matabeleland North province, shared incidents that threaten…

The Urgency and Complexity of Environmental Peacebuilding

Feb 13, 2020 | Jeremy Moore

Daily news headlines sometimes note, but often omit, the rise in violent conflicts linked to environmental shocks from our changing climate. People in parts of…

India's Looming Water Scarcity and the Need for Bringing Women to the Centre Stage

Feb 12, 2020 | Ananya Pathak

As the summer months approach, a reality haunts most households across the length and breadth of India and that is an impending water crisis. Be…

Carving Out Meaningfut Space for Justice in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda?

Feb 11, 2020 | Kimberly Brown

At the core of SDG16+ is the understanding that in order to enable a better and more sustainable future for all, peace, justice and inclusion…

Bridging the Gender Gap in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Feb 10, 2020 | Ines Gabrielle Boumaiza

With abundant natural resources and a thriving mining sector, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is showing promising economic growth. Nevertheless, the country remains one of the…

New Deal for Women Farmers in Pakistan

Feb 10, 2020 | Quratulain Fatima

When Pakistan’s eastern Sindh province passed the ‘Sindh Women Agricultural Workers Bill’ on 20 December, giving women in agriculture, livestock, fisheries and other agro-based work the same rights and…

How Small Water Enterprises Are Transofrming Women's Work

Feb 10, 2020 | Rebecca Root

In low-income countries, women are often shouldering the responsibility of managing household water supply. Whether it’s walking to the nearest borehole, pump, or pond, women…

Why War for Wealth Has Fallen out of Fashion

Feb 10, 2020 | Charles Kenny

As the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq drag towards their third decade, and Syria’s civil war ticks towards 400,000 dead, it may seem trite to…

A New Security Challenge: The Geopolitical Implications of Climate Change

Feb 10, 2020 | Friedbert Pflüger

Discussions on energy and geopolitics over the last ten years have often focused on the need for energy security. Now, another challenge—a more universal one—is…

Fisheries Management: A Possible Venue for Navigating Fisheries Conflicts in the Indian Ocean

Feb 10, 2020 | Isigi Kadagi, Zachary Lien, and Cullen Hendrix

A significant increase in fisheries-related conflicts in the Indian Ocean since 2000 is heightening regional tensions. These conflicts have ranged from purely verbal and diplomatic disputes to armed…

The Eco Gender Gap: Why Is Saving the Planet Seen as Women's Work?

Feb 6, 2020 | Elle Hunt

It was not long ago that, if you wanted to reduce the impact of your consumer choices on the environment, your only option was to…

India Climate Activist Licypriya Kangujam on Why She Took a Stand

Feb 6, 2020

She is only eight, but Licypriya Kangujam has already been campaigning for action to tackle climate change in her native India for two years.The young…

In Tribute to a Land and Gender Champion: Chief Nyamphanda

Feb 5, 2020

The international development community mourns the loss of Chief Nyamphande IV, a traditional chief of the Nsenga Tribe of Zambia, who passed away suddenly on…

Women Bear the Burden of India's Water Crisis

Feb 5, 2020 | Arpit Jain and Reshma Anand

Across cities and villages in India, an impending water crisis is at our doorsteps. India will face a water shortfall of almost 50 percent by 2030,…

Investing in Resilience and Food Security Leads to Peace

Feb 5, 2020 | Abebe Haile-Gabriel

In a region beset with conflict, the uptick of numbers paint a grim foreboding. Hunger is on the rise again in Africa, reversing the gains…

How Can Data Build a Truer Picture of the Gender Gap in Food Insecurity?

Feb 4, 2020 | Teresa Welsh

Getting an accurate picture of the differences in food security between men and women can be hampered by typical household survey methods, experts say.

The most…

"Getting Gender Right" Is Essential for the Sustainability of Food Systems

Feb 4, 2020 | Elizabeth Bryan

The growing emphasis on sustainability of food systems (rather than of agriculture alone) highlights the importance of considering gender at all stages, from production to…

Mother Nature Scoffs at Trump's Mideast Peace Plan

Feb 4, 2020 | Thomas L. Friedman

To get a different perspective on the Trump-Kushner peace plan, I decided to call the best Middle East analyst I know. Her name is Mother…

Unsung Sheroes, Climate Action, and the Global Peace and Security Agendas

Feb 4, 2020 | Marisa O. Ensor

“We’re fighting for our lands, for our water, for our lives,” said an indigenous woman from Colombia, describing her work as an environmental defender. She…

To Reduce Future Conflicts over Water, Reconceptualize “Shared Waters”

Feb 3, 2020 | Aaron Wolf and Mckenna Coffey

In the years ahead, climate change and the proliferation of new technologies and information availability will require us to reshape our vision of shared waters.…

Building Women's Resilience and Livelihoods

Feb 3, 2020

At IFAD we know that the face of a farmer is often a woman’s face. Around the world today, women make up over half the…

Why Post- War Women's Livelihood Strategies Have Failed in Lanka's Eastern Province

Feb 2, 2020 | PK Balachandran

Sri Lanka’s post-war livelihood strategies for women in the Eastern Province have failed, necessitating fresh thinking based on the experience garnered so far and the…

For Thailand's Female Land Rights Defenders, Activism Is a Dangerous and Daunting Necessity

Feb 2, 2020 | Lam Le

Growing up, cassava farmer Nittaya Muangklang did not think she would ever become an activist – let alone that she would lead a group of…

Development and Peace Work- Much More Than Economics

Feb 1, 2020 | Nils Rosemann

The saying goes that “you can write anything on paper and it won’t blush” but people are not like that. Economics – and the part…

Mountain Women Bear the Brunt of Climate Change

Feb 1, 2020 | Suruchi Bhadwal, Ghanashyam Sharma, Ganesh Gorti, and Sudeshna Maya Sen

Climate change impacts are disproportionate and influence lives and livelihoods variedly. One crucial determinant of these disproportionate impacts is gender. Existing social norms determine roles…

Afghanistan's Mineral Resources Are a Lost Opportunity and a Threat

Feb 1, 2020 | Ahmad Shah Katawazai

Torn by four decades of war and desperate poverty, Afghanistan is believed to be sitting on one of the richest troves of minerals in the…

Environmental Science and National Security: Overcoming Barriers to Connecting Research with Policy

Jan 31, 2020 | Winter Wilson

Beginning with the end of the Cold War, a relatively small but growing number of scholars began to investigate the connections between environmental change, conflict,…