Blogs & Opinions

Peaceful Minefields: Environmental Protection or Security Risks?

Aug 30, 2021 | Darcie DeAngelo

It’s no surprise that minefields and other military waste can prevent development and economic prosperity, but perhaps counterintuitively, their presence can also provide ecological protections…

What Does Taliban's Takeover Mean for Environmental Protection in Afghanistan?

Aug 27, 2021 | Austin Bodetti

The Taliban's ascent has significant implications for environmental protection in Afghanistan. The militants cannot afford to ignore the consequences of climate change and need to…

How Afghanistan’s $1 Trillion Mining Wealth Sold the War

Aug 27, 2021 | Frik Els

Search for Afghanistan minerals and you get dozens of articles written in the last few days quoting a magical $1 trillion number including gems like The…

“Crimea River”: Russia & Ukraine’s Water Conflict

Aug 26, 2021 | Willis Sparks and Alex Kliment

Russia and Ukraine have been at odds over lots of things in recent years, but the latest spat is over something particularly fluid and intractable:…

Are Assessments of Afghanistan’s Mineral Wealth Accurate?

Aug 25, 2021 | TRT World

With increasing global demand for rare earth minerals and lithium driving advanced technology, Afghanistan is at the forefront of economic speculation given its famed mineral…

The Climate Crisis Is Worse for Women. Here’s Why.

Aug 24, 2021 | Lauren Jackson

The world’s leading climate scientists issued a landmark report this month with their clearest clarion call to date: The climate crisis is here, it’s humanity’s fault,…

Why Addressing the Climate Crisis Can Help Build More Sustainable Peace

Aug 23, 2021 | Florian Krampe, Farah Hegazi, and Stacy D. VanDeveer

Thirty years of research underlies the realization that climate change poses substantial national, international and human security risks, but analysts have only recently shifted their…

How Ethiopia’s Conflict Has Affected Farming in Tigray

Aug 22, 2021 | Jan Nyssen, Emnet Negash, and Sofie Annys

Since fighting broke out in November 2020 between the Tigrayan regional government and the Ethiopian army, the conflict has wreaked havoc on the lives of…

After Climate Change Forced Her to Miss School, Meet the Activist Fighting Back

Aug 20, 2021 | Joe McCarthy

Aryaana Khan would rather not spend her days thinking about how humans are destroying the environment.

But no matter where she goes, the climate crisis has…

Amplify: Elevating Women’s Voices is Key to our Success in Tackling Climate Change

Aug 20, 2021 | Sierra Bien

Achieving A Gender Just World: Thought Leaders Provide Actionable Ways To Break Through Equality's Biggest Barriers

Aug 19, 2021 | Marianne Schnall

In the first article for the Envision Equality campaign, we highlighted diverse inspirational visions of what a gender just world could be. In this next installment,…

International Response to Haiti's Earthquake Must Avoid 2010 Mistakes

Aug 19, 2021 | Brian Concannon and Kathleen Bergin

As the death toll and displacement from Saturday’s earthquake in Haiti mounts, the United States must urgently mobilize to provide help. But we must, just…

How Can Empowering Women & Girls Help End World Hunger?

Aug 18, 2021 | Leah Rodriguez

World hunger reached a five-year high in 2020 and a third of the world population — 2.3 billion people — did not have access to adequate nutrition. 

Conflict,…

Malala: I Survived the Taliban. I Fear for My Afghan Sisters.

Aug 17, 2021 | Malala Yousafzai

In the last two decades, millions of Afghan women and girls received an education. Now the future they were promised is dangerously close to slipping…

Water and (in-)Security in Afghanistan as the Taliban Take over

Aug 16, 2021 | Water, Peace and Security

The takeover by the Taliban not only threatens people’s lives, security and fundamental freedom, but also significantly increases risks of water insecurity both immediately and…

Taliban Seize Herat and Assault Nearby Dam That Provides Water and Power to Hundreds of Thousands of Afghans

Aug 13, 2021 | Elizabeth B. Hessami and Asef Ghafoory

The Taliban have taken over the Afghan city of Herat, capping three weeks of furious fighting in which both men and women took up arms…

Repairing the Damage to Global Food Systems From COVID-19

Aug 12, 2021 | World Politics Review

According to a United Nations report released last month, just under one-tenth of the global population was undernourished in 2020, up from 8.4 percent in 2019.…

As International Troops Depart Afghanistan, the Threat of Landmines Remains

Aug 11, 2021 | Evan Jones and Daniel Bertoli

Buried amongst the dozens of pressing challenges in Afghanistan is an issue that rarely receives the international spotlight: the prevalence of landmines and other explosive…

You Can’t Talk About Gender Equality Without Talking About Climate Change

Aug 11, 2021 | Angela Priestley

Gender equality gains both locally and globally have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 18 months, but that could be nothing…

5 Ways We Can Address Land Inequality and Women’s Land Rights

Aug 11, 2021 | Mike Taylor and Gabriela Bucher

Land. It is a commodity like no other. We live on it. We grow from it. We drink from it and build our futures upon…

Gender Equality: The Catalyst to Addressing the Triple Crisis Facing Latin American and the Caribbean

Aug 10, 2021 | UNDP

In the first half of 2021, a Feminist Action Coalition for Climate Justice was established as part of the Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality…

Climate Change, Water Security, and Women: A Study on Water Boiling in South Tarawa, Kiribati

Aug 10, 2021 | Asian Development Bank

This publication summarizes the results of a household survey on water boiling practices in South Tarawa, Kiribati, and outlines implications for the design of water…

A Decade in Review: What It Means to Be a Woman in South Africa

Aug 9, 2021 | Victoria O’Regan and Sandisiwe Shoba

Researchers say not much has changed in the past decade regarding land rights for South African women. According to Dr Thandi Ngcobo, CEO and founder…

New Global Initiative: Transforming Gender Norms in Land and Resource Rights

Aug 9, 2021 | Arwen Bailey

When Rosario’s husband died, her life was turned upside down. Not only did she lose her life and business partner and the father of her…

Women in Rural Agriculture Stricken by Climate Change Effects

Aug 9, 2021 | Onke Ngcuka

Climate change is not gender neutral. As developing countries bear the brunt of climate change in the form of extreme weather conditions such as droughts…

UK to Adapt Military to Changing Climate, but Does It Have the Funds and Backing of Troops?

Aug 9, 2021 | Brig. Ben Barry

The United Kingdom has legislated for the country to meet the target of the Paris Agreement on climate change, reducing national greenhouse gas emissions to…

How Uganda Has Helped Turn DRC’s Vast Gold Reserves into a Nightmare

Aug 6, 2021 | Vava Tampa

Congolese gold has become a profitable source of foreign currency for Kampala, with devastating and bloody consequences for the people of DRC.

The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation – A Trial Run for Responsible Sourcing of Raw Materials?

Aug 4, 2021 | Karin Küblböck

On 1 January 2021 the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation entered into force. From now on, companies importing certain minerals into the EU must ensure that…

Mining and Green New Deals

Aug 4, 2021 | Sebastian Ordoñez Muñoz

The recent mainstreaming of the Green New Deal framework has intensified scrutiny on oil majors.

However, the same cannot be said of global extractivist power -…

Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Mali: Birthday Blues or Renewed Hope?

Aug 2, 2021 | Maelle Salzinger

Mali’s past efforts to implement the Women, Peace and Security Agenda have been criticized for their lack of implementation and failure to reach women in…