International
Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kurdistan on the Brink of Collapse as Oil Prices Crash
May 3, 2020
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Viktor Katona, OilPrice.com
Attentive Oilprice readers must have read at least a dozen articles describing how hard Iraq has been hit by the drop in oil prices. Iraq’s…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Government Asks UN to Mediate Budget Dispute with Baghdad
May 2, 2020
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Stratfor
The president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Nechirvan Barzani, asked the U.N. special representative to Iraq to help mediate its latest dispute with Baghdad…
What COVID-19 Tells Us About Gender Inequality in Latin America
May 1, 2020
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Eugene Zapata-Garesché and Luciana Cardoso
Mexico City – In the midst of social and economic unrest, the COVID-19 pandemic appears as an uninvited guest to an already crowded cocktail of…
China/Vietnam/South China Sea: China Updates Disputed Sea Maps to Get Back at Vietnam
May 1, 2020
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Ralph Jennings, Voice of America
China has renamed scores of islets and underwater landforms in the South China Sea, a move some analysts say is intended to push back against…
Afghanistan: How to Save Afghanistan's Groundwater?
May 1, 2020
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Wadsam
The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) today launched its recent research Issues Paper, “Surface Groundwater Interaction in the Kabul Region Basin”, authored by Dr…
Vietnam: Addressing Gender-Based Violence Alongside the COVID-19 Pandemic in Viet Nam
Apr 29, 2020
Quang Ninh Province, Viet Nam – The “Anh Duong” (Sunshine) House Shelter for the provision of essential services to survivors of violence against women and…
Can Militant Groups Be Environmentalists?
Apr 29, 2020
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Kira Walker, World Politics Review
Competition over scarce natural resources is often a key driver of the tensions that fuel armed conflict in different corners of the world. Yet in…
South Sudan: South Sudan Security Targets Stall as Oil Funds Diverted to Fight Covid-19
Apr 28, 2020
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Fred Oluoch, East African
Implementation of key aspects of the South Sudan peace agreement are being affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Key among them is the implementation of security…
Guatemala: Tejiendo Paz Addresses Environmental Issues, Conflict and the Pandemic
Apr 28, 2020
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Janey Fugate
TOTONICAPAN, Guatemala — Wearing the brightly colored skirt typical of Maya women in the Western Highlands, Nicolasa Grasiela Checlan held up a baton with a…
Myanmar: Campaigners Call for Transparency in Myanmar Timber Trade after 850 Tons of Wood Seized
Apr 28, 2020
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Michael Tatarski, Mongabay
Earlier this month, Myanmar’s Information Ministry announced that the country’s Forest Department had seized nearly 850 tons of illegal timber between March 30 and April…
Myanmar: Communities Clash with Conservation Efforts in Northern Myanmar's Hkakaborazi Region
Apr 28, 2020
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Emily Fishbein, Mongabay
In late 2018, following a series of demonstrations and confrontations, indigenous communities primarily from the Rawang ethnic minority expelled the Myanmar Forest Department and its…
DRC: 12 Rangers from Virunga Park Killed While Trying to Save Civilians from FDLR Ambush
Apr 28, 2020
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Angus Begg, Independent Online
Twelve rangers and four civilians were killed late last week in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park, home to the highly endangered…
DRC: DR Congo Locks Down Mining City and Zambia Border Town
Apr 28, 2020
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Reuters
Democratic Republic of Congo imposed a 24-hour lockdown on the mining hub of Lubumbashi on Tuesday and was set to shut down Kasumbalesa, a border…
Iraq: How the Oil Crash Affects Oil-Dependent Countries Like Iraq
Apr 27, 2020
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Smya Kullab and Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Associated Press
Iraq is planning painful cuts in social benefits relied on by millions of government workers. Saudi Arabia will likely have to delay mega-projects. Egypt and…
Yemen: On the Frontline of War, Yemeni Women Are Building Peace
Apr 27, 2020
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Kira Walker
It was the third year of the war when Muna Luqman heard of a conflict over water in Al-Haymatain, a remote area of Yemen’s Taiz…
Indonesia: Conflict between Indonesian Villagers, Pulpwood Firm Flares up over Crop-Killing Drone
Apr 27, 2020
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Hans Nicholas Jong, Mongabay
Villagers in Sumatra accuse a pulpwood plantation company of using a drone to spray herbicide to kill their crops, calling it the latest in a…
Sudan: Sudanese Parties Agree to Share Resources with Darfur Region
Apr 27, 2020
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Ahmed Younis, Asharq Al-Awsat
The Sudanese negotiating parties have reached an agreement to share national resources between the central government and Darfur region. The agreement stipulates allocating 40 percent…
Africa: Triple Threat - Conflict, Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19
Apr 26, 2020
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Nontobeko Mlambo, AllAfrica
Johannesburg — The new coronavirus, officially called SARS-CoV-2, has infected more than three million people worldwide – 31,000 in Africa by 26 April – with Egypt,…
Liberia: Gender Ministry’s Exempt During COVID-19 Lockdown, Increases Sex & Domestic Violence, Says Child Rights Activist
Apr 26, 2020
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Obediah Johnson, FPA
Monrovia – Liberian child rights activist, Satta Fatumata Sheriff has frowned on the decision by the George Weah—led government to close the Ministry of Gender, Children…
Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil-for-Budget War Reignites between Erbil and Baghdad
Apr 26, 2020
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Lawk Ghafuri, Rudaw
Having spent a year shirking its end of the oil-for-budget agreement with Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has said it is ready to hand…
Myanmar: Jade Scavengers Killed Due to Landslide in Northern Myanmar
Apr 25, 2020
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Star
Three jade scavengers were killed with one other injured in a landslide in Myanmar's Kachin state, according to a release from the Home Affairs Ministry…
Afghanistan: Precious Stones Illegally Mined In Afghan Province
Apr 24, 2020
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Rohullah Anwari and Abubakar Siddique, Gandhara
Illegal mining of precious stones in an eastern Afghan province is depriving its impoverished residents of resources and their country of much-needed revenue. Residents of…
Syria: Makeshift Oil Refineries a Necessary Evil for Locals in North-West Syria
Apr 24, 2020
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Kaamil Ahmed, Guardian
Black pools, long trenches and charred earth have become common sights in the fields of north-west Syria, signs of an informal oil economy that has…
Syria: Dying to Keep Warm: Oil Trade and Makeshift Refining in North-West Syria
Apr 24, 2020
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Wim Zwijnenburg, Bellingcat
Entering into their 9th year of the war, access to basic humanitarian needs for Syrian civilians, both displaced and local communities continues to be a…
Girls are COVID-19 Victims in Developing Countries
Apr 23, 2020
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Jackie Abramian, Grit Daily
COVID-19 has turned our world upside down, and girls in developing countries and refugee camps have become its frontline victims. Along with other countless international…
Egypt/Ethiopia/Sudan: 'It'll Cause a Water War': Divisions Run Deep as Filling of Nile Dam Nears
Apr 23, 2020
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Ruth Michaelson, Guardian
Despite Egypt’s fears of ‘hydro hegemony’ and concerns it will worsen water shortages in Sudan, Ethiopia’s controversial dam project is close to fruition.
Colombia: Spike in Big Cat Poaching During Coronavirus Lockdown in Colombia, Conservation Group Says
Apr 23, 2020
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Aristos Georgiou, Newsweek
Conservation non-profit Panthera is reporting an increase in the poaching of wild cats—such as jaguars and pumas—during Colombia's COVID-19 lockdown, the organization has told Newsweek.…
Colombia: Colombia Wants to Plant 180 Million Trees: Is It a Realistic Goal?
Apr 23, 2020
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Antonio José Paz Cardona, Mongabay
At the end of January this year, Colombian President Iván Duque announced at the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, that the country’s goal…
An Earth Day Profile: The Power of Action, Bringing African Women Environmentalists Together for Shared Learning
Apr 22, 2020
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UN Environment Programme
As many civil society organizations come together to observe the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, plans have had to change since the COVID-19 global crisis and pandemic has led…
Women and Girls Main Victims of Domestic and Gender Violence – SADC Secretariat
Apr 22, 2020
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Namibia Economist
Addressing the sudden rise in domestic violence and gender violence is a key concern for authorities in all the Member States of the Southern African…