International
Climate Change: Security Council Eyes Warming's Effect on Stability
Jan 17, 2019
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Jean Chemnick, E&E News
The 193 countries of the United Nations will have a chance this month to weigh in on how — and if — the Security Council…
Rwanda: Blockchain App for Miners in Rwanda Ensures the Minerals in Your iPhone Are Conflict-Free
Jan 17, 2019
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Madeline Bennett, Diginomica
Sustainability and traceability are two of the biggest pressure areas for manufacturers. Consumers, partners and regulators are casting ever more scrutiny on the ethical and…
Liberia: Liberia Gets $25m World Bank Credit for Smallholder Agriculture Transformation
Jan 17, 2019
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APA News
The World Bank Board of Executive Directors has approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $25 million for the Smallholder Agriculture Transformation and Agribusiness…
Conflict Minerals: Ford Motor Company Launches Blockchain Pilot on IBM Platform to Ensure Ethical Sourcing of Cobalt
Jan 16, 2019
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Rachel Wolfson, Forbes
Understanding the true potential of blockchain technology only becomes clear when it’s applied to solving a real-world, global problem. To ensure the responsible sourcing of…
Afghanistan: Durrani Breaks Ground on Saffron Institute in Herat
Jan 16, 2019
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Storai Karimi, Pajhwok Afghan News
Agriculture Minister Nasir Ahmad Durrani on Wednesday laid the foundation of ‘Saffron Institute’ in Herat province, saying Turkey was interested in production and processing of…
Afghanistan: Snow Fall Brings Severe Risk to Displaced Afghans
Jan 16, 2019
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Norwegian Refugee Council
This year’s first snow has fallen in the centre and northeastern parts of Afghanistan. More snow and temperatures as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius…
DRC: Ford and IBM Use Blockchain to Combat Child Labour in Congo
Jan 16, 2019
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Ben Chapman, Independent
Ford, IBM and LG have joined forces to use blockckain to prevent child labour being used to mine minerals essential for making smartphones and electric cars. The…
Conflict Minerals: IBM, Ford, LG Chem Lead Blockchain Coalition for Ethically Sourced Minerals
Jan 16, 2019
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Dean Takahashi, Venture Beat
A coalition of companies led by IBM will use blockchain technology to ensure that the supply chain for minerals will be ethically sourced. The coalition…
Liberia: From the Field: Liberia Boosts Efforts to Guard against Rising Seas
Jan 16, 2019
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UN
With rising sea levels due to climate change already affecting coastal communities in Liberia, there are fears that densely populated parts of the capital Monrovia…
Jordan/Iraq: Jordan, Iraq Agree to Finalize Basra-Aqaba Oil Pipeline
Jan 15, 2019
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Al Bawaba
King Abdullah of Jordan visited Iraq on Monday to activate security agreements between the two countries and finalize an oil pipeline project from Basra to…
Liberia: Sinoe Community Conserving Its Forest but Gets No Support
Jan 15, 2019
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James Harding Giahyue, FrontPage Africa
When Nitrian obtained a community forest status in 2011—one of the first to do following a new law seeking to give communities their shares of…
Myanmar: Establishment of Land Bank under Way
Jan 15, 2019
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Eleven Myanmar
Efforts are being made to set up a land bank in order to solve land use problems, said Thaung Tun, Union Minister for Investment and…
Iraq: Devastating Drought Dries up Kabul [Video]
Jan 14, 2019
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Neil Bowdler, Agence France-Presse
Residents of the Afghan capital, Kabul, are drilling deeper and deeper for water as the country's drought takes hold. The water shortage has been exacerbated…
Iraq/Kurdistan: 30,000 bpd of Oil ‘Looted’ from Kirkuk, Taken to Sulaimani: PUK Official
Jan 13, 2019
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Rudaw
Some 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil are being looted from Kirkuk and smuggled into Sulaimani, a top Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) official…
Afghanistan: In War-Weary Kabul, Burning Coal and Tires Keeps Residents Warm — and the City Choked by Smog
Jan 12, 2019
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Alex Horton and Sharif Hassan, Washington Post
Afghanistan, long embroiled in conflict, has focused for the past 18 years on security and reconstruction at the expense of issues affecting the environment, according…
Afghanistan: 2,000 Hectares of Grabbed Land Recovered in Kabul: Governor
Jan 12, 2019
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Gulabuddin Ghubar, TOLOnews
Kabul governor Yaqub Haidari on Saturday said that at least 2,000 hectares of land was recovered in Kabul over the past 10 months. He said…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan's Kabul Faces Water Crisis as Drought, Population Strain Supply
Jan 11, 2019
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Agence France-Presse
Every year 80 million cubic metres (2.8 billion cubic feet) of water are extracted from Kabul's aquifers -- nearly double the natural recharge rate through…
Myanmar: Risk of Floods as Myanmar Builds Bridge Near Border
Jan 10, 2019
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Abdul Aziz, Coxs Bazar
The Myanmar government is building a bridge on Tambru canal close to Bangladesh’s barbed- wire border fence. Built on Myanmar’s land, the bridge has too…
Myanmar: Myanmar Cracking Down on Opium, but Conflicts Push Drug Trade
Jan 10, 2019
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Al Jazeera
The amount of land being used to grow opium poppies continues to decline in Myanmar, but ongoing conflicts are hampering efforts to stamp out the…
Iraq: ‘Living Under a Black Sky:’ The Forgotten Cost of Conflict
Jan 10, 2019
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Bryan Bowman, Globe Post
As Iraq continues to rebuild after the war with ISIS, environmental pollution, an often overlooked consequence of conflict, threatens the public health and future security…
Niger: Signing of a Peace Agreement between Fulani and Mahamid Arab Communities in the Diffa Region of Niger
Jan 9, 2019
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Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
The Fulani and Mahamid Arab communities from the municipalities of Foulatari, N’guelbeli, Goudoumaria and Mainé Soroa in the Diffa region of Niger signed a peace…
Colombia: Illegal Deforestation Spikes in Colombia: How FARC Prevented Deforestation and the Government Cannot
Jan 9, 2019
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Ooda Loop
Although FARC groups have been largely demobilized in the two years since the peace deal they signed with the Colombian government, the government has been…
Myanmar: Traders Hope for a Boost from New Gem Laws
Jan 9, 2019
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Kyaw Ko Ko, Myanmar Times
The new amendments to the law governing the extraction of gemstones in Myanmar are expected to offer relief for the gem industry in Mandalay. Industry…
DRC: DRC Miner SMB Leaves Responsible-Sourcing Scheme to Join Another
Jan 8, 2019
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Fiston Mahamba and Barbara Lewis, Reuters
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s biggest miner of coltan, an ore containing metals used in mobile phones, is leaving the ITSCI certification scheme relied on…
DRC: Investigating DR Congo's Illegal Gold Trade
Jan 8, 2019
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Lisa Dupuy and Klaas van Dijken, Deutsche Welle
The conflict-ridden African nation is rich in gold — and gold smugglers, who are often linked to rebel groups. But tracing commercially available gold back…
Liberia: China Breaks Ground for Liberia’s First Plywood Factory
Jan 8, 2019
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Samuel G. Dweh, FrontPage Africa
“We are here to break ground for the construction of a plywood factory, the first of its kind in Liberia, and for Liberia,” a Chinese…
DRC: DRC on the Brink
Jan 7, 2019
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Resource Clips, Greg Klein
This is the place that inspired the term “crimes against humanity.” As a timely new book points out, American writer George Washington Williams coined that…
Colombia: How Organized Crime Profits from Deforestation in Colombia
Jan 7, 2019
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Bjorn Kjelstad and Felipe Puerta, InSight Crime
Two years after the signing of a peace deal between the Colombian government and the FARC, Colombia’s forests are under siege and experiencing heightened levels…
Liberia: Green Advocates, IDI Develop New Tools to Hold Oil Palm Farmers Accountable for Environmental and Human Rights Violations
Jan 7, 2019
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Alloycious David, Liberian Observer
Green Advocates International (GAI) and Inclusive Development International (IDI) have developed new advocacy tools that would be used by local communities to hold oil palm…
Myanmar: Salween Peace Park to Keep Lands in Local Hands
Jan 7, 2019
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Lawi Weng, Irrawaddy
Representatives of the Salween Peace Park have said there is no vacant land in Karen State and that all land and its natural resources are…