News


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…


Conflict Minerals: Apple Removed 18 Smelters and Refiners in 2019 for Flouting Conflict Mineral Code of Conduct

Feb 6, 2020 | Mikey Campbell, Appleinsider

Apple in a report on mineral sourcing issued Thursday said 18 smelters and refiners that were not willing to participate in third-party audits were removed…


Afghanistan/Iran: God, Gas and Heroin. Now, the Fight’s over Water

Feb 6, 2020 | Stefanie Glinski, LA Times

Men across this windblown, lawless desert have fought over opium, God and gasoline, but now a wheat farmer with a shovel and a rifle, senses…


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…


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,…


Conflict Minerals: The Battle for Stronger EU Conflict Minerals Legislation

Feb 4, 2020 | John Williams, Global Mining Review

The EU's new conflict minerals regulation is due to come into force on 1 January 2021, almost 4 years after the text of the legislation…


Egypt/Ethiopia: As the Risk of a ‘Water War’ Fades, Is It Too Late to Save the Nile?

Feb 4, 2020 | Peter Schwartzstein, World Politics Review

Ask the farmers, fishermen or anyone else who depends on the Nile River for their livelihood, and they’ll tell you this isn’t the same Nile…


Call for Writers: Gender and Environmental Law

Feb 4, 2020 | Tarragona International Environmental Law Colloquium

The 5th Tarragona International Environmental Law Colloquium (TIEC) - 'Gender and Environmental Law. Challenges and Opportunities for Promoting the Role of Gender in Environmental Justice',…


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…


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…


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…


Bridging the Gap of Women’s Role in the Peace and Security Agenda

Feb 4, 2020 | African Union

As the African Union (AU) dedicates year 2020 to accelerate action and efforts towards ending all wars, civil conflicts, gender-based violence and prevention of genocide,…


"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…


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.…


Mining: Gold Production Decline; Sierra Leone Smuggling: Mining Update

Feb 3, 2020 | Felix Njini, Michael Cohen, and Michael Kavanagh, Bloomberg

Global gold production is likely to keep falling. Sierra Leone’s government has deployed mine monitors and is considering using drones to try and stop the…


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…


Climate Change: The US Navy Quietly Shut down Its Task Force on Climate Change

Feb 3, 2020 | Union of Concerned Scientists

The US Navy has dismantled its Task Force on Climate Change, which was designed to use the best available science to prepare naval leadership for…


Iraq: Suspicious Oil Deals Dissipate Iraq’s Resources

Feb 2, 2020 | Arab Weekly

Analysts said they deplored the decision by the resigning Iraqi government to adopt suspicious deals that waste the country’s oil wealth. The move, an apparent…


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…


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…


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…


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,…


Study: Climate Challenges Linked to Gender-Based Violence

Jan 31, 2020 | Africa Times

Climate change and related environmental challenges are implicated in gender-based violence and discrimination, notably in sub-Saharan Africa’s fishing and timber industries, according to a new…


Myanmar: Myanmar Earns US$310 M from Fishery Exports in 2020

Jan 31, 2020 | Eleven

Myanmar earned about US$310 million from fishery export from October 1 to January 17 in this fiscal year and it is more US$45 million compared…


Enhancing Gender-Responsive Disaster Risk Management: Why a Change of Mindset Is the First Step

Jan 30, 2020 | Emily Brearley, Thembi Kumapley, and Katharine Vincent

Mortality rates from disaster occurrences are exponentially higher for women than for men. Some studies actually find that women and children are 14 times more…


DRC: Congo Moves to Monopolise about 25 Percent of All Cobalt Exports

Jan 30, 2020 | William Clowes and Michael J. Kavanagh, Bloomberg

The Democratic Republic of Congo created a state monopoly for hand-mined cobalt as the government tries to exert more market control on the battery material.…


Kyrgyzstan: From Where I Stand: “Expanding Economic Opportunities of Women is Key to Ensure Safety and Prosperity”

Jan 30, 2020 | UN Women

Kursanali kyzy Begimai, 24, is the leader of a self-help group in a village on the disputed Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border. Running a profitable agro-business and conflict-resolution…