News

Myanmar: Myanmar Land Ownership Law Could Displace Millions of Farmers

Mar 1, 2019 | Peter Yeung and Carlotta Dotto, Deutsche Welle

Under a land reformation act, millions of farmers across Myanmar could be forced from land they have tilled for generations. Many are unaware of the…

Myanmar: Understand Customary System before Implementing Laws

Mar 1, 2019 | Morung Express

In 2014, the residents of Somra, a Naga village in Myanmar, found a new signboard posted on the side of the road inside the community…

Disputes over Water Will Be an Increasing Source of International Tension

Feb 28, 2019 | Economist

It has become a cliché of doom-mongering: future wars will be over water. The forecast is old enough to face a sceptical backlash. Whatever happened,…

Myanmar: Land Legacies, Segregation Could Deter Rakhine Investment Push

Feb 28, 2019 | Thompson Chau, Myanmar Times

The State Counsellor called for investments “implemented with responsibility” as a crucial force in “putting Rakhine’s development trajectory on track” at a Japan-sponsored investment forum…

Somalia: Set of Milestones to Meet Somalia’s Obligations under Environmental Conventions Agreed at a High-Level Meeting in Mogadishu

Feb 28, 2019 | UNDP

A set of milestones to meet three Rio Conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification were agreed at a high-level environment meeting this month, which was…

Myanmar: Mandalay to Debate Effort to Resolve Land-Ownership Issues

Feb 27, 2019 | Phyo Wai Kyaw, Myanmar Times

The Mandalay Region hluttaw (parliament) will debate a proposal to give title deeds to people who have lived for a long time on land that does…

Myanmar: Recognize Our Customary Tenure and Rights: Nagas to Myanmar Govt

Feb 27, 2019 | Morung Express

Indigenous Naga communities in Myanmar have called upon the Government of Myanmar to recognize “the customary tenure system and respect their rights to own, use…

Colombia: Colombia to Examine Selling Coffee at Its Own Price, Ignoring New York Market

Feb 27, 2019 | Reuters

Colombia, the world’s top producer of washed arabica, will look into selling its harvest at a price which covers production costs, without being tied to…

Liberia: US$372.67M in Loans, Concession Agreements under House Review

Feb 27, 2019 | Leroy M. Sonpon, III, Observer

The House of Representatives is reviewing US$372.67 million Concession and Loan Agreements submitted by President George Weah, as well as an Incentive Agreement with the…

South Sudan: Conflict to Blame for Extreme Hunger in South Sudan

Feb 27, 2019 | Norwegian Refugee Council

Around 6.4 million people are currently at risk of hunger according to a recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report into the escalating food…

Jon Barnett

University of Melbourne
Australia
Feb 26, 2019

Jon Barnett is a professor of political geography at the University of Melbourne and Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow. His research focuses on the ways…

National Security and the Nexus of Climate, Conflict and Migration

Feb 25, 2019 | Amanda Rodewald

Does climate change pose a national security threat? That is the question to be addressed by a proposed Presidential Committee on Climate Security, according to…

Myanmar: Myanmar’s Milling Industry Devastated by New Logging Policies

Feb 25, 2019 | Genevieve Belmaker, Good Men Project

Myanmar’s Timber Merchants Association is crying foul over what they say are the devastating impacts from a one-year logging ban and new, restrictive government policies.…

Myanmar: Lethal Landslips and Drug Addiction: Myanmar's Toxic Jade Trade

Feb 25, 2019 | Peter Yeung and Zaw Moe Htet, Guardian

A controversial new gemstone law fails to address the hazards of an industry in which scores of workers die each year. Testimonies heard by the…

India/Pakistan: Are India and Pakistan on the Verge of a Water War?

Feb 25, 2019 | Keith Johnson, Foreign Policy

With tensions rising between India and Pakistan in the wake of a deadly terrorist attack earlier this month that killed more than 40 Indian police…

Myanmar: After Decades of Conflict, Land Deadline Looms for Myanmar Villagers

Feb 25, 2019 | Rina Chandran, Reuters

After nearly seven decades of conflict, the Karen National Union (KNU), the oldest ethnic armed group, signed a ceasefire agreement with the Myanmar government in…

Update on Environmental Peacebuilding Association Interest Groups

Feb 24, 2019

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) has developed a series of Interest Groups to provide Association members with venues to engage around their shared interest in specific…

Seeking Active Members for the Gender Interest Group

Feb 24, 2019

The Environmental Peacebuilding Association is excited to announce the development of a Gender Interest Group! While the precise scope of activities will be decided by the chairs and…

Afghanistan: Seeds of Hope: Why Afghan Farmers No Longer Give a Fig for Poppies

Feb 24, 2019 | Sayed Salahuddin, Arab News

For decades, Afghanistan’s opium harvests earned the country worldwide notoriety. Now it is winning a global reputation with a very different export — fresh and…

Call for Submissions: Building Sustainable Peace: Ideas, Evidence, Strategies

Feb 23, 2019 | Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies

The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, one of the world's leading academic centers for the study of the…

Liberia: Sexual Violence & Threats Documented at Liberia Agricultural Company

Feb 22, 2019 | FrontPage Africa

Swiss-based human rights group, Bread for all (Bfa) and her Liberian partners, Green Advocates International (GAI), Alliance for Rural Democracy (ARD) and Natural Resource Women…

Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Dried Fig Exports Reach $47M

Feb 22, 2019 | Rohullah Arman, TOLOnews

Figures by Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) show that Afghanistan has exported figs valued almost $47 million in the last 10 months. The…

Afghanistan: Research Reveals Severe Lack of Water Along Harirod River

Feb 22, 2019 | Gulabuddin Ghubar, TOLOnews

A research by Afghan Institute of Strategic Studies shows that water level has dropped by 50 percent in Harirod River water zones, affecting many areas…

Afghanistan: Water Shortage Warning in Western Afghanistan

Feb 22, 2019 | Prensa Latina

The Afghanistan Institute for Strategic Studies warned Friday of water shortages in the west of the country after a 50 per cent drop in the…

UNDP Strategy Highlights How Gender Equality Can Drive SDG Progress

Feb 21, 2019 | Catherine Benson Wahlen

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has released its third gender equality strategy, covering the years 2018-2021. The Strategy provides a road map for elevating and…

Colombia: Colombia's Ex-Rebels Turn Tourist Guides, but Peace Remains Fragile

Feb 21, 2019 | Anastasia Moloney, Thomson Reuters Foundation

As a former rebel fighter, Ximena Cruz used to hide and survive in Colombia’s dense forests, but now in peacetime she hopes tourists will visit…

Myanmar: Corruption of Myanmar’s Illegal Teak Trade 'Goes to the Heart of Government'

Feb 21, 2019 | Ekklesia

For three decades, the multi-million dollar international trade in Burmese teak has been riddled with crime and high-level corruption, driving conflict and human rights abuses…

Climate Change: Prepare Now for Accelerating Climate Threats, Military Officials Warn

Feb 21, 2019 | Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Militaries must prepare now to deal with more frequent disasters, new conflicts and other risks as accelerating climate change brings threats that could draw in…

Climate Change: 'Red Team' Revived under Physicist Who Sees 'CO2 Drought'

Feb 21, 2019 | Scott Waldman, E&E News reporter

The Trump administration finally found a way to formally question climate science. William Happer, a prominent climate skeptic in the Trump administration, is heading a…

Liberia: EPA Takes Steps to Address Land Degradation in Liberia

Feb 21, 2019 | FrontPage Africa

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia has begun taking steps to address land degradation in the country. One of the steps includes the vetting,…