News


Liberia: Sime Darby Plantation Considers Exiting West Africa Palm Oil Operations: Sources

Feb 21, 2019 | Emily Chow, Reuters

Sime Darby Plantation, the world’s biggest oil palm planter by land holdings, is considering exiting its palm and rubber operations in the West African nation…


Myanmar: Rising Public Concern Over Vacant Land Law Amendment Goes Unaddressed

Feb 21, 2019 | Nyein Nyein, Irrawaddy

The six-month window for the registration of vacant, fallow and virgin land for the use of agribusiness in accordance with the newly amended Vacant, Fallow…


India/Pakistan: India to Stop Its Share of Water from Flowing into Pakistan

Feb 21, 2019 | Archana Chaudhary and Iain Marlow, Bloomberg

Pakistan said it will respond if India launches a military strike, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration announced plans to divert water from…


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…


Myanmar: Businesses Misusing Farmland Face Hefty Fines, Warns Minister

Feb 20, 2019 | Htoo Thant, Myanmar Times

The government will punish people and companies that use farmland for purposes other than growing crops with a fine of 30 percent of the land’s market…


This Penn Student Created a Registry That Identifies Veterans with Similar Health Issues

Feb 20, 2019 | Claire Ochroch, Daily Pennsylvanian

nspired by the health issues he developed after his deployment, Chad Baer is now creating a system that will help identify veterans who could potentially…


Climate Change: White House Prepares to Scrutinize Intelligence Agencies’ Finding That Climate Change Threatens National Security

Feb 20, 2019 | Juliet Eilperin and Missy Ryan, Washington Post

The White House is working to assemble a panel to assess whether climate change poses a national security threat, according to documents obtained by The…


South Sudan: Oil Companies May Be Complicit in Atrocities in South Sudan, UN Panel Says

Feb 20, 2019 | Nick Cumming-Bruce, New York Times

Despite a peace agreement, mass atrocities continue in South Sudan, driven partly by fights over control of oil, and foreign oil companies may be complicit…


Sudan: Fuelling Peace through Dialogue over Natural Resources in Sudan’s West Kordofan

Feb 20, 2019 | UN Environment

Between June 2015 and August 2018, UN Environment, with funding from the European Union, implemented the Promoting Peace Over Natural Resources in Darfur and Kordofan…


Nigeria: Conflicts over Access to Land will Remain a Major Problem for the Nigerian Government

Feb 20, 2019 | Mervyn Piesse, Future Directions International

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in 2015, promising to improve security, reduce corruption and rejuvenate the economy. At the time, Boko Haram, an Islamist…


Somaliland: Providing Cash to People Displaced by Conflict and Drought

Feb 20, 2019 | Abdifatah Muse, Norwegian Refugee Council

Somalia has experienced recurring droughts since 2015. Four consecutive failed rainy seasons have resulted in loss of livestock and food insecurity. Digital cash aid is…


South Sudan: South Sudan Water Minister Says Oil Minister Interfering in Her Activities

Feb 20, 2019 | Sudan Tribune

South Sudanese Water Resources and Irrigation Sophia Pal Gai accused The Minister of Petroleum of Republic of South Sudan Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth of interfering in…


Somalia: Agricultural Advisory Facilitator

Feb 19, 2019 | World Vision

World Vision International is an Evangelical Christian humanitarian aid, development, and advocacy organization.

Background:

SomReP aims to equip producers with the real-time climatic information to allow them…


South Sudan: Charcoal Value/Supply Chain Assessment; Maban County, Upper Nile State South Sudan

Feb 19, 2019 | Relief International

Relief International is a leading nonprofit organization working in 20 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. Relief International specializes in fragile settings,…


Somalia: Humanitarian and Resilience Program Manager 

Feb 19, 2019 | Oxfam

Oxfam is a confederation of 20 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty. Oxfam’s approach is about tackling the conditions that cause…


Jordan: Livelihoods Project Manager 

Feb 19, 2019 | Norwegian Refugee Council

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental, humanitarian organization with 60 years of experience in helping to create a safer and more dignified life…


Pulwama Attack: Sadly, India Can't Resort to 'Water War'

Feb 19, 2019 | Ashish Shukla

The dastardly Pulwama attack has again led to talks of India abrogating the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 and wage a ‘water war’ against Pakistan…


Missing Peace: Why Transboundary Conservation Areas Are Not Resolving Conflicts

Feb 19, 2019 | Elaine (Lan Yin) Hsiao

Transboundary Conservation Areas, such as Parks for Peace, have been heralded for their potential to simultaneously contribute to biodiversity conservation and peace, but evidence to…


Missing Peace: Why Transboundary Conservation Areas Are Not Resolving Conflict

Feb 19, 2019 | Elaine (Lan Yin) Hsiao

Transboundary Conservation Areas, such as Parks for Peace, have been heralded for their potential to simultaneously contribute to biodiversity conservation and peace, but evidence to this effect has…


Afghanistan: As Afghanistan’s Capital Grows, Its Residents Scramble for Clean Water

Feb 19, 2019 | Stefanie Glinkski, IRIN

Afghanistan’s capital is running dry – its groundwater levels depleted by an expanding population and the long-term impacts of climate change. But its teeming informal…


Colombia: Aggressive Coca Eradication Threatens Voluntary Substitution Efforts in Colombia

Feb 19, 2019 | Felipe Puerta and Maria Paula Chaparro, InSight Crime

Colombia’s government plans to deploy an ambitious program to forcefully eradicate illicit crops, raising fears that a crop substitution program, which has been limping along…


Myanmar: The Race to Save Myanmar's Inle Lake

Feb 19, 2019 | Nyaung Shwe, Agence France-Presse

Myanmar's famed Inle Lake has enchanted tourists for decades with its floating gardens and the graceful leg-rowing style of its fisherman, but experts warn the…


Climate Change: Climate Change an 'Imminent' Security Threat, Risk Experts Say

Feb 19, 2019 | Laurie Goering, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Climate change threats - from worsening water shortages in Iraq and Pakistan to harsher hurricanes in the Caribbean - are a growing security risk and…


Liberia: NGO Coalition Urges Gov’t to Investigate Operations of Delta Timber Company

Feb 19, 2019 | Edwin M. Fayia, III, Observer

A lead civil society actor, NGO Coalition of Liberia, has urged the government to institute an investigation into the alleged illegal logging of Delta Timber…


Climate Change: Climate Change Will Fuel More Wars and Displacement in the Middle East, Experts Warn

Feb 19, 2019 | Borzou Daragahi, Independent

The most volatile region in the world is about to be plunged into further chaos because of climate change, academics and international officials warned at…


Climate Change: Lake Chad Water Crisis, Climate Change Take Centre Stage at Hague Conference

Feb 19, 2019 | Africa Prime News

World leaders have converged on The Hague, Netherlands to call on countries to take urgent actions toward reducing the impact of climate change to water,…


Brazil: Brazil's First Indigenous Congresswoman Defends Her People's Rights From Bolsonaro

Feb 19, 2019 | Fabiano Maisonnave

When indigenous leader Joênia Wapichana first came across Jair Bolsonaro, she was appalled. The year was 2008, and there was a heated debate about the demarcation…


Climate Security in Times of Geopolitical Crises — What Ways Forward?

Feb 18, 2019 | Dan Smith, Malin Mobjörk, Florian Krampe, and Karolina Eklöw

Ahead of the fourth Planetary Security Conference on 19–20 February 2019 in The Hague, SIPRI authored the 2019 progress report ‘Climate Security – Making it…


Uganda: Massive Deforestation by Refugees in Uganda Sparks Clashes with Local People

Feb 18, 2019 | Samuel Okiror, Guardian

The cutting down of millions of trees has sparked angry clashes in parts of Uganda between local people and refugees who have been fleeing conflict…


Africa's Rich Oil: From Blessing To A Curse Of Rampant Corruption And Bad Governance On The Continent?

Feb 17, 2019 | Josephus Moses Gray

The African continent in recent years has come to be of major Geo-strategic importance to oil-dependent industrialized economies and the idea of an African rebirth…