Blogs & Opinions

Eliminate Legal Discrimination Against Women to Advance Food Security and Nutrition

Mar 5, 2020 | Ilaria Bottigliero and Françoise Trine

In societies where there is a high degree of gender inequality, there is also a significantly higher proportion of undernourishment among women and girls.

In order to effectively…

Why Climate Change Disproportionately Affects Women

Mar 5, 2020 | Joe McCarthy

Climate change is a planetary phenomenon that will impact all countries, but its effects are being shaped by pervasive and entrenched gender inequality.

Heat waves, droughts, rising…

In Eastern Myanmar, the Karen Watch over a Revolutionary Forest

Mar 4, 2020 | Benjamin D. Hodgdon

For more than 70 years, since shortly after the country formerly known as Burma gained independence, a low-boil insurgency has fought for Karen self-determination, promised…

Revisiting Conflict Minerals Compliance - Developments, Trends and Action Items for the Current Reporting Year

Mar 4, 2020 | Michael R. Littenberg, Anne-Marie L. Beliveau, and Nellie V. Binder

The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation takes effect on January 1, 2021. The EU Regulation generally will require importers of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold (“3TG”…

Are We Radically Underestimating the Effects of Climate on Armed Conflict?

Mar 3, 2020 | Cullen Hendrix

Climate change is widely recognized as a “threat multiplier.” From the United Nations to the G7 to the US Department of Defense, there is emerging consensus that climate change poses…

Environmental Mainstreaming at the 23rd National Mine Action Directors and UN Advisers Meetings

Mar 3, 2020 | Linsey Cottrell and Kendra Dupuy

It was very encouraging to have the environment highlighted in several of the presentations at this year’s National Mine Directors Meeting in Geneva. A plenary…

The Climate-Conflict Connection: Why Aren’t We Acting on It?

Mar 2, 2020 | International Institute for Sustainable Development

Somalia is one of the most fragile states in the world, while also being among the most vulnerable to climate change and least prepared to…

Silicon Valley Insider: The Intersection of Food and Gender

Feb 28, 2020 | Fiorella Riccobono

When examining the Sustainable Development Goals of The United Nations; zero hunger, responsible production, and climate action are three of the main focal points. In…

Can Artificial Intelligence Predict the Middle East's Next Conflict?

Feb 28, 2020 | Robert Tollast

In January 2014, most Iraq analysts knew security in the country was rapidly deteriorating. Beyond general warnings, however, few predicted exactly how bad the situation…

What Can National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights Do for Women's Rights?

Feb 27, 2020 | Nora Götzmann and Wangui Kimotho

National action plans (NAPs) are currently applied by states as one of the key policy tools for the implementation of the United Nations Guiding Principles…

Climate Change Leads to More Violence Against Women, Girls

Feb 27, 2020 | Jeannette Cwienk

Ntoya Sande was 13 years old when she got married — against her will. "I was sent to be married because of a shortage of food in…

Gender Gap Is Causing Wars Says Defence Forces Chief

Feb 26, 2020

“In the context of eco-system governance, perhaps the most invasive species of all is human beings,” he said.

The gender gap is one of the biggest…

Youth Transitions in the Drylands: Gendered Rights in Land Access and Control

Feb 26, 2020 | Esther Njuguna, Shambel Getachew, Brenda BoonaBaana, Dismas Mwaseba, and Eleanor Mavis

In 2019, the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals (CRP-GLDC) initiated a study to understand ‘youth realities, youth aspirations and youth opportunity…

Gender Inclusivity in Attaining Food Security

Feb 25, 2020

In nearly two thirds of the countries worldwide, women are more likely than men to face food insecurity. The differences in gender roles, norms, and…

Hunger Is an Often Overlooked Cause - and Effect - of Gender Inequality

Feb 25, 2020 | Annie Reneau

Around the world, women and girls face many obstacles to advancement, such as unequal access to education, lack of economic opportunity, and disproportionate rates of…

Why Has the AU Been Silent on the Ethiopian Dam Dispute?

Feb 25, 2020 | Meressa K. Dessu, Dawit Yohannes, and Roba D. Sharamo

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan are currently engaged in vital talks over the dispute relating to the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam…

Why Climate and Conflict Are Shaping the Crises of Our Time (and What to Do about It)

Feb 24, 2020 | Janani Vivekananda

Humanitarian need is increasing. Crises are becoming more complex through the interactions between climate change, disasters, and conflicts. Not only are humanitarian crises on the…

Climate Heroines: Women on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis

Feb 22, 2020

They are the ones who pick up the pieces after extreme weather, droughts, floods, storms.

They are the ones on the frontline when crops fail, when…

In Myanmar, a Land Rights Program Is Accelerating Gender Equality, Growing Rural Incomes, and Preserving Forests

Feb 21, 2020 | Beth Roberts

Ma Phyu, who lives in one such village, recently received a land certificate guaranteeing her right to land she had been farming for two decades.…

Educating Girls Is More Effective in the Climate Emergency than Many Green Technologies

Feb 21, 2020

Hydrogen powered superyachts and donations from billionaires often grab headlines in the fight against climate change. Whilst more simple and potentially more effective ways to…

Marriage of Survival: Will Climate Change Mean More Child Brides?

Feb 19, 2020 | Abigail Higgins

After Cyclone Idai battered southern Malawi last year, the hotline Weston Msowoya manages was flooded with calls. They were reporting cases of young girls being married off…

Meet Five Newly Empowered Women Farmers from Zambia and Mozambique

Feb 19, 2020 | Patricia Malasha

Nine traditional chiefs have partnered with USAID and DFID over the last five years to demarcate and document the land rights of 30,000 women farmers across Zambia…

Australia Needs to Walk the Talk on Women, Peace and Security

Feb 19, 2020 | Louise Allen

In October 2000, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1325, which formally established the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. The agenda has become the central…

"Women, Peace, and Security" Initiatives Are National Security Initiatives

Feb 19, 2020 | Alexandra A.K. Melse

Welcome to today’s symposium, “National Security as a Feminist Issue: Twenty Years of Women, Peace, and Security Initiatives.” In recognition of UN Security Council Resolution…

Sharing the Nile Beats War over It

Feb 19, 2020 | Christian Science Monitor

Hot wars often get more attention than efforts to cool the passions that ignite them. This is not the case, however, in a dispute between…

Climate Change More Prominent Than Ever at Munich Security Conference with “World Climate Security Report 2020” Release

Feb 19, 2020 | Caitlin Werrell and Francesco Femia

Climate change has never been very prominent at the Munich Security Conference (MSC), a leading forum for senior military, security and foreign policy leaders. That…

Gender Inequality, Health and Safety of Women in Small-Scale Mining

Feb 18, 2020 | Gibson Mhaka

Narrating her life as a female miner, Ms Joyce Mpofu (54), a single mother from Bubi District of Matabeleland North province, shared incidents that threaten…

The Urgency and Complexity of Environmental Peacebuilding

Feb 13, 2020 | Jeremy Moore

Daily news headlines sometimes note, but often omit, the rise in violent conflicts linked to environmental shocks from our changing climate. People in parts of…

India's Looming Water Scarcity and the Need for Bringing Women to the Centre Stage

Feb 12, 2020 | Ananya Pathak

As the summer months approach, a reality haunts most households across the length and breadth of India and that is an impending water crisis. Be…

Carving Out Meaningfut Space for Justice in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda?

Feb 11, 2020 | Kimberly Brown

At the core of SDG16+ is the understanding that in order to enable a better and more sustainable future for all, peace, justice and inclusion…