Blogs & Opinions

Ghana Needs a Grievance Mechanism to Secure Women's Land Rights

Nov 5, 2019 | Nana Ama Yirrah

From farms to towns, women are a major provider of food and food security for their families, but women in half of the world still struggle to…

Guatemalan Women Force Development Bank to Investigate Gender Policy Violations

Nov 5, 2019 | Tamara Mohr

After a complaint filed by women's groups from Ixquisis, Guatemala, the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) has started an investigation on several policy violations, amongst which…

Trump Keeps Talking About 'Keeping' Middle East Oil. That Would Be Illegal

Nov 5, 2019 | James G. Stewart

President Trump wants it known that — despite his recent decision to pull back the U.S. militarily back from previously Kurdish-held territory in Syria —…

To Give Peace a Chance in Colombia, It's Time to Protect Women Land Defenders

Nov 4, 2019 | Carmen Sanchez Cumming

More than three years have passed since the government of Colombia signed a peace agreement with FARC rebels that promised to end the longest internal armed…

Ensuring Safe Drinking Water in Rohingya Camps of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

Nov 4, 2019 | Dr. Zahid Hayat Mahmud

Since August 2017, around one million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh following a wave of targeted violence in the neighboring Rakhine State of Myanmar. Most of the…

To Give Peace a Chance in Colombia, It's Time to Protect Women Land Defenders

Nov 4, 2019 | Carmen Sanchez Cumming

More than three years have passed since the government of Colombia signed a peace agreement with FARC rebels that promised to end the longest internal armed…

Why Environmental Security Is Paramount to Venezuela’s Future

Nov 2, 2019 | Bram Ebus

Venezuela’s historic meltdown is often explained as a consequence of bad governance, corruption and the collapse of the oil sector or of international sanctions. Solutions…

Women Pastoralists Feel the Heat of Climate Change

Nov 1, 2019 | Sharon Birch-Jeffrey

For many people, climate change is about shrinking glaciers, rising sea levels, longer and more intense heatwaves, and other extreme and unpredictable weather patterns. But…

The Road to Women's Economic Empowerment: Do Women (and Men) Prefer On or Off the Farm?

Nov 1, 2019 | Berber Kramer and Isabel Lambrecht

Improving women’s economic empowerment continues to be the focus of a wide range of development projects, ranging from vocational trainings to microcredit to cash and…

Language Matters: The Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Japan and South Korea

Oct 31, 2019 | Yeonju Jung and Ayako Tsujisaka

Nineteen years ago today, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325—a foundational resolution to the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. Since the…

Tanzania's Female Parliamentarians to Mainstream Gender in Climate Adaptation

Oct 30, 2019 | Shakwaanande Natai, Madaka Tumbo, Winifred Masiko, and Henry Mahoo

Climate change has been described as a wicked problem, with complexities, feedback loops and tipping points that can cause damage in the most undeserving of…

Men Sweeping? Women Inheriting? Kenya Shakes Up Gender Roles

Oct 30, 2019 | Caroline Wambui

It’s early morning and Moses Njiru 43, has an array of household chores lined up before heading to his job as a cattle broker. 

Dressed in…

Trump's Baffling Plan to Pillage Syria's Oil

Oct 30, 2019 | Robin Wright

President Trump dropped a stunner during his rambling press conference, on Sunday, after announcing the death of Abu Baker al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State leader, in a…

Climate Change to Further Escalate Violence in Western Africa

Oct 28, 2019 | Rabiya Jaffery

Nearly 50 million people in west Africa rely on agriculture and livestock for their livelihood but the land available for pastoral use has been rapidly…

Conflict Minerals Policy Shows the EU Can and Does Learn from the Mistakes of Others

Oct 28, 2019 | Dirk-Jan Koch and Olga Burlyuk

It is easier to learn from your own mistakes than from the mistakes of others. But can a cumbersome political structure like the European Union…

Climate Change Is Benefiting Terrorists in Somalia

Oct 27, 2019 | Christine Ro

Almost half of all people in Somalia don’t have enough food, according to Save the Children. The factors are complex, but a core one is…

Climate Change Reinforces the World's Inequalities

Oct 25, 2019 | Irene Banos Ruiz

As drought, flooding and fires lay claim to headlines and landscapes across the world, and as countries and cities grapple with the cost of it…

Want to Empower Women in Agricultural Systems? Engaging Men Is Part of the Equation

Oct 25, 2019 | Kate Doyle

Women’s experiences of gender-based violence, as well as imbalances of power between men and women, have a profound impact on women’s ability to participate in…

Remarkable US Army Climate Change Report Studies Conflict Risk, What Caused Syria War, Bangladesh Risk, Geo-engineering!

Oct 25, 2019 | OOSKAnews

A combination of global starvation, war, drought and disease could have devastating effects on world security according to a report from several United States agencies…

Privatization of War: A New Challenge for the Women, Peace and Security Agenda

Oct 24, 2019 | Marta Bautista Forcada

Since the end of the Cold War, the outsourcing of military and security by armed forces activities has shifted from the exception to the rule.…

Is Lake Chad Shrinking? It's a Story That Masks Serious Failures of Governance

Oct 22, 2019 | Oil Brown and Janani Vivekananda

Lake Chad is a hydrological miracle – a life-giving, freshwater lake in the Sahara desert. But the region around the lake has been engulfed in…

Abyei: Sudan and South Sudan's New Chance to Solve Old Disputes

Oct 21, 2019 | John Pendergast and Brian Adeba

In the excitement around Sudan's evolving political order and the concerns around South Sudan's challenges, less attention has been paid to some long-standing contentious issues that…

U.S. Plan to Guard Syrian Oil Fields Sows Confusion

Oct 21, 2019 | Lara Seligman and Keith Johnson

Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday confirmed that President Donald Trump’s administration is considering maintaining a small force of U.S. troops in northeastern Syria near…

Rural Women Building Resilience to Face the Climate Crisis

Oct 19, 2019

Women living in rural and poor communities are resilient, resourceful and hard-working. They play an invaluable role in supporting their families, building resilience to face…

Working With the "River Guardians" of Columbia to Protect Vital Natural Resources

Oct 18, 2019 | Mark Camburn

This week, Pope Francis has convened a synod in the Vatican to highlight major climate, social, and religious issues faced by those in the Amazon…

Good Incentives, Bad Timing: Crop Substitution, Coca Cultivation, and Aerial Spraying in Colombia

Oct 17, 2019 | Daniel Mejia, Mounu Prem and Juan Vargas

According to figures from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in 2017 the extent of coca cultivation in Colombia reached a record high…

The Paradox of Plenty and Its Impact on Gendered Policy

Oct 17, 2019 | Eliana Cusato

Access to and distribution of natural resources are often at the root of violent conflict. Yet it is only over the last few decades that…

Letter from Buganda: Let Us Rise Together and Stand for Her Land

Oct 16, 2019 | Cizzy N. Kiyaga

Buganda is a major subnational kingdom in central Uganda. While over 10 million people live and work on land owned by the kingdom, the land…

Coming Out! Gender Diversity in the Food System

Oct 16, 2019 | Paula Gioia

In the current global context, discrimination is used as a tool to preserve and support authoritarian and far-right political movements. Immigrants and refugees are denied…

Drugs, Gold and Guns Bring Terror and Death to 400-Mile Waterway in Colombia

Oct 16, 2019 | Billy Briggs

For traditional communities on the River Atrato in the Chocó region, the snaking waterway is life itself, playing a central role in their cultural, economic…