Blogs & Opinions


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…


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.…


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…


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…


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…


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…


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,…


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…


Climate Change is Contributing to Exploitation of Women, New Report Details

Jan 29, 2020 | Tebany Yune

Climate-related crises in poorer countries increases violence and exploitation of women, says a recent report, and current attempts to address climate change fail to tackle this…


Climate Breakdown "Is Increasing Violence Against Women"

Jan 29, 2020 | Fiona Harvey

Climate breakdown and the global crisis of environmental degradation are increasing violence against women and girls, while gender-based exploitation is in turn hampering our ability…


Facing Climate Change in Honduras: The Importance of Gender Equity

Jan 28, 2020 | Arely Valdivia

The women of the municipality of Namasigue, Honduras, have found empowerment in the Local Technical Agroclimatic Committee (LTAC) of the municipality of Choluteca. LTACs allow women to…


How Climate Change Is Feeding Violent Extremism in the Horn

Jan 26, 2020 | Peter Kagwanja

Oddly, humour in Kenya’s social media space is drawing on perhaps the world’s deadliest link between climate change and conflict.

“Never underestimate the power of nature…


How One Woman's Aptitude for Farming Inspired a Whole Community

Jan 24, 2020

Nestled among date trees and endless lush fields in southeastern Pakistan is the district of Tando Allahyar. The main source of income for many villages…


Between September and December 2019, a Monitoring Station in Kabul Classed Its Air Quality As Good Just 0.5% of the Time

Jan 24, 2020 | Eoghan Darbyshire

Over the last four months of 2019, and based on the US Environmental Protection Agency’s standards, the embassy data reveals that the air at the…


Getting "Gender Rights" Is Essential for the Sustainability of Food Systems

Jan 23, 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…


UK-Africa Summit Ignored Gender, Climate and Poverty Concerns, Advocates Say

Jan 23, 2020 | William Worley

Civil society campaigners have raised concerns over the U.K.-Africa Investment Summit’s commitment to gender equality — despite the government’s claims it would be a key focus of…


Women, Burdened with Unpaid Labor, Bear Brunt of Global Inequality

Jan 23, 2020 | Alisha Haridasani Gupta

As world leaders and executives descended in their private jets this week on the snow-capped town of Davos, Switzerland, to discuss climate change and inclusive…


Gender and the Environment: What Are the Barriers to Gender Equality in Sustainable Ecosystem Management?

Jan 22, 2020 | Frederique Holle

A gender gap is a gender-based inequality; it is any disparity in treatment or situation between women and men, often rooted in social, cultural and legal norms…


How Can We Address Climate Change, Pollution and Women's Empowerment? Clean Cooking

Jan 22, 2020 | Anne-Sophie Garrigou and Dymphna van der Lans

From the World Wildlife Fund to the Clinton Foundation, and BP Alternative Energy, Dymphna van der Lans has been working in global development, energy and…


Gender-Focused Policies in Cuban Farming

Jan 21, 2020 | Ivet Gonzalez

The first gender-focused strategy implemented by the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture raised female participation within a key sector for the economy and food security, although…


Why We Need Gender Equality in the Fight Against Climate Change

Jan 21, 2020

Climate change affects everyone globally, but its impact worsens in those sections of the population that are most vulnerable. Social, economic, political and historical factors…


It's Time We Think beyond "Threat Multiplier" to Address Climate and Security

Jan 21, 2020 | Josh Busby

If you have even a passing familiarity with the climate and security literature, you undoubtedly have come across the phrase “threat multiplier.” The phrase conveys…


Operational Challenges for the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in South Sudan

Jan 20, 2020 | Angeline Lewis

Experience in the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) highlights many of the operational challenges in implementing the UN’s agenda of women, peace and security…


"You Need to Act Now": Meet 4 Girls Working to Save the Warming World

Jan 19, 2020 | Anya Kamenetz

A teenage girl, Greta Thunberg, has become the world-famous face of the climate strike movement. But she's far from alone: Thunberg has helped rally and inspire…


Gender Activists in a March Dubbed Usawa Demand Action Against GBV, Youth Empowerment, Women Land Rights

Jan 18, 2020 | Louise Donovan and Kamau Maichuhie

A section of gender rights activists on Friday held a peaceful march in Nairobi to press for gender equality in the country.

The march dubbed Usawa kicked-off at…


A Lukewarm Commitment: India and Gender Equality in Security Affairs

Jan 16, 2020 | Akanksha Khullar

Nearly two decades after the United Nations adopted the landmark Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, India remains one of the many member states that…


When You Picture a Farmer, Are They a Woman?

Jan 16, 2020 | Donna Hutchinson

CABI has today published a briefing, Empowering female farmers – Gender responsive programming, which is an overview of gender inequality in agriculture, its challenges and impacts,…


Climate Change and Its Unequal Impact on Women

Jan 15, 2020 | Mary Merkenich

While some do not want to discuss the cause of Australia’s horrendous bushfires — runaway climate change — even fewer want to talk about how…