International


Afghanistan: World Bank Approves $97M Grant to Tackle COVID-19 and Drought

Feb 17, 2021 | Khaama Press

To support Afghans affected by drought, Covid-19 pandemic, and nutrition security, the World Bank has granted a total of $97.50 million from the international development…


Myanmar: US Sanctions Block Myanmar's Gemstone Exports

Feb 17, 2021 | John Jeffay, IDEX

US President Joe Biden has blacklisted three gemstone companies in Myanmar because of their links with military regime that ousted state counsellor Aung San Suu…


Liberia: Independent Complaints Panel Finds Golden Veroleum Liable of Destroying Liberia’s Forests

Feb 17, 2021 | FrontPage Africa

The High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), an agribusiness industry sustainability body, has confirmed longstanding allegations that Golden Veroleum Liberia, the Liberian investee of palm oil…


Promoting Peace and Protecting Women’s Rights in Contexts Affected by Violent Extremism, Especially During COVID-19 Pandemic

Feb 16, 2021 | UN Women

In 2020, even as governments around the world rallied to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of countries and their populations continued to…


Afghanistan: Kabul’s Unquenchable Thirst: Crisis Looms in Afghan Capital as Groundwater Reserves Run Dry

Feb 15, 2021 | Ben Farmer and Ezzatullah Mehrdad, Telegraph

When Shoaib Musawi entered the well-digging trade 15 years ago, all he needed to sink a well shaft in central Kabul was a pick and…


Ethiopia/Sudan: Sudan Accuses Ethiopia of Incursion, Escalating Land Dispute

Feb 15, 2021 | Simon Marks and Mohammed Alamin, Bloomberg

Sudan accused Ethiopian forces of entering its territory, escalating a dispute over land that straddles their border. Relations between Sudan and Ethiopia have frayed since…


Pakistan: Trout Farming: A Lucrative Business to Alleviate Poverty, Generate Employment Opportunities

Feb 14, 2021 | Fakhar Alam, Eye Pakistan

Blessed with various ecological zones and relatively cold climate, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a huge potential to produce export quality fish meat while nurturing the rare…


Myanmar: Jade and Rubies: How Myanmar’s Military Amassed Its Fortune

Feb 13, 2021 | Kuwait Times

Mines, banks, petroleum, agriculture, tourism: Myanmar’s ruling junta has vested interests in large swathes of the country’s economy, providing it a colossal and closely guarded…


Iraq: Decades of Plundering: Where Has Iraq’s Oil Wealth Gone? [Video]

Feb 13, 2021 | Al Jazeera

Iraq’s dire public services, regular power cuts and water shortages have sparked protest across the country. Ranked as the fourth-biggest oil producer in the world,…


Ghana: Empowering Women in Climate Action with Alternative Livelihood Options

Feb 12, 2021 | Praise Nutakor, GhanaWeb

Like many people in rural communities in Ghana, Mali Yakubu and her family in Tampion in the Northern Region are not able to farm during…


Women Bear the Brunt of Climate Change

Feb 12, 2021 | Michelle Langrand, Geneva Solutions

Women are among the most affected by climate-related insecurity, and yet they’re often absent from the conversation. Experts hope that by understanding how they are…


Ethiopia/Sudan: Will Sudan-Ethiopia Border Conflict Affect GERD Talks?

Feb 11, 2021 | Hagar Hosny, Al-Monitor

Border tensions have escalated between Sudan and Ethiopia in the past few days, coupled with Ethiopian threats to Sudan if it does not respond to…


Ethiopia: Pregnant Women Struggle to Find Support, Stability After Displacement From Tigray Region in Ethiopia

Feb 11, 2021 | UNFPA

GONDAR, Ethiopia – “When you think about your future, you never plan to be uprooted from the comfort of your home and find fragile safety in a…


Nigeria: Farmer-Herders Conflict: Senate Warns against Ethno-Religious War, Famine

Feb 10, 2021 | Sanni Onogu, Nation

The increasing spate of insecurity may lead to an ethnoreligious war and famine, Deputy Senate Leader, Ajayi Boroffice, has said. He is worried that the nation…


Colombia: Colombia Launches Agency to Sell, Rent Properties of Former Fighters

Feb 10, 2021 | Nelson Bocanegra, Reuters

Colombia launched a real estate agency on Wednesday to rent and sell properties handed over by former far-right paramilitaries and leftist guerrillas as a way…


UNFPA Elevates Climate Action to Safeguard the Wellbeing of Women and Girls During the Decade of Action

Feb 10, 2021 | UNFPA

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—The impact of climate change is already being felt and is projected to intensify significantly over the next 10 years. During the Nairobi Summit in Kenya in…


Vietnam: US Firms behind Agent Orange Stand Trial in France

Feb 9, 2021 | Progressive International

The civil complaint targets more than 20 US chemical firms for their part in the production of Agent Orange, massively employed by US forces during…


India: Women Will Bear the Brunt of India’s New Farm Laws

Feb 9, 2021 | Bansari Kamdar, World Politics News

For over two months, hundreds of thousands of Indian farmers have been conducting sustained sit-ins on the outskirts of New Delhi. Undeterred by COVID-19 or violent police…


Myanmar: Myanmar’s Troubled Forestry Sector Seeks Global Endorsement after Coup

Feb 8, 2021 | Mongabay

In the midst of political chaos fomented by a Feb. 1 military coup of the government in Myanmar, the country’s forestry sector is seeking legitimization…


Bangladesh: Gender Equality Can Bring Sustained Peace, Security

Feb 8, 2021 | The Daily Star

Ensuring equality between men and women both in public and private spheres can bring about sustainable peace and security, foreign diplomats and civil society members…


India: Assam: Aaranyak Installs 18-km Solar-Powered Fence in Nagrijuli to Reduce Human-Elephant Conflict

Feb 7, 2021 | Ne Now News

The premier biodiversity conservation organisation, Aaranyak has installed 18 km of solar-powered fence to facilitate human-elephant coexistence at Nagrijuli in Baksa district. Aaranyak said this…


Afghanistan: Ghor Residents Suffering from Shortage of Potable Water

Feb 6, 2021 | Afghanitan Times

Residents of Ghor province are suffering from shortage of drinking water, saying that they face health problems because of drinking unclean water. A large number…


Colombia: Glencore to Abandon Mining in Colombia amid Growing Woes

Feb 5, 2021 | Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports

Multinational Glencore’s subsidiary in Colombia said Thursday that it will abandon its mining interests amid dropping profits, and growing human rights and environmental concerns. In…


Kenya: How Women in Aquaculture Can Contribute to Social Stability in Kenya

Feb 4, 2021 | Margaret Gatonye, The Fish Site

A continued question that is asked in international relations circles is how to create stability and growth in post-conflict societies. Often solutions revolve around how…


Afghanistan: Afghanistan Successfully Tests Water Flow at Major Dam

Feb 3, 2021 | Shadi Khan Saif, Anadolu Agency

Afghanistan on Wednesday successfully tested water flow at a major dam in southwestern Nimroz province bordering Iran after nearly six decades of the inception of…


Afghanistan/Iran: Iran and Afghanistan Sign Water Deal after Decades-Old Dispute

Feb 3, 2021 | Middle East Eye

Iran and Afghanistan have signed an agreement over water rights on the Helmand River, putting aside almost 50 years of disputes, IRNA reported yesterday. Meetings…


The Impact of War on the Health of Millions of Women and Children

Feb 2, 2021 | Robby Berman, Medical News Today

“Today, more than half of the world’s women and children are living in countries experiencing active conflict. The international community cannot continue to ignore their…


Nigeria: Pastoralist-Farmer Conflict a Threat to Food Security as Inflation Spikes

Feb 2, 2021 | Funsho Idowu, Proshare Research

Nigeria could suffer a major food blowback in 2021 as the fisticuffs between pastoralists and farmers morph into regional theatres of conflict with regions of…


Ethiopia/Sudan: Rising Tension as Ethiopia and Sudan Deadlocked on Border Dispute

Feb 1, 2021 | Zecharias Zelalem, Al Jazeera

Age-old territorial claims are threatening to embroil Ethiopia and Sudan into armed conflict, as bickering over disputed strips of farmland in recent weeks has boiled…


Afghanistan: Government Promises to Implement Irrigation Projects in 'All Cities' in New Persian Year

Feb 1, 2021 | Afghanistan Times

The Urban Water Supply and Sewage company says it would implement irrigation projects in all cities by the end of the 1400 Persian Year (March 2022). Hamidullah…