International


Middle East: ‘Making Our Home Safe Again’: Meet the Women Who Clear Land Mines

Jan 31, 2021 | Jessie Williams, The Guardian

After decades of war, more and more women are working to remove lethal mines and IEDs from the fields and cities of their homelands. It’s…


New Guide Aims to Accelerate Forest Tenure Pathways to Gender Equality

Jan 28, 2021 | Julie Mollins, Forest News

Forest tenure reform in the global south has often failed to be gender-responsive, but there is increasing interest in taking up this challenge to activate…


Myanmar: Ethnic Groups Demand Input in Myanmar Land Reforms

Jan 28, 2021 | Nan Lwin, Irrawaddy

Development organizations and farming groups from ethnic minority areas have called on the government to postpone land reforms, saying they will crush indigenous people’s rights.…


India: ‘It Isn’t Just Men Who Drive Tractors’: Women Help Lead India’s Historic Farm Protests

Jan 27, 2021 | Shashank Bengali, Los Angeles Times

MUMBAI, India —  Sunita Malik sat in the driver’s seat of her tractor, parked behind a police barricade at the edge of India’s capital. She and her…


Cameroon/Congo/DRC: Illegal Logging Soars during Covid-19 Pandemic in Congo Basin

Jan 27, 2021 | University of Wolverhampton’s Centre for International Development and Training

A study by the University of Wolverhampton’s Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT), has revealed that global climate goals and livelihoods of forest communities…


Africa: How Foreign Operators Exploit Weak Protections in Africa’s Extractive Sectors

Jan 26, 2021 | Tawanda Karombo, Quartz

Former US president Donald Trump’s last minute controversial removal of sanctions against an Israeli businessman named in corruption scandals in DR Congo’s mining industry and…


Afghanistan: Baba Saffron! Know More about the Man Who Got Saffron to Afghanistan

Jan 26, 2021 | Mariam Alimi, Financial Express

The cultivation, development and introduction of the saffron plant in Herat as the center of saffron production in the country is undoubtedly due to the…


Liberia/Sierra Leone: Disputes over Mining and Land Rights Continue to Cause Conflict across Liberia and Sierra Leone

Jan 26, 2021 | Joaquin M. Sendolo, Observer

In December 2019, conflict broke out between an international mining company and the leadership of three forest-dwelling communities of Nimba County in north eastern Liberia.…


Myanmar: Govt Vows Action after Myanmar Villagers Demand Fertilizer Factory’s Closure over Pollution

Jan 26, 2021 | Zaw Zaw Htwe, Irrawaddy

The chief minister of Yangon Region on Tuesday promised villagers that he would assign two ministers to inspect a fertilizer factory whose closure has been…


Bangladesh/Myanmar: Bangladesh to Buy Myanmar Rice, Putting aside Rohingya Crisis

Jan 23, 2021 | Ruma Paul, Reuters

Bangladesh will buy 100,000 tonnes of rice from Myanmar, putting aside a rift over the Rohingya refugee crisis as the government races to overcome a…


Central Asia: World Bank : Promoting Women's Participation in Water Resource Management in Central Asia

Jan 22, 2021 | World Bank Group

Although water resources have the potential to drive economic development in Central Asia, ineffective resource management often stands in the way. The good news is…


Liberia: ACDI/VOCA FIFES Activity to Assist Local Stakeholders Protect Liberian Rainforests Ends, but Critical Activities Continue

Jan 22, 2021 | Glenn Lines, ACDI/VOCA

Liberia holds the last large blocks of rainforests remaining in West Africa. Despite being home to two-thirds of those remaining blocks, Liberia and its communities…


South Sudan: South Sudan Invites Companies to Bid for Environmental Audit

Jan 22, 2021 | Charné Hundermark, Africa Oil & Power

South Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum has invited a shortlist of companies to bid for the environmental audit of the country’s oil fields. The audit will…


Kenya: Women in Asal Areas to Benefit From Sh500 Million UN Empowerment Project

Jan 21, 2021 |  Njoki Kihiu, AllAfrica

Nairobi — Kenyan Women in Kitui, West Pokot, and Laikipia Counties are set to benefit from an Sh500 million project which seeks to economically empower…


Middle East: Planting Hope, Growing Peace: Models for Sustainable Peacebuilding in the MENA

Jan 21, 2021 | Adina Friedman, Morocco World News

The year 2020 has highlighted – and exacerbated – extreme disparities across and within countries and the environmental degradation we humans have caused the planet.…


Conflict Minerals: New Day for the US Conflict Minerals Rule

Jan 21, 2021 | National Law Review

It is expected that the Biden Administration’s SEC will renew focus on the US conflict minerals rule and other responsible sourcing measures.  The SEC could…


South Sudan: Old Grudges and Empty Coffers: South Sudan’s Precarious Peace Process

Jan 21, 2021 | Sam Mednick, New Humanitarian

On the streets of South Sudan’s capital city, billboards honour the country’s politicians for ending five years of conflict that cost almost 400,000 lives and…


Liberia: Illegal Sierra Leonean Miners Dying in Liberia

Jan 21, 2021 | Mae Azango, FrontPage Africa

Many Sierra Leonean illegal miners are dying in mining communities in Gbarpolu, without the knowledge of their families back in Sierra Leone, locals say. It…


Afghanistan: DACAAR, Danish Technical University (DTU) and Kabul Polytechnic University (KPU) Embark on a Joint Advanced Groundwater Search

Jan 20, 2021 | Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees

There are great perspectives for Afghanistan in a newly developed groundwater research in Afghanistan. Using remote-sensing technology (earth observations), the project aims to create an…


China/Egypt/Ethiopia/Sudan: China at the Heart of Rising Nile River Conflict

Jan 19, 2021 | Jonathan Gorvett, Asia Times

The Chinese-financed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), despite a recent breakdown in talks on Africa’s largest development project, risks powering up a range of downstream…


Colombia: Rainforest Trust and Conservation Organizations Announce Major Milestone in Colombia Middle Magdalena Valley - Rainforest Trust Saves Rainforest

Jan 19, 2021 | Rainforest Trust

Rainforest Trust announced 5,407 acres in the El Silencio Natural Reserve, located in Colombia’s Middle Magdalena Valley, have been secured for conservation. In addition to…


Colombia: Pablo Escobar's Hippos Have Invaded Colombia's Waterways and Need to Be Culled, Study Says

Jan 19, 2021 | Doha Madani, NBC News

Scientists warn that a rapidly growing population of hippopotamuses that were introduced to Colombia decades ago by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar should be culled to…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurdistan Oil Production 'Justified,' in Compliance with OPEC Decision: KRG

Jan 18, 2021 | Hiwa Shilani, Kurdistan 24

The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources on Monday responded to the recent statements Iraq’s oil minister made about the Kurdistan Region’s oil.…


Afghanistan: New Cold Storages in Laghman Boost Onion Cultivation by 10%

Jan 18, 2021 | Wadsam

The Afghan government has built 190 cold storages for onion in eastern Laghman province as part of the Agricultural Products' Management project. Built at a…


Liberia: Government of Liberia Launches Processes Leading to Digitization and Systematic Land Titling

Jan 18, 2021 | Obediah Johnson, FrontPage Africa

In a bid to help curtail the growing wave of land disputes and boost revenue generation in the country, the Government of Liberia (GOL), through…


Sudan/South Sudan: Sudan and South Sudan Sign Oil Production Agreement

Jan 18, 2021 | Construction Review Online

East African countries Sudan and South Sudan have signed a number of agreements that involve oil production in the two countries. The countries have agreed…


Sierra Leone: New Mining Law Ready for Sierra Leone Parliament

Jan 18, 2021 | Alpha Abu, Politico SL

Sierra Leone’s Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Timothy Musa Kabba has told journalists that the much anticipated Mines and Minerals Development Act is ready…


Climate Change: IPRI Launches Lecture Series to Highlight the Impact of Climate Change on National Security

Jan 16, 2021 | Business Recorder

The Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) has organised a series of lectures to highlight the impact on national security due to climate change. As per…


Afghanistan: Pollution More Threatening Than Violence

Jan 16, 2021 | Daily Outlook Afghanistan

Insecurity alone is not threatening the lives of the people in Afghanistan; there are many other issues as well that make the lives difficult for…


Myanmar: Yangon’s Wells, Reservoirs and Lakes Hit an All-Time Low

Jan 15, 2021 | Phoe Wa, Myanmar Times

It has been nearly two months since the rain last fell over Yangon. Though many clouds have passed over the city, no precipitation has fallen…