International


Myanmar: Myanmar’s Multibillion-Dollar Jade Trade ‘Crashing’ as China Clamps Down

Jun 5, 2024 | Irrawaddy

Myanmar’s multibillion-dollar jade market is collapsing under pressure from China’s crackdown on illicit border trade, according to sources. Jade sales in Mandalay at the country’s…


A Climate Crisis is a Gender Equality Crisis: Life on Small Island States in the Pacific

Jun 4, 2024 | United Nations Population Fund

The 65 million people living in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are on the front lines of the climate crisis.

Each and every climate-related disaster -…


Afghanistan: MoEW Predicts Flash Floods, Rise in Rivers’ Water Level

Jun 4, 2024 | Sharifa Sultani, Pajhwok Afghan News

The Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) has predicted relatively heavy rains, flash floods and rising water level in rivers over the next two days.


Afghanistan: UNICEF Announces Drinking Water Distribution for Thousands in Ghor Province

Jun 4, 2024 | Fidel Rahmati, Khaama Press

According to UNICEF, over 400 houses have been destroyed in Ghor province due to recent floods. The organization has also distributed blankets, children’s clothing, and…


Burning Burdens: Unveiling the Gendered Toll of Rising Temperatures on Women in India

Jun 3, 2024 | Liz M. Kuriakose

The number of unusually hot days and nights on Earth is rising and becoming more common. Heat waves develop over a region as high-pressure systems…


Africa: Land Squeeze: The Hidden Battle for Africa’s Soils

Jun 3, 2024 | Susan Chomba and Million Belay, African Arguments

In recent years, Africa has been at the epicentre of an alarming global trend: the land squeeze. The 2007-8 global financial crisis unleashed a huge…


Climate Change: Women, Peace, and Security and the Climate Change Agenda

Jun 3, 2024 | Alicia Lopez Alvarez, World Vision

Climate change is a critical threat to 21st-century peace and security, with significant gender dimensions influencing how insecurity is experienced and managed by women and…


Colombia: Armed Groups Use Deforestation as a Bargaining Chip in Colombia

Jun 3, 2024 | Alex Price, Inside Climate News

Guerillas once protected the forests that provided them with cover, but recently some factions see the trees, critical to the nation’s climate commitments, as leverage…


Afghanistan: Taliban Issues over 500 Licences for Emerald Mining in Panjshir

Jun 2, 2024 | Afghanistan International

Mohammad Qasim Amiri, the Taliban's head of mining in Panjshir, has announced that illegal mining and smuggling of minerals and precious stones in the province…


Afghanistan: Taliban and the Plundering of Mines: Companies and Countries Lack the Right to Contract without a Legitimate Government

Jun 1, 2024 | Amin Kawa, Hasht-e Subh Daily

In the nearly three years since the Taliban’s rise to power, they have significantly expanded the unregulated and illegal extraction of the country’s mineral resources.…


Enforce Laws on Women Empowerment and Gender Equality in Academia --- African Leaders Urged

May 31, 2024 | Joy Online

Prof. Fatoumata Keita from University for Arts and Human Sciences of Bamako, has called on African leaders to enforce laws regarding women’s empowerment and gender…


Declaration of 3rd International Conference on Mitigating Environmental Impact of Landmines Adopted

May 31, 2024 | AZERTAC

The Declaration of the 3rd international conference on “Mitigating Environmental Impact of Landmines: Resource Mobilization for Safe and Green Future”, held in Zangilan and Baku,…


Syria: ISIS Attacks Oil Field in East Syria: Watchdog

May 31, 2024 | Rudaw

Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cells on Friday attacked an oil field in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province, setting one of the wells on fire, a…


Climate Change: Updated Map of Climate Security Practices

May 30, 2024 | Planetary Security Initiative

PSI is pleased to launch a new, updated map of climate security practices around the world. Over the past two decades, climate security research has…


Food Security: Rewind and Reconnoiter: Elevating Hunger as a National Security Priority with Kelly McFarland

May 30, 2024 | Kelly McFarland and Freddie Mallinson, War on the Rocks

In 2021, Kelly McFarland co-authored “To Tackle Instability and Conflict, It’s Time to Elevate Hunger as a National Security Priority,” in which he argued that,…


Sudan/South Sudan/Abyei: Abyei Prepares for Farming Season Despite Challenges

May 30, 2024 | Radio Tamazuj

The Ministry of Agriculture in the Abyei Administrative Area announced on Wednesday that the community is prepared to embark on agriculture despite facing climate change…


Ukraine/Russia: Ukrainian ‘Ecocide App’ Calculates Russia’s Bill for Environmental Damage

May 30, 2024 | Donagh Cagney, Euractiv

Ukraine’s environment has been the “silent victim” of the Russian invasion, according to the country’s environment minister Ruslan Strilets, but thanks to app-wielding Ukrainian citizens,…


Colombia: In a Village Divided, Farmers Stall Massive Copper Mine in Colombian Andes

May 29, 2024 | Austin Landis, Mongabay

The Quebradona project aims to extract nearly 1.4 million metric tons of copper over a construction and production period of nearly 30 years, plus 2.6…


Gender Equality, Youth Aspirations Keys to Sustainable Peace, Security Council Hears

May 28, 2024 | Associated Press

Addressing ambassadors at the Council’s open debate on the role of women and youth, UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo highlighted the significant challenges and impacts faced…


Afghanistan: The Extensive Economic Ramifications of Floods: Taliban Unable to Confirm Natural Disaster Losses

May 28, 2024 | Amin Kawa, Hasht-e-Subh Daily

Over a month has passed since devastating floods swept through Afghanistan. The Taliban have yet to provide precise figures on casualties, injuries, displaced persons, or…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Oil Firms in Iraq Kurdish Region Signal Willingness to Negotiate

May 28, 2024 | Anthony Di Paola, Bloomberg

International oil companies operating in Iraq’s Kurdish region say they are willing to negotiate contract terms with both federal government and regional authorities in a…


DRC: Battle For ‘Blood Minerals’: M23 Strikes Terror In Refugee Camps Of Congo

May 28, 2024 | Lekshmi K, Organization for World Peace

Home to more than 7 million war-displaced people, persistent and widespread terror attacks compound critical humanitarian crises disrupting the regional stability of the Republic of…


The President of the Scheherazade Foundation, Wajiha Haris, Chaired the Panel “Environmental Diplomacy – a Tool for Cross-Border Ecological Security and Peace”, within the Event “Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum”, Organized by New Strategy Center

May 27, 2024 | Diplomat

Main points discussed included the Carpathian Convention Forest Protocol at COP3, which emphasizes regional cooperation in forest management; The Cordillera del Condor Peace Park in…


Liberia: New Initiative Seeks Protection for Grassroots Environmental Defenders

May 27, 2024 | Tina S. Mehnpaine, Observer

In Liberia, Green Advocates recently launched a project titled, “Standing Together for Environmental Defenders” (STAND), an initiative to protect Grassroots Environmental Defenders (GEDs) in Liberia,…


Europe: EU Approves Directive on Corporate Due Diligence for Sustainability and Human Rights

May 26, 2024 | Samara Baboolal, JURISTnews

The Council of the European Union approved the EU Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence (CSDDD) on Friday. The CSDDD introduces obligations for EU and…


Regional Multistakeholder Event on Gender and Human Rights Mainstreaming in Preventing and Countering Organized Crime for Central Asia and Southern Caucasus

May 25, 2024 | United Nations

UNODC hosted the first ever Regional Multistakeholder Event on Gender and Human Rights Mainstreaming in Preventing and Countering Organized Crime in Central Asia and Southern…


Ban Ki-moon: “The Essential Role of Women in Peacebuilding Must Be Placed at the Center of Our Efforts”

May 24, 2024 | UN Women

Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and the first man to sign up to the HeForShe campaign, attended UN Women-hosted “Korea Peacekeeping Forum for Women’s…


Afghanistan: Afghan Mine-Clearer Killed by Taliban after It Sees Him in Emmy-Winning Film

May 23, 2024 | Raoul Simons, Telegraph

An Afghan contractor who worked for the US military was killed by the Taliban after appearing in an Emmy-winning documentary despite warnings it would endanger…


Myanmar: Fuelling the Future, Poisoning the Present: Myanmar’s Rare Earth Boom

May 23, 2024 | Global Witness

In 2022, a Global Witness investigation revealed a shocking reality at the heart of the green energy transition. Unregulated mines in Myanmar had become an essential source…


Afghanistan: Floods That Hit Afghanistan Most Likely to Intensify, UN Warns

May 23, 2024 | Anna Louise, Nature World News

The United Nations emergency food relief organization issued a warning that the disastrous floods that recently hit Afghanistan are likely to worsen in the upcoming…