News


Afghan Gold Mining: Is Blockchain a Solution for Violence and Volatility?

May 25, 2020 | Manasee Joshi

Centar Ltd, a company that engaged in Afghan gold exploration and mining activities, was the brainchild of the former investment banker and mining trader from…


Egypt/Ethiopia/Sudan: Egypt Accepts Ethiopia-Sudan Proposal to Renegotiate Dam Dispute

May 24, 2020 | Agence France-Presse

Egypt said on Thursday it is willing to resume negotiations with Sudan and Ethiopia over the filling of a controversial mega-dam that has been a…


Myanmar: Myanmar’s Hasty Solar Tender Draws Criticism from Investors

May 24, 2020 | Thompson Chau, Myanmar Times

The Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE) is being criticised by the business community over a recent tender for solar power, with key foreign investors…


Climate Change Adaptation and Gender Dynamics

May 24, 2020 | Saudia Anwer and Meer Ahsan Habib

Lack of access to safe drinking water and salinity often causes water-borne diseases like diarrhoea and malaria, not only among the children but also the…


Women's Appeal for Human Security, Public Health, Peace, and Sustainable Development

May 24, 2020

Governments need to cut military expenditure, and increase their focus and budgets on human security and global cooperation, in order to recover from the COVID-19…


Land and Resource Investment Consultations in the Time of COVID-19: The Hazards of Pressing on

May 24, 2020 | Sam Szoke-Burke

Communities in countries as diverse as the Philippines, Liberia, and Colombia are experiencing increased pressures on their lands and resources. Pressure is coming from governments…


Afghanistan: Afghan Gold, Gem Sales in Decline

May 23, 2020 | TOLOnews

The gem and gold industries in Afghanistan are facing hurdles despite gold prices soaring in world markets, a jewelers' union said Saturday. Gems and gold…


Conflict Minerals: COVID-19 in Conflict Minerals Reports — Update

May 22, 2020 | Dynda A. Thomas, National Law Review

As discussed in a previous post, early in 2019, some companies were expressing concern that, because of the impacts of the shut-downs associated with COVID-19,…


Syria: Syrian Army Launches Operation to Secure Oil Fields: Video

May 22, 2020 | Al Masdar News

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) launched a major operation this week to secure the main roads that link the governorates of Hama and Deir Ezzor,…


Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone Mining Revenue Tumbles amidst COVID-19

May 22, 2020 | Mohamed Jaward Nyallay, Politico

Authorities in Sierra Leone have said mining revenue has dropped due to the impact of COVID-19. The revenue drop has been attributed to the difficulties…


10 Lessons From the COVID-19 Frontline For a More Gender-Equal World

May 22, 2020 | Katja Iversen

Evidence shows that disease outbreak affects women and men differently, that pandemics exacerbate inequalities for girls and women, who are also often the hardest hit,…


Epidemics, Conflict, and Gold: What We Can Learn from DC’s Ebola Outbreak as We Respond to COVID-19

May 22, 2020 | Kady Seguin and Alan Martin

The COVID-19 pandemic is spotlighting the vulnerability of the world’s poorest during a time of crisis. This is especially evident in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) communities,…


Lack of Flood Maps at Many U.S. Military Bases Creates Risks

May 22, 2020 | Marc Kodack

In the 2020 NDAA, Congress further required that DoD include in its’ installation master plans a discussion of risks and threats that included those from extreme…


Russia/Ukraine: Critical Water Shortage in Crimea May Prompt New Russian Move against Ukraine

May 21, 2020 | Paul Goble, Eurasia Daily Monitor

The Crimean Peninsula has long suffered from water shortages, but these are now often exacerbated by the ever-more frequent winters with little-to-no rain or snow.…


Exploring Environmental Governance in Eastern Ukraine

May 21, 2020 | Olga Shashkina

What happens to environmental governance in areas where governments lose control during conflicts? Non-state actors can fill the vacuum but little is known about how…


Women's Empowerment in Agriculture is Essential to COVID-19 Survival and Recovery

May 20, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a devastating threat to lives and livelihoods around the world. Many development organizations and research institutions are raising their voices and…


Israel/Palestine: Land Grab and Deportation: A Leading Israeli Lawyer's Annexation Prediction

May 20, 2020 | Meron Rapoport, MIddle East Eye

Almost 53 years after it occupied the West Bank, Israel is closer than ever to annexing parts of the Palestinian territory. Article 29 of the…


Afghanistan: The Wild Shrub at the Root of the Afghan Meth Epidemic

May 20, 2020 | Kern Hendricks, Undark

Muhammad Rehman Shirzad, a forensic scientist with the Afghan government’s Forensic Medicine Directorate, stops to catch his breath and scans the uneven ground ahead. He…


PhD Recruitment (13 openings): Next Generation Water Governance

May 19, 2020 | NEWAVE

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is largely affecting mobility worldwide and triggering changes in lifestyles of the affected countries. These challenges have implications on…


The Energy Sector Needs a Stronger Female Presence

May 19, 2020 | Nevelyn Black

Globally, women made up 15% of senior management roles in the power and utilities industry last year.  Some industry leaders believe a stronger female presence and voice in…


Cyprus: Rival Sides Join to Fight Wildfire in Breakaway North

May 19, 2020 | Associated Press

Two aircraft dispatched by Cyprus' internationally recognized government for the first time helped to fight a wildfire in the breakaway north of the ethnically divided…


Colombia: Colombia’s Crumbling Drug Policy: Farmers Thwart Attempt to Resume Aerial Spraying of Coca

May 19, 2020 | Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports

The Colombian government thought it could outsmart farmers by taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to resume the aerial spraying of coca. Turns out farmers…


Papua New Guinea: Gender-Based Violence Shakes Communities in the Wake of Forest Loss

May 19, 2020 | John C. Cannon, Mongabay

KOKOPO, Papua New Guinea — Change. That’s what Monica Yongol has seen in her 54 years. In that time, the loggers and then the oil…


EnPAx Icon EnPAx Launches Microsite on COVID-19 and Environmental Peacebuilding

May 19, 2020 | Environmental Peacebuilding Association

Recognizing the many diverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on environmental peacebuilding and the environmental peacebuilding community, the Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) is pleased to…


EnPAx Icon Achim Wennmann

Geneva Peacebuilding Platform
May 19, 2020

Achim Wennmann is Senior Researcher at the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP) of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, and Executive…


Registration Open for Water Conflict Management and Transformation Workshop

May 18, 2020 | Oregon State University

From June 15 – 22, 2020, Oregon State University will be offering a week-long workshop on water conflict management and transformation. Facilitated by Aaron Wolf,…


Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq MP: Oil Negotiations between Baghdad and Kurdistan Are Not Over

May 18, 2020 | Middle East Monitor

The Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Bashir Al-Haddad, said that the negotiators on behalf of the federal government and the Kurdistan Region Government on…


Myanmar: Rakhine Squatters Ordered to Vacate Former Rohingya Quarter in Myanmar’s Sittwe Township

May 18, 2020 | Radio Free Asia

The government of western Myanmar’s Rakhine state capital has issued an order requiring ethnic Rakhine Buddhist families to vacate more than 1,250 shelters erected on…


Climate Change Didn’t Pause for COVID-19: Implications for Military Readiness

May 18, 2020 | Joan VanDervort

As COVID-19 continues to hammer the nation, approximately 61,900 Department of Defense (DoD) personnel (45,600 of which are made up of National Guard) have been…


West and Central Africa: Regional Gender in Emergency Specialist

May 17, 2020 | Plan International

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every…