Blogs & Opinions

South Sudan, Where a Water Crisis Is Leading to Child Kidnappings and Rape

Apr 4, 2019 | Bel Trew

For a split second it looked like the young South Sudanese woman and her baby, swaddled in a cloth-carrier on her back, were taking a…

Land Is Power: How Land Rights Can Enfranchise Liberia's Women

Apr 3, 2019 | Loretta Alethea Pope Kai

Liberia is in the throes of finalising one of Africa’s most progressive land rights laws but its potential will be thwarted if women are excluded. So…

Gender Research in Integrated Pest Management: Unlocking Food Security

Mar 22, 2019 | Sara Hendery

Agricultural production is only one of many factors that impacts global food security. A Virginia Tech team has found that some factors, like gender, take…

Gender Equality, Justice in Law and Practice: Essential for Sustainable Development

Mar 22, 2019 | UN News

Fundamentally linked to human development, gender justice requires ending inequality and redressing existing disparities between women and men, according to a high-level United Nations forum…

Managing Our Resources: Women, Mining and Conflict in the Asia–Pacific

Mar 20, 2019 | Alison Davidian

The extraction and exploitation of oil and mineral deposits have become increasingly possible across Asia and the Pacific. Rapid industrialisation and technological developments have led…

Protecting Women's Rights in Iraq Affects the Whole Population

Mar 10, 2019 | Nazli Tarzi

What Iraq needs is a state-driven campaign that raise awareness and legislation that protects and encourages greater participation of women in the workforce.

Land Is Power: How Land Rights Can Enfranchise Liberia's Women

Mar 8, 2019 | Loretta Alethea Pope Kai

Liberia is in the throes of finalising one of Africa’s most progressive land rights laws but its potential will be thwarted if women are excluded.

Why Research on Gender and Conflict Matters

Mar 8, 2019 | Robert Malley

Last October, Ethiopia appointed its first woman president, the only female leader of an African state today. In many national parliaments, from Mexico to Rwanda,…

Women Are 'on the Front Lines' of Defending Land

Mar 8, 2019 | Barbara Fraser

When gold miners operating illegally near her farm in southern Colombia fouled the stream where she watered her cows, Mary Alis Ramírez tried to have…

'Balance For Better' Does Little to Address Issues Facing Women

Mar 8, 2019 | Rosie Urbanovich

International Women’s Day had radical roots: at the turn of the 20th century, thousands of women came together to protest dismal working conditions, long hours, and…

The Transformative Potential of Women in Water Resource Management

Mar 7, 2019 | Callum Clench

Water sits at the heart of our world and is a central tenet across the breadth of all the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Access…

Ghana's Queen Fishmongers: Balancing Gender for Sustainable Fisheries

Mar 7, 2019 | Environmental Justice Foundation Staff

When we think about fishing, we typically conjure a very distinct image: boats at sea, manned. But that is only half the story, as the…

Can Improving Women's Representation in Environmental Governance Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

Feb 11, 2019 | Charlotte Collins

The Paris Agreement’s clause to include more women in the environmental decision-making process set a historical precedent. The preamble urges parties to acknowledge that climate…

APWLD Member Zoom-in: Alma Sinumlag

Feb 8, 2019 | Adndita Listyarini

The cold bites in New York. That’s what Alma Sinumlag felt when she visited the Big Apple for the first time ever in 2018. Having…

Strengthening Women's Voices in Land Decisions: What Works?

Jan 31, 2019 | Philippine Sutz

Since the mid 2000s, sub-Saharan Africa has experienced a land rush driven by factors such as rising commercial agriculture, mineral extraction and large infrastructure projects.…

How Gender and Climate Change Can Be Integrated into Military Operations (Book Preview)

Dec 18, 2018 | Jody Prescott

As the United States develops a strategy to guide all military services on how to promote the participation of women in conflict prevention, management, and…

Southeast Asia Must Integrate Gender Considerations in Coastal Resource Management - Regional Gender Study

Dec 14, 2018

A Regional Gender Study completed in 2018 has shown that many countries in Southeast Asia are not adequately integrating gender considerations into their national policies…

Gender Differences in Public Understanding of Climate Change

Nov 20, 2018 | Matthew Ballew, Jennifer Marlon, Anthony Leiserowitz and Edward Maibach

While political views play a strong role in Americans’ opinions on climate change, there are many other individual, social, and cultural factors that influence public…

Opinion: Protect Indigenous, Community, and Women's Land Rights for Food Security and Nutrition

Oct 16, 2018 | Fany Kuiru and Paul de Wit

Legally recognized and protected land rights for indigenous peoples and local communities in the developing world are a key part of revitalizing the world’s food…

Land Rights: Liberia Is at a Crucial Moment in Its History

Jun 13, 2018 | Lennart Dodoo

A historic election gives President George Weah the momentum and mandate to enact a robust agenda, and Mr. Weah has rightly identified secure land rights…

Common Pool: Equitable Water Governance Brings Prosperity to Sabkhali

Jun 12, 2018

The Sundarbans, a vast forest in the coastal region of the Bay of Bengal, are considered one of the natural wonders of the world. Lying…

Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction: Women and Climate Change Adaptation

Apr 10, 2018 | Ellie Anderson

According to a 2015 Georgetown University report on women and climate change, “the impacts of climate change – droughts, floods, extreme weather, increased incidence of…

A More Just Migration: Empowering Women on the Front Lines of Climate Displacement

Apr 3, 2018 | Saiyara Khan

“It is often expected that women care more, and therefore women are going to volunteer, and be the saviors” in times of crisis, said Eleanor Blomstrom,…

DRC Mining Industry Is a Prime Example of How Corporate Power Threatens Women’s Rights

Mar 25, 2018 | Valerie Bah

On a research trip to the Kamituga gold mine in her home province of South Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), activist Marie-Rose…

Q&A: Getting Women's Land Rights Recognized

Mar 19, 2018 | Philippine Sutz

Philippine Sutz describes work under way to help secure land rights for women in Senegal and Tanzania, and explains how accessing land gives them greater…

Connecting the Dots: Natural Resources, Women, and Peace

Mar 8, 2018 | Silja Halle, Clare Church

In the recent peace process with the FARC in Colombia, however, women made up one third of participants, and the resulting peace agreement stands as a model…

Rep. Lee Introduces Women and Climate Change Act of 2018

Mar 8, 2018

On February 5, 2018, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced the Women and Climate Change Act of 2018 (H.R.4932) to “address the disparate impact of climate…

Gender in Conflicts - Interview with Saferworld on Building Peace [Video]

Oct 6, 2017 | Climate Diplomacy

Saferworld is an international conflict prevention organization. The Head of Policy, Larry Attree, in this video, shares the lessons learned over the years to end…

Reforming Women's Property Rights in Afghanistan

Sep 6, 2017 | Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Becky Allen

On paper, the law is clear: men and women enjoy equal property rights under Afghanistan's 2004 Constitution. But on-the-ground reality says otherwise as a combination…

Addressing Women's Burdens from Water Risks Could Help Reduce World Hunger

Aug 10, 2017 | Ayushi Trivedi, Natalie Elwell, and Sara Walker

For hundreds of millions of women, providing food to feed their families is a daily imperative. Many of them depend solely on the meager yields…