News

Colombia: Plan Colombia Casts Shadow on Indigenous Rights as Peace Nears

Oct 12, 2016 | teleSUR

Marginalized Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in Colombia have been among the most battered by more than five decades of internal armed conflict between the military,…

Liberia: Concessions Violate Women’s Rights

Oct 12, 2016 | Daily Observer

A research report released in Monrovia over the weekend by Natural Resources Women’s Platform (NRWP), the Alliance for Rural Democracy (ARD), and Green Advocates International…

Colombia: Legal Threats, Not War, Top Commodity Producers' Concerns in Colombia

Oct 11, 2016 | Julia Symmes Cobb and Nelson Bocanegra, Reuters

Gold mining companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars but not extracted a gram. Palm farmers are told their land belongs to someone else.…

Afghanistan: Afghan Women to Be Given 'Fair Share' in Property Rights Drive - Land Authority

Oct 11, 2016 | Zabihullah Noori, Reuters

Afghan women should benefit from a project to issue property titles to homeowners in Kabul, where more than two-thirds of the houses have no formal…

Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Says All Will Lose in Any South China Sea War

Aug 31, 2016 | Agence France-Presse

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang warned on Tuesday there would be no winners in any armed conflict sparked by territorial disputes in the South China…

Afghanistan: In Afghanistan’s Farm Belt, Women Lead Unions and Find New Status

Aug 31, 2016 | Mujib Mashal, New York Times

In this lush farm belt deep in central Afghanistan, women have been the organizing force behind a new wave of small village farm unions. That…

At the Eye of the Storm: Women and Climate Change

Jul 26, 2016 | Aimee Jakeman

Struggling to save their failing crops. Walking farther afield to fetch clean water. Protecting their families from devastating storms and violent conflicts. “Women are usually…

Colombia: UN Praises Colombia and FARC's Agreement on Women

Jul 25, 2016 | BBC News

The UN has welcomed an agreement between the Colombian government and FARC rebels giving specific guarantees to women as part of a peace accord. Both…

Climate Change: The GOP is Leading an Effort to Block the Military from Planning for Climate Change

Jul 24, 2016 | Adam Wernick, PRI

In June, House Republicans attached an amendment to the defense authorization bill that stopped the Defense Department from spending money to plan for climate change. The…

The Top-Secret Cold War Plan to Keep Soviet Hands off Middle Eastern Oil

Jun 23, 2016 | Steve Everly, Politico

On a cool summer day in London in 1951, an American CIA officer told three British oil executives about a top-secret U.S. government plan. The…

Afghanistan: Afghan Women Take on Farming

Jun 23, 2016 | Arzo Mohammadai, Institute for War & Peace Reporting

Agriculture, a central pillar of Afghanistan’s economy, has traditionally been dominated by men. Women are sometimes recruited to work the fields or tend livestock, but…

When Climate Change Exacerbates Conflict, Women Pay the Price Says Mayesha Alam

May 13, 2016 | Sean Peoples, New Security Beat

Climate change has the potential to exacerbate conflict and political instability, and women will pay a steeper price than their male counterparts when it does,…

Phillippines/United States/South China Sea: U.S. Conducts Joint Patrols with Philippines in South China Sea

Apr 14, 2016 | Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press

In a military buildup certain to inflame tensions with China, the United States said Thursday it will send troops and combat aircraft to the Philippines…

Iraq: Marsh Loss Shatters Lifestyle of Iraq’s Ma’dan Women

Apr 14, 2016 | Rasha Dewedar, SciDev.Net

Iraq is losing crucial knowledge about water management as marshland depletion is altering the lifestyle of local women, a paper has warned. The indigenous people…

Enhancing Women's Role in Land Management Decisions

Mar 24, 2016 | Thierry Berger

How can women's rights be strengthened when decisions are being made about large-scale agricultural investments that affect their livelihoods?

A recent IIED webinar examined how women's…

Can Mining Dig Rural Women Out of Poverty in Ghana?

Mar 8, 2016 | Amani Mhinda

Walking within the artisanal and small-scale mining population in Tarkwa, one of Ghana's principal mining regions, it dawns on me that the local population has…

Women Pay Heavier Price for Big Dams

Mar 8, 2016 | Jamie Skinner

Large dams are displacing thousands of people in West Africa in societies where women traditionally have few legal or customary rights to the natural resources…

The Role of Women in Creating Climate Resilient Communities: Focus on the Philippines

Feb 19, 2016 | Laura Fairman

The Philippines is one of the world’s most vulnerable populations to the effects of climate change. When the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction…

Lessons From Uganda on Strengthening Women’s Voices in Environmental Governance

Jan 19, 2016 | Blake Ratner, Clementine Burnley and Paola Adriázola

It’s become popular to say that the health of the environment and the health of human communities are interlinked. Yet much of the investment aimed…

Gender Equality Is Central to Effective Climate Action

Dec 1, 2015 | Melanne Verveer and Mary Robinson

As the nations of the world meet in Paris to address climate change, it is critical that women play a central role in these historic…

Farmers of the Future: Why Mentoring Youth and Girls Is Key to Strengthening India's Food Security

Nov 11, 2015 | Rucha Chitnis

Researchers predict that in a decade or so, India’s population will surpass that of China. Meanwhile, according to this report, India is also losing 2,000…

Will the European Endgame on Conflict Minerals Put an End to Financing Rape in the DRC?

Oct 26, 2015 | Margot Wallström and Denis Mukwege

In the Eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), armed groups and criminal operators terrorize the population. Sexual violence against women is…

Getting to the Root of Gender Equal Land Governance

Sep 23, 2015 | Catriona Knapman

While there is international agreement that we need gender equality in land ownership – achieving this in practice is more complex.

Women face a number of…

Amazon Women on the Front Lines: The Waorani

Sep 17, 2015

Meet the Waorani of the Ecuadorian Amazon. They are fighting for traditional life and championing alternatives to threats to their ancestral territory—one of the wildest,…

DRC: New Scheme Seeks to Improve Tracking of DRC Minerals

Sep 9, 2015 | Nick Long, Voice of America

The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is renowned for its mineral wealth, but much of that wealth is untapped, partly because of fears that mineral…

Liberia: Women Petition Senate to Pass Land Rights Bill

Sep 9, 2015 | Liberia News Agency, Richard Stephens

A group of women under the banner of the Women NGO Network Tuesday converged on the Capitol Building to petition the Liberian Senate to speedily…

Governance, Gender and no Guarantees in Africa’s Oil-Rich States

Jul 19, 2015 | Celeste Hicks and Laura Seay

The discovery of oil in Chad in 1969 did not yield many immediate benefits for a population that would soon be wracked by civil war,…

Does Gender Balance Improve Forestry and Fishery Management?

Jul 2, 2015 | Francesca Booker

Differences in women's and men's access to, control over, and use of local natural resources shapes the way that these resources are managed. Yet women…

Challenges After Conflict: Regional Consultation on Resolution 1325

Jun 16, 2015 | Aizhamal Bakashova

Resolution 1325 is not just a tool which can be used to protect women and sustain peace. It is also a testament to strong women…

Empowered Women = Happy Planet? Gender Equality in a Changing Environment

May 20, 2015 | International Institute for Environment and Development

Gender and women's empowerment are getting increasing attention in global discussions on climate change, sustainable development and the green economy. The international community is recognising…