News


Climate Change: How Climate Change Creates a Perfect Storm of Terrorism and Violence

Apr 20, 2017 | Martha Henriques, International Business Times

Stable states, as well as those experiencing civil conflict, face an increased risk of violence and terrorist activity due to climate change, according to a…


Iraq: Iraq May Seek Exemption from OPEC Oil Cuts to Boost Own Output: Hakim

Apr 20, 2017 | Mahmoud Mourad, Reuters

Iraq may seek to be exempt from a deal between oil exporters to reduce global supply in order to support crude prices and ask to…


North Korea: As North Korea Tensions Rise, Farming in the Demilitarized Zone Goes on

Apr 20, 2017 | Motoko Rich, New York Times

Taesung is a real community, albeit one with strict limits on who can come and go. The residents are mostly farmers from families that have…


Violence and Water Scarcity Threaten Historic Quadruple Famine

Apr 19, 2017 | Erica Martin and Sara Merken

An international food crisis is currently unfolding on a scale not seen since World War II. More than 20 million people in Somalia, Nigeria, South…


Afghanistan: Consultant for Needs Assessment Report

Apr 19, 2017 | Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia

The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) was established in accordance with the decision of the 4th Pan-European Conference held in 1998 in Aarhus (Denmark).…


Why is Coca Production on the Rise in Colombia?

Apr 19, 2017 | Ross Eventon

In early March 2017, the United States government and the United Nations announced large increases in the amount of coca being cultivated in Colombia. Speaking at the…


China/South China Sea: China Seeks Foreign Help in Risky Work Finding Oil in Disputed Sea

Apr 19, 2017 | Ralph Jennings, Voice of America

Beijing is looking for foreign contractors to help find oil and gas under the South China Sea but expects to meet resistance because other governments…


Climate Change: How a Warming Planet Drives Human Migration

Apr 19, 2017 | Jessica Benko, New York Times

Climate change is not equally felt across the globe, and neither are its longer term consequences. This map overlays human turmoil — represented here by…


China is Playing Peacemaker in Myanmar, but with an Ulterior Motive

Apr 18, 2017 | Doug Bock Clark and Corey Pattison

In early March, Myanmar’s government sat down with a coalition of ethnic rebel groups, including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), trying to jump-start peace negotiations…


HotSpots H2O, April 18: Water and Sanitation Crises Jeopardize Health of Damascus Citizens

Apr 18, 2017 | Kayla Cragg

Water shortages and sewage system failures are compromising the health of millions in Damascus, Syria. According to the UNICEF Representative in Syria, Hanaa Singer, “In Syria, water…


How Humans Have Fought over—and Weaponized—Water

Apr 18, 2017 | Kelsey Atherton

A timeline of all the reasons we've gone to battle over the H2O. Whether we're poisoning, drowning, or dehydrating our enemies into submission, we humans…


Only Transparency Can Prevent Conflict Minerals from Harming People and Wildlife

Apr 18, 2017 | John Calvelli

There is beauty in the biodiverse wildlife that calls DRC home, including chimpanzees, okapi, and the critically endangered Grauer’s gorilla. And there is beauty in…


Colombia: UN, Colombia Assess Post-Conflict Environmental Damage

Apr 18, 2017 | Faye Leone, International Institute for Sustainable Development

UN experts conducted a post-conflict, multi-disciplinary assessment of environmental degradation in Colombia, concluding that the country has an opportunity to promote sustainable and resilient livelihoods…


Iraq: Iraq Plans Three Gas Processing Plants to Reduce Flaring

Apr 17, 2017 | Reuters

Iraq plans to build three new plants to process natural gas currently being flared at southern oil fields, and use the fuel for power generation…


Afghanistan: Water Supply Maintenance Provides Short-Term Jobs in Karmalik Village

Apr 17, 2017 | World Bank

Shiny new pipelines connect the water storage tank to the tanker parked beside the main road of Karmalik village. The tanker provides sufficient drinking water…


Myanmar: Oil Pipeline to Myanmar ‘at Risk from Rebels’

Apr 16, 2017 | Kristin Huang, South China Morning Post

Although a crude-oil pipeline from Myanmar to China is finally running, its operations still face serious risks from the conflict in northern Myanmar, observers said.…


South Sudan: Kiir Signs Suspicious Oil Agreements to Turn Around Fortunes of Economy

Apr 15, 2017 | Julius Barigaba, East African

The South Sudanese government is signing deals with suspected wheelerdealers, some of whom may be out to take advantage of Juba's financial crisis. In less…


Afghanistan/Pakistan: Pakistan Plans Water Treaty with Afghanistan

Apr 13, 2017 | S. Mudassir Ali Shah, Pajhwok Afghan News

Afghan and Pakistani experts are expected to meet soon to exchange water data and the hydrology of Kabul and Kunar rivers, a news report said…


Timor-Leste: As Maritime Agreement with Australia Dissolves, Timor-Leste Left Exposed

Apr 13, 2017 | Maciej Heyman, MilTech

On 10 April this year, the 2006 Certain Maritime Agreement on the Timor Sea (CMATS) was terminated. CMATS was an agreement between Australia and Timor-Leste…


Conflict Minerals: Apple, Intel Carry on as SEC Relaxes Conflict Minerals Scrutiny

Apr 13, 2017 | Andrea Vittorio, Securities Law Daily

Relaxed regulatory scrutiny won’t stop companies like Apple Inc. and Intel Corp. from reporting as usual next month about efforts to keep minerals that fund…


China/Myanmar: New Myanmar Oil Pipeline Bolsters China's Energy Security

Apr 13, 2017 | Wataru Kodaka and Yuichi Nitta, Nikkei

The opening of an oil pipeline through Myanmar is a big step forward for China's energy security, reducing the major importer's reliance on shipments through waters where the…


Landmines: Glowing Bacteria Offer Hope for Safe Detection of 100m Landmines

Apr 13, 2017 | Peter Beaumont, Guardian

A team of researchers at an Israeli university has successfully tested a technology using fluorescent bacteria and lasers that could become a safer system for…


Water and the Rise of Insurgencies in the “Arc of Instability”

Apr 12, 2017 | Azua (Zizhan) Luo

Water scarcity has contributed to an “arc of instability” characterized by conflict and displacement that stretches from West Africa to the Middle East, said a…


Enough Project Responds with Serious Concerns about SEC Statements on Conflict Minerals

Apr 12, 2017 | Enough Project

The Enough Project takes serious issue with recent statements by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar and the SEC Division of Corporate Finance regarding the…


Myanmar: Rescuing Myanmar’s Farmers from the Debt Trap

Apr 12, 2017 | Economist

Many farmers borrow to cover planting costs, buy equipment or purchase land, and repay after the harvest. Under the junta that isolated Myanmar for decades,…


Afghanistan: Strongmen, Locals Cutting down Kunduz Forests

Apr 12, 2017 | Bashir Ahmad Naadim, Pajhwok Afghan News

Residents and officials say they are worried about illegal cutting down of forest trees in northern Kunduz province, asking the government to stop the practice.…


Reprehensible SEC Decision on Conflict Minerals Rule Undermines Global Efforts to Source Minerals Responsibly

Apr 11, 2017 | Global Witness

According to Global Witness, SEC Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar and the SEC Division of Corporation Finance’s recent actions questioning enforcement of an important aspect of…


Nigeria: Strategic Resilience Assessment Manager

Apr 10, 2017 | Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by building secure, productive and just communities. Mercy Corps has been present in Nigeria since 2012,…


Afghanistan: Consultance for Territorial Diagnosis

Apr 10, 2017 | MADERA and Solidarités International

The French Agency for Development (AFD) has granted funding to a consortium of three French NGOs to implement a three-year rural development programme in the Central Highlands of…


Afghanistan: Advisor - Watershed Management

Apr 10, 2017 | Concern Worldwide

Concern Worldwide is an Irish-based non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in…