News

State Department Ventures into Conflict Minerals

Mar 29, 2017 | Cydney S. Posner

Bloomberg BNA is reporting that the State Department has launched a new review of “how best to support responsible sourcing of conflict minerals,” which will continue…

Sierra Leone: The Protective Powers of Chocolate [Video]

Mar 29, 2017 | Ruth Krause and Björn Kietzmann, Deutsche Welle

Sierra Leone has lost 95 percent of its original forests. The vision of Gola Rainforest National Park, and the Greater Gola Landscape in which it…

Afghanistan: Resistance as Anti-Poppy Drive Proceeds in Nangarhar

Mar 29, 2017 | Pajhwok Afghan News

The counternarcotics department head for eastern Nangahar province says the ongoing anti-poppy campaign in the province has been struggling with security challenges. The department has…

Mexico: Oil Drillers Face an Angry Mob in Mexico’s Guerrilla Country

Mar 29, 2017 | Adam Williams, Bloomberg

When an angry mob torched City Hall in the southern Mexican town of Tecpatan last month, it sent a warning flare across a country already…

South Sudan: Oil Workers Seen as Target in New Phase of South Sudan's War

Mar 29, 2017 | Okech Francis and Nizar Manek, Bloomberg

Crude oil brings in the cash to keep South Sudan’s army fighting. That may have made oil workers a target for rebels waging the African…

Conflict Minerals: State Department Reviewing Conflict Minerals Sourcing

Mar 28, 2017 | Andrea Vittorio, Bureau of National Affairs

The State Department and other federal agencies are looking at efforts to break the link between armed groups and the minerals trade in and around…

Global Warming Is a Matter of Survival for Pacific Islander Women

Mar 28, 2017 | Kristi Eaton

For Viva Tatawaqa and women like her, climate change is not a question of when. According to the activist from Fiji, it's a question of…

Kidapawan, Climate Change and Conflict

Mar 27, 2017 | Laurence Delina

With another El Niño projected to form this year, one can wonder if policymakers have done proper analyses of the ways in which climate change…

Myanmar Must Avoid Resource Curse

Mar 27, 2017 | Chan Mya Htwe

It is high time that Myanmar escape from overdependence on natural resource income, analysts have said.

“In the long run, Myanmar must escape from resource dependency. …

Climate Change is a Security Threat

Mar 27, 2017 | Melanne Verveer

Climate change is a security threat and a vulnerability multiplier. It affects human security, food security, water security, energy security—and women’s security.

The security threat starts…

Myanmar: Timber Sector Wants MTE to Get the Chop

Mar 27, 2017 | Su Myat Mon, Frontier

The timber industry has called for an independent monitoring body to replace state-owned Myanma Timber Enterprise, which has been accused of hurting exports by failing…

Climate Security: Republicans Cite National Security to Justify Climate Action

Mar 27, 2017 | Sam Mintz and Hannah Hess, E&E News

Even though climate change can be politically toxic for many Republicans, linking the issue to national security and citing military leaders' acceptance of global warming…

South Sudan: Detention of Oil Workers in South Sudan Indicates Abduction Risks from Both Armed Factions and 'For-Profit' Bandits

Mar 27, 2017 | Verner Ayukegba, IHS Jane's Terrorism & Insurgency Centre

The faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) loyal to former South Sudanese first vice-president Riek Machar declared on 21 March that…

Food Security: Food Security in the Middle East Sharply Deteriorated

Mar 27, 2017 | Inter Press Service

Food security and nutrition levels in the Near East and North Africa have sharply deteriorated over the last five years, undermining the steady improvement achieved…

Conflict Minerals: Businesses Benefit from US Conflict Minerals Reporting Rule, Say NGOs

Mar 27, 2017 | Chemical Watch

NGOs have urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) not to weaken or repeal the US conflict minerals reporting rule, as doing so would have…

Colombia: Colombia’s Bananas ‘Not Stained with Blood’: Association

Mar 27, 2017 | Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports

Colombia’s banana companies financed legal “private security companies” and not paramilitary groups, claimed the association chairman as several members face charges of supporting terrorism. According…

To Defeat Terrorism In Afghanistan, Start With Opium Crops in Nangarhar Province

Mar 26, 2017 | Anders Corr

This month, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed an attack on a military hospital in Kabul, killing more than 40 civilians and defenseless patients. The…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Frontier Too Far? Oil Producers Adjust to Reduced Hopes for Kurdistan

Mar 26, 2017 | Nathalie Thomas, Financial Times

Excited tales about how Kurdistan was one of the cheapest places on earth to pump crude grabbed the attention of big energy groups such as…

India: PMO Told that Water Wars Are Nearing in 'Water-Stressed' India

Mar 26, 2017 | Yatish Yadav, New Indian Express

With demand outstripping supply of water, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is waking up to the possibility of water scarcity triggering social unrest in the…

Keeping Myanmar's Lights On

Mar 25, 2017 | Tony Nash

Myanmar is one of the world's fastest growing economies, with projected annual growth of 7.8% in gross domestic product for the financial year to March…

Sierra Leone: Miners Found a 706-Carat Diamond in Sierra Leone. Who Should Get the Profit?

Mar 25, 2017 | Jaime Yaya Barry, New York Times

Fist-size and lumpy, the rock that a team of miners came upon recently in the diamond fields of Sierra Leone was orange with red speckles…

Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Relentless Opium Woes Have a 'New Seed in Town,' and It Comes from China

Mar 25, 2017 | Mariam Amini, CNBC

A problem that Afghanistan and international governments have tried to eradicate for decades is only getting worse, and China is a big reason why. Last…

Ken Conca on the Good, Bad, and Ugly of Water Conflict and Cooperation

Mar 24, 2017 | Lauren Herzer Risi

In international development, conflict is often used as shorthand for violent conflict, and avoiding conflict is considered a priority. But “it’s important to recognize that…

Why Our Human Rights Depend on Turning Conflict into Conservation

Mar 24, 2017 | Alex Reid

Biodiversity hotspots cover just 1.4% of the planet’s surface, yet 80% of major armed conflicts between 1950 and 2000 occurred in these areas. This figure should…

Afghanistan: Ministry to Deliver 10,000 Tons of Seed to Farmers

Mar 24, 2017 | Zarmina Mohammadi, TOLOnews

Officials from the ministry of agriculture and irrigation on Thursday said that it will distribute 10,000 tons of improved seed to Afghan farmers this year…

Myanmar: As Many as 10 Myanmar Villagers Injured in Shooting at Letpadaung Copper Mine

Mar 24, 2017 | Radio Free Asia

As many as 10 villagers have been injured by police who fired rubber bullets at them on Friday for blocking a roadway to a controversial…

China: Will Central Asia Water Wars Derail China's Silk Road?

Mar 24, 2017 | Nishtha Chugh, Diplomat

A brewing crisis is threatening to derail Beijing’s mega project, now a major foreign policy priority, in the very region that’s most critical to its…

China/Philippines/South China Sea: Duterte Says Philippines Can’t Afford Oil Rigs, Open to Sharing Resources with China in Disputed Sea

Mar 24, 2017 | Agence France-Presse

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he was open to sharing resources with Beijing in flashpoint South China Sea waters over which Manila has been given…

DRC: Program Director Land Access and Food Security

Mar 23, 2017 | Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since August 2007, with a staff of around 250 people working in…

DRC: WASH & Infrastructure Advisor

Mar 23, 2017 | Medair

Medair is a humanitarian organisation inspired by Christian faith to relieve human suffering in some of the world’s most remote and devastated places. We bring…