News

South Sudan: Food Security and Livelihoods Manager

Mar 9, 2017 | Mercy Corps

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:
DFID awarded Mercy Corps to implement a Resilient Communities through Viable Economic Recovery (RECOVER) program in South Sudan. This program has been designed…

What the Potential Repeal of Dodd-Frank Means for Conflict Minerals

Mar 9, 2017 | Jabil

The Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law in 2010 as a response to the 2008 financial crisis. As the most far-reaching Wall Street reform in…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Baghdad-Erbil Oil Disputes on Hold until Mosul Liberation

Mar 9, 2017 | Al-Monitor

Iraq’s Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi, speaking to Al-Monitor during a visit to the United States to meet with US government officials and energy executives, addressed…

Myanmar: Conservationists: Myanmar Wildlife Sanctuary under Threat from China-Backed Dam

Mar 9, 2017 | Ron Corben, Voice of America

Conservationists are calling for support to protect a major wildlife sanctuary in Myanmar’s northern Karen state they say is threatened by a China-financed dam on…

DRC: Dispute over DRC Mining Licence Goes to Court

Mar 8, 2017 | BizCommunity

In a modern-day version of claim jumping a Mauritius-registered private resources investment firm is seeking legal redress against an Australian-listed junior resources company over contested…

Conflict Minerals: Apple Pledges to Treat Congolese Cobalt as a Conflict Mineral amid Reports of Child Labor

Mar 8, 2017 | Jennier McKevitt, Supply Chain Dive

Apple's supply chain woes continue as its attempts to abide by ethical sourcing standards falter in the wake of ongoing abuses in the cobalt mineral…

Seeking Applicants: Peace and Biodiversity Dialogue Initiative Intern

Mar 7, 2017 | Peace and Biodiversity Dialogue Initiative

The Peace and Biodiversity Dialogue Initiative (PBDI) promotes transboundary cooperation in protected areas globally. Through the PBDI, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity can…

Future of DR Congo Mining Could Be on Rocky Ground if US Dodd Frank 1502 Rolled Back

Mar 7, 2017 | Laura Angela Bagnetto

The future of mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo could be changed forever as watchdog agencies, Congolese non-governmental organizations, and American businesses are watching…

Myanmar: Government to Return Land to Farmers

Mar 7, 2017 | Min Thant and Htay Hla Aung, Eleven

Dr Soe Than, regional minister for agriculture, livestock and irrigation, said: “We’re assessing the land. It shouldn’t take long. Within this year we will be…

Afghanistan: Enhancing the Success of Afghanistan’s Women Farmers

Mar 7, 2017 | International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas

Against the odds, a new agricultural outreach model targeting rural women is taking shape in Afghanistan – and delivering on its promise of empowerment, greater…

Myanmar: 134 Mining Blocks to Expire this Month

Mar 7, 2017 | Chan Mya Htwe, Myanmar Times

The Myanma Gems Enterprise under the Ministry of Resources and Environmental Conservation announced that a total of 134 authorised mining blocks in the country’s gemstone…

Here's Why Nations Go to War Over Water

Mar 6, 2017 | George Friedman and Allison Fedirka

Access to and control over water is a strategic imperative for all countries. As such, it has been a source of conflict throughout history.

Water access…

Afghanistan/Iran: Afghanistan Refuses to Supply Iran with Water Share of Hirmand

Mar 6, 2017 | Tasnim News Agency

In a move in violation of a 1973 treaty with Iran, Afghanistan has refused to supply its neighbor with share of water from the Hirmand…

South Sudan: South Sudan Grants Oranto Permit to Explore `Vast' Oil Block

Mar 6, 2017 | Okech Francis, Bloomberg

South Sudan’s government said it granted Oranto Petroleum International Ltd. a license to explore for oil in a block covering three states in the East…

South Sudan: UNEP Warns of Increasing Floods, Droughts in Parts of South Sudan

Mar 6, 2017 | Radio Tamazuj

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned that natural disasters such as floods and droughts have increased in recent days in parts of Jonglei,…

Iran/Iraq: Iraq and Iran Agree to Resolve Dispute on Joint Oil Fields

Mar 5, 2017 | Sara al-Qaher, Al-Monitor

On Feb. 20, the Iraqi Oil Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian Oil Ministry to settle disputes over the joint oil fields and…

Liberia: FDA, Communities Sign Community Forest Management Agreement

Mar 3, 2017 | Gloria T. Tamba, Daily Observer

The Peoples Rules and Organizations Supporting the Protection of Ecosystem Resources (USAID/PROSPER), in partnership with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), recently signed a community forest…

Colombia: Another Indigenous Human Rights Activist Killed in Colombia

Mar 3, 2017 | teleSUR

Colombian Indigenous and campesino leader Alicia Lopez Guisao was killed in Medellin on Thursday, adding to the growing list of recently murdered human rights activists in…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Kirkuk Oil Flows in Jeopardy again as Kurdish Tensions Grow

Mar 3, 2017 | Reuters

Iraq's Kurdistan is facing growing tensions between its government and the key opposition faction, which briefly disrupted oil flows from the semi-autonomous region this week…

Afghanistan-Pakistan Treaty on the Kabul River Basin?

Mar 2, 2017 | Shafqat Kakakhel

Pakistani officials and experts have, time and again, suggested the negotiation of an Afghanistan-Pakistan treaty to regulate the sharing of the Kabul River Basin (KRB).…

Axing “Conflict Minerals” Rule Also Threatens DRC’s Endangered Grauer Gorillas

Mar 2, 2017 | Wilson Center

For weeks, the primatologists had followed a group of Grauer’s gorillas over rugged terrain – hacking through dense rainforest; following knife-edged ravines; and crossing a…

Food Security: Hunger Persists in Chronic Conflict Zones Despite Strong Global Harvests – UN

Mar 2, 2017 | UN

Despite robust food supply conditions, droughts are worsening food security across swathes of East Africa, and access to food has been dramatically reduced in areas…

Uganda: Museveni: There Is No Reason for Conflict over River Nile

Mar 2, 2017 | Nigeria Today

President Yoweri Museveni has said Uganda has not yet ratified the “Nile Agreement” on the use of the River Nile, as it is pursuing  a…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraqi Kirkuk Oil Exports at Risk as Kurds Seize Pump Station

Mar 2, 2017 | Khalid Al Ansary, Kadhim Ajrash, and Sam Wilkin, Bloomberg

Iraqi oil shipments of about 105,000 barrels a day were halted briefly on Thursday after Kurdish troops seized control of a pumping station in disputed…

Myanmar: Forest Department Investigates Sizeable Seizures of Smuggled Timber

Mar 1, 2017 | Htun Htun, Irrawaddy

The forest department has launched an internal investigation in response to sizeable seizures of smuggled timber since late January. On Jan. 24, authorities seized more…

Iran/Iraq/Kurdistan: Kurds, Turkmen Concerned about Iran-Iraq Kirkuk Oil Deal

Mar 1, 2017 | Baxtiyar Goran, Kurdistan24

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Turkmen of Kirkuk are concerned about the Iran-Iraq deal to export Kirkuk oil to Iran. On Tuesday, Falah…

Bolivia/Ecuador/Peru: As Water Scarcity Deepens across Latin America, Political Instability Grows

Mar 1, 2017 | John Vidal, Guardian

Other Latin American countries are also experiencing renewed water conflicts as climate change affects rainfalls while mining and agribusiness demand more. In Chile, the first…

In Support of Dodd-Frank Conflict Minerals Regulation

Feb 28, 2017 | Sasha Lezhnev

IRIN’s recent article, Who pays the hidden price for Congo’s conflict-free minerals, offers a compelling story that highlights some real challenges facing many Congolese people today.

Unfortunately,…

Afghanistan: Afghan Capital's Thirsty Residents Dig Deep to Combat Drought, Overuse

Feb 28, 2017 | Sayed Hassib, Reuters

A growing population is straining water supplies in Afghanistan's capital, forcing those who can afford it to dig unregulated wells ever deeper to tap a…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Exclusive: Iraq's Kurdistan Negotiates New Terms, Raises Oil Pre-Payments to $3 Billion

Feb 28, 2017 | Dmitry Zhdannikov, Reuters

Iraq's Kurdistan has increased the loans guaranteed by future oil sales to $3 billion in new deals with trading houses and Russian state oil firm…