Environmental Peacebuilding Association

News

Afghanistan: In War-Weary Kabul, Burning Coal and Tires Keeps Residents Warm — and the City Choked by Smog

Jan 12, 2019 | Alex Horton and Sharif Hassan, Washington Post

Afghanistan, long embroiled in conflict, has focused for the past 18 years on security and reconstruction at the expense of issues affecting the environment, according…

Afghanistan: Afghanistan's Kabul Faces Water Crisis as Drought, Population Strain Supply

Jan 11, 2019 | Agence France-Presse

Every year 80 million cubic metres (2.8 billion cubic feet) of water are extracted from Kabul's aquifers -- nearly double the natural recharge rate through…

Iraq: Head of Livelihoods Program

Jan 10, 2019 | Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40…

Syria: WASH Capacity Development for the Syrian Crisis

Jan 10, 2019 | Save the Children UK

Save the Children UK is an international non-governmental organisation that promotes children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries. Save the Children…

Iraq: WASH Project Manager

Jan 10, 2019 | Terre des hommes Foundation Child Relief

Terre des hommes (Tdh) is the leading Swiss organisation for children’s aid. Since 1960, Tdh has helped build a better future for deprived children and…

Iraq: ‘Living Under a Black Sky:’ The Forgotten Cost of Conflict

Jan 10, 2019 | Bryan Bowman, Globe Post

As Iraq continues to rebuild after the war with ISIS, environmental pollution, an often overlooked consequence of conflict, threatens the public health and future security…

Myanmar: Myanmar Cracking Down on Opium, but Conflicts Push Drug Trade

Jan 10, 2019 | Al Jazeera

The amount of land being used to grow opium poppies continues to decline in Myanmar, but ongoing conflicts are hampering efforts to stamp out the…

Myanmar: Risk of Floods as Myanmar Builds Bridge Near Border

Jan 10, 2019 | Abdul Aziz, Coxs Bazar

The Myanmar government is building a bridge on Tambru canal close to Bangladesh’s barbed- wire border fence. Built on Myanmar’s land, the bridge has too…

Myanmar: Traders Hope for a Boost from New Gem Laws

Jan 9, 2019 | Kyaw Ko Ko, Myanmar Times

The new amendments to the law governing the extraction of gemstones in Myanmar are expected to offer relief for the gem industry in Mandalay. Industry…

Colombia: Illegal Deforestation Spikes in Colombia: How FARC Prevented Deforestation and the Government Cannot

Jan 9, 2019 | Ooda Loop

Although FARC groups have been largely demobilized in the two years since the peace deal they signed with the Colombian government, the government has been…

Niger: Signing of a Peace Agreement between Fulani and Mahamid Arab Communities in the Diffa Region of Niger

Jan 9, 2019 | Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue

The Fulani and Mahamid Arab communities from the municipalities of Foulatari, N’guelbeli, Goudoumaria and Mainé Soroa in the Diffa region of Niger signed a peace…

Can a South China Sea Code of Conduct Help Ensure Regional Stability? Here Are Four Ways It Could Be Strengthened

Jan 8, 2019 | Aaron Rabena

The China-Philippines Scarborough Shoal stand-off in 2012, the China-Vietnam oil-rig incident in 2014, China’s island-building and militarisation operations, the Philippines’ Permanent Court of Arbitration landmark…

H2O: Water Conflicts to Watch in 2019

Jan 8, 2019 | Kayla Ritter

In 2018, water sparked quarrels across the globe, from the mountains of Central Asia to the world’s driest desert. Water systems were also a casualty…

Liberia: China Breaks Ground for Liberia’s First Plywood Factory

Jan 8, 2019 | Samuel G. Dweh, FrontPage Africa

“We are here to break ground for the construction of a plywood factory, the first of its kind in Liberia, and for Liberia,” a Chinese…

DRC: Investigating DR Congo's Illegal Gold Trade

Jan 8, 2019 | Lisa Dupuy and Klaas van Dijken, Deutsche Welle

The conflict-ridden African nation is rich in gold — and gold smugglers, who are often linked to rebel groups. But tracing commercially available gold back…

DRC: DRC Miner SMB Leaves Responsible-Sourcing Scheme to Join Another

Jan 8, 2019 | Fiston Mahamba and Barbara Lewis, Reuters

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s biggest miner of coltan, an ore containing metals used in mobile phones, is leaving the ITSCI certification scheme relied on…

Climate Change and National Security, Part II: How Big a Threat Is the Climate?

Jan 7, 2019 | Michelle Melton

The US national security establishment has been increasingly vocal that climate change is a national security threat—and the US is not alone in this regard.…

Colombia: How Organized Crime Profits from Deforestation in Colombia

Jan 7, 2019 | Bjorn Kjelstad and Felipe Puerta, InSight Crime

Two years after the signing of a peace deal between the Colombian government and the FARC, Colombia’s forests are under siege and experiencing heightened levels…

Myanmar: Salween Peace Park to Keep Lands in Local Hands

Jan 7, 2019 | Lawi Weng, Irrawaddy

Representatives of the Salween Peace Park have said there is no vacant land in Karen State and that all land and its natural resources are…

DRC: DRC on the Brink

Jan 7, 2019 | Resource Clips, Greg Klein

This is the place that inspired the term “crimes against humanity.” As a timely new book points out, American writer George Washington Williams coined that…

Liberia: Green Advocates, IDI Develop New Tools to Hold Oil Palm Farmers Accountable for Environmental and Human Rights Violations

Jan 7, 2019 | Alloycious David, Liberian Observer

Green Advocates International (GAI) and Inclusive Development International (IDI) have developed new advocacy tools that would be used by local communities to hold oil palm…