Blogs & Opinions

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…

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,…

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…

Women On the Frontlines of Water Insecurity

Mar 25, 2015 | Mayesha Alam

Water is essential to life on earth, but we are facing a global crisis. According to a new report released by UNESCO on March 22…

Protecting & Empowering Women & Girls in Situations of Crisis & Conflict

Mar 9, 2015 | Annabelle Timsit

Since the mid-1990s, there have been significant increases in the recorded number of all disasters and in deaths resulting from those disasters, especially in low-income…

UN Report Highlights Women’s Roles in Natural Resource Management During and After Conflict

Jan 5, 2015 | Priya Kamdar

It’s been 14 years since the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 acknowledging women as important agents of change in recovery from conflict and peacebuilding…

'Outside the Net': Women's Participation in Fishing Activities in Trincomalee District of Sri Lanka

Jan 5, 2015 | Gayathri Lokuge

‘The woman left us slowly and moved to the other side of the beach seine, sat down on the sand and started piling the seaweed…

Women's Land Rights and Africa's Development Conundrum- Which Way Forward?

Dec 12, 2014 | Eric Yeboah

How can African countries use land policies to ensure agricultural development and inclusive growth? Particularly in countries which are dominated by patriarchal land ownership systems?…

Alina Saba of Nepal and Agnes Kinaka of Papua New Guinea Reflect on Their Participation in the UN Climate Summit

Oct 29, 2014 | ADWID

In addition to the 120 Heads of State who attended the UN Climate Summit in September, 38 civil society representatives were selected by their peers…

Afghanistan’s Mining Industry, Crucial for Economy, Holds Risks for Women

Oct 10, 2014 | Emily Horin, United States Institute of Peace

As Afghanistan attempts to develop its economy by attracting investment to its mining sector, the already daunting conditions for women in rural areas could worsen…

Somali Refugees Show How Conflict, Gender, Environmental Scarcity Become Entwined

Aug 25, 2014 | New Security Beat

Under international law, someone who flees their country because of conflict or persecution is a refugee, but someone who flees because of inability to meet…

Voices from Nepal: Promoting Women's Climate Leadership

Aug 3, 2014

The magnitude of the problem of climate change and environmental degradation in a mountainous and developing country like Nepal is very alarming.

Rapid population growth and…

Fiji: Indigenous Women Defend Community and Environment

Feb 20, 2006

In September of 2005, women from rural and urban areas throughout the Macuata Province, Fiji, met to create a strategic, ten-year sustainable development plan. The…

Day 9: Feminism and Food Sovereignty

Pamela Elisa Caro Molina

Food sovereignty offers opportunities to advance women’s rights within the food system, but we must also work to restore gender relations within rural families and…

What Has Happened to Gender Provisions in Peace Agreements?

Agathe Christien

The world seemed to be making slow but steady progress on the inclusion of gender sensitive provisions in peace agreements. References to women and gender had…

Why Addressing the Climate Crisis Can Help Build More Sustainable Peace

Florian Krampe, Farah Hegazi, and Stacy D. VanDeveer

Thirty years of research underlies the realization that climate change poses substantial national, international and human security risks, but analysts have only recently shifted their…

Close the Gender Gap in Climate Change. Five Ways To Do It

Vilas Dhar, Tara Chklovski, and Yolanda Botti-Lodovico

With each breath they take, residents of Delhi endure the dark and dense smog resulting from crop burning. Even though these practices pollute the air and…

Why Gender Matters in Climate Security - And What Policy Makers Can Do About It

Emma Hakala and Esther Hodges

In October 2025, United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 - the foundational resolution for the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda - turns 25.…