International News

Empowering Sudan’s women and promoting peace through equitable use of natural resources

Feb 7, 2019 | Relief Web

Many parts of Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan regions are low-rainfall and drought-prone agro-pastoral areas. The resulting water scarcity and poor vegetation fosters low agricultural productivity…

Colombia: The Wetlands of Rio Magdalena under Threat [Video]

Feb 5, 2019 | Deutsche Welle

In the rainy season, the Rio Magdalena in Colombia creates a vast area of wetlands. But now its flood plains are threatened by climate change,…

Colombia: Colombia - The Wetlands of Rio Magdalena under Threat [Video]

Feb 4, 2019 | Deutsche Welle

In the rainy season, the Rio Magdalena in Colombia creates a vast area of wetlands. But now its flood plains are threatened by climate change,…

Myanmar: Myanmar's Opium Farmers Cling on to Lucrative Crop [Photos]

Feb 4, 2019 | Agence France-Presse

Fields of purple opium poppy stretch across the pastures and peaks of mountainous eastern Myanmar, with many farmers reluctant to give up the profitable cash…

Afghanistan: Peace in Afghanistan? Maybe—but a Minerals Rush Is Already Underway

Jan 30, 2019 | Antony Lowenstein, Nation

The Afghan war is the addiction that Washington can’t quit. The longest war in US history, it’s a conflict that has generally fallen out of…

Afghanistan: 2 in 3 Afghan Men Think Women Have Too Many Rights

Jan 30, 2019 | Thomson Reuters Foundation

Afghan men strongly oppose giving women more freedom — 2 in 3 think they have too much already — and young men are even more reluctant than…

Climate Change: Dangers without Borders: Military Readiness in a Warming World

Nov 21, 2018 | Neela Banerjee, Inside Climate News

In a little over a decade, climate change could make the installation and other military sites on Kwajalein uninhabitable. A 2018 study commissioned by the…

Afghanistan: Saffron Processing Factory in Herat to Hire 700 Women

Nov 21, 2018 | Wadsam

An Afghan businessman has invested USD 2 million to open a saffron processing factory in western Herat province. The factory will offer job to 700…

Vietnam: Vietnam, US Complete Cleanup of Toxic Chemical from Airport

Nov 7, 2018 | Associated Press

Vietnam and the United States have finished the cleanup of dioxin contamination at Danang airport caused by the transport and storage of the herbicide Agent…

Iran: Iran Holds Int’l Seminar on War’s Consequences for Family, Environment

Nov 7, 2018 | Alireza Hashemi, Iran Front Page

The 2018 edition of an international seminar revolving around the impact of war on woman, family and environment was held in Tehran on Tuesday, in…

DRC: DRC Cobalt Will Become 'Strategic'

Sep 18, 2018 | Mining Journal

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will soon declare cobalt and other minerals as “strategic” resulting in miners having to pay even higher royalties.

Afghanistan: Female Entrepreneurs Enter the Seed Market in Rural Afghanistan

Sep 18, 2018 | Yashpal Singh Saharawat, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas

The lack of availability of quality seeds remains a constraint in Afghanistan, hampering agricultural productivity. Against this background, ICARDA recently reintroduced the concept of village-based…

Iraq: Iraq’s Oil Production Problem

Sep 17, 2018 | Irina Slav, OilPrice

Iraq’s oil production will only grow marginally over the next 10 years despite its potential capacity, which stands at as much as 7 million bpd,…

Climate Change: Integrating Gender in the Mitigation of Climate Change

Sep 17, 2018 | UNDP

The Focal Point of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for Liberia at the EPA says the issue of climate change continues to…

A Mother's Impossible Choice: Risk Rape to Feed Your Family, or Starve

Aug 6, 2018 | Denise Hruby

On a dirt path dotted with bright-red bougainvillea, women in ankle-length dresses gather in groups of five or more before venturing into the forest. Right…

Conflict Minerals: The “Blood” Diamonds

Aug 6, 2018 | Mariela Naydenova, LeapRate

After being applied in more than 20 different industries around the globe, it is no surprise that blockchain is now being used in the diamond…

South Sudan: A Mother's Impossible Choice: Risk Rape to Feed Your Family, or Starve

Aug 6, 2018 | Denise Hruby, CNN

Based on interviews, the UN estimates that 70% of women living in camps have been raped. Since the beginning of the conflict in 2013, South…

How Afghanistan's Urban Gardens are Changing Women's Lives

Jun 14, 2018 | Agence France-Presse

It may look like they're just planting and weeding, but for the women tending the public gardens of Jalalabad, the tasks represent far more: the…

Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone in Fourth Bid to Launch Oil Sector with Licensing Round

Jun 14, 2018 | Cooper Inveen, Reuters

Seeking to capitalise on higher oil prices, Sierra Leone has extended the deadline of a fourth oil licensing round for five deep water offshore blocks…

Afghanistan: How Afghanistan's Urban Gardens Are Changing Women's Lives

Jun 14, 2018 | Agence France-Presse

It may look like they're just planting and weeding, but for the women tending the public gardens of Jalalabad, the tasks represent far more: the…

Liberia: Weah Warned Against Cruel Land Reform

Mar 7, 2018 | P. Nas Mulbah, New Democrat

Enacting the Land Rights Bill, which has been severely altered against the interest of poor forest dwellers would no doubt undermine Liberia’s peace, security, economic…

Liberia: Dowry and Women’s Land Rights in Liberia: A “Double-Edged Sword” for Women

Mar 7, 2018 | Justine Uvuza, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Dowry is a double-edged sword. Research indicates that, on one side of the sword, it can afford a woman social status from both her biological…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Denies Pull-out from Oil-Rich Kirkuk

Feb 25, 2018 | Middle East Monitor

Iraq’s Defence Ministry on Saturday denied media reports about the withdrawal of federal police forces from the oil-rich Kirkuk province. Local media said federal police…

No Guns, No Drugs, No Atrocities, No Rape, No Murder. Just Bananas…

Feb 25, 2018 | Tim Adams

Don José Manuel Suarez has seen some things. Father of seven and grandfather of 15, his 80 years have been spent farming a patch of…

Liberia: Liberia Looks to Women for Equal Distribution of Forest Resources

Feb 12, 2018 | FrontPage Africa

An eight-bedroom guesthouse, a five-classroom school and a palaver hut are major achievements of a community forest development committee (CFDC) of a community affected by…

Nile Basin: How Big Land Deals Add Stress to the River Nile

Feb 11, 2018 | The Conversation

One of the major scenes of a potential water crisis and conflict is the Nile, the longest in the world. It flows 11 countries -…

Sudan/South Sudan: Sudan to Gain Influence over South Sudan in Oil Deal

Dec 18, 2017 | Tsvetana Paraskova, OilPrice.com

Six years after South Sudan seceded from Sudan, Sudan may regain some of its influence over the south’s oil industry after the two countries agreed…

DRC: Congolese Women Fight ‘Invisible Hands’ of Exploitation

Dec 18, 2017 | Workers World

Marie-Claude Manga, social worker, pastor and fighter for the rights of oppressed women, brought the story of the plight of women in her original home,…

Afghanistan: USAID Empowers Afghan Women to Access Agriculture Credits

Nov 29, 2017 | USAID

One of the most difficult challenges for female farmers and women operating agriculture-related businesses in Afghanistan is access to credit. In addition, many women often…

Iraq: Drought and Neglect Have Decimated Iraq’s Breadbasket

Nov 28, 2017 | Alex Dziadosz, Bloomberg

In Iraqi Kurdistan, farmers face a dizzying array of problems, from drought and polluted water supplies, to ruthless urban expansion and an influx of cheap…