International News

Afghanistan: In Hard Times, Afghan Farmers Are Turning to Opium for Security

Nov 21, 2021 | Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Taimoor Shah, New York Times

The decision to destroy his entire orchard is one Abdul Hamid and many other Afghan farmers in the district are making to earn an income…

Afghanistan- Working with the Taliban for Women’s Rights: It’s Like Speaking to Fish about Land!

Nov 21, 2021 | Gavi Klein

The fight does not lie in convincing them of progressive ideals; the fight is to get the best outcome for those directly impacted by Taliban…

Afghanistan: In Afghanistan, Climate Change Drives an Uptick in Child Marriage

Nov 17, 2021 | Ruchi Kumar, Undark

Child marriage is not a new phenomenon in South Asia, and despite attempts to legislate against it, the practice remains common across Afghanistan. Reports suggest…

Women’s Land Rights Are Necessary to Build Climate-Resilient Futures

Nov 17, 2021 | Juliet Schulman-Hall

COP 26, the UN Conference on Climate, ended last Friday, after world leaders made several collective pledges to the climate crisis on issues like deforestation,…

Scotland: Supporting Women in Climate Action and Conflict Resolution

Nov 12, 2021

A new climate change focused fellowship promoting equal participation by women in peace resolution is being supported as part of a £300,000 funding commitment from…

Mozambique: The Farmers Navigating Conflict, Climate Change and Covid

Nov 12, 2021 | Tavares Cebola, African Arguments

According to a study by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 76% of the households in Mozambique experienced moderate to severe food insecurity at…

Climate Change: Violence, Insecurity and Climate Change Drive 84 Million People from Their Homes

Nov 11, 2021 | UN

UNHCR’s Mid-Year Trends report, covering the first six months of this year, revealed a surge from 82.4 million since December – largely due to internal displacement –…

We Need More Female Leaders in the Fight Against Climate Change

Nov 11, 2021 | Maria Tanyag

Diverse participation leads to more robust solutions, but Cop26 shows we are still failing to include marginalised voices.

Ethiopia: “I Always Remember That Day”: Access to Services for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region

Nov 10, 2021 | Human Rights Watch

The Ethiopian government’s blocking of aid with health facilities in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region destroyed is preventing sexual violence survivors from getting post-rape care. The government’s…

Afghanistan: Stone Quarrying and Processing Industry Drops 90%

Nov 10, 2021 | TOLOnews

Officials from the Union of Stone Extraction and Processing Companies said nearly 90 percent of the production and extraction business in the country has stopped.…

Gender Equality and Indigenous People: Day Nine at Cop26 – In Pictures

Nov 10, 2021 | Eric Hilaire

Some of the best images from the global climate summit in Scotland on Tuesday 9 November. 

COP26: Five Takeaways as the 'Sexism' of Climate Change Is Discussed

Nov 10, 2021 | Euronews

There was more than one topic up for discussion at COP26 today. Gender was the theme of the day alongside science and innovation.

But there were…

On Gender Day at U.N. Climate Talks, A Call for Action That Empowers Women and Girls

Nov 8, 2021 | Casey Quackenbush

Women and children bear a disproportionate impact of climate change. Here’s what you need to know about Tuesday’s COP26 theme.

Afghanistan: Taliban's £1.2 Billion-a-Year War Chest That Helped Them Take over Kabul in Months

Nov 8, 2021 | Chris Hughes, Mirror

The Taliban was able to overrun Kabul in a matter of months because it had amassed an impressive war chest of £1.2 billion a-year. Add…

India: Efforts on to Clean Arunachal River after Thousands of Fish Die as Water Turns Black

Nov 6, 2021 | Indo-Asian News Service

Various organisations along with experts from different parts of the country have swung into action to clean Arunachal Pradesh's Kameng river water which turned black…

Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s Saffron Growers Worried Taliban Will Ban Heavily Female Workforce

Oct 31, 2021 | Arshad Mehmood, Media Line

Saffron has the potential to help ameliorate Afghanistan’s dire economic difficulties. The country has long produced some of the best saffron in the world, and…

Half of Syria Has Been Displaced by War. Now Record Drought Threatens Millions More

Oct 30, 2021 | Bel Trew, Independent

Today Syria is in the grips of the worst drought in 70 years. The Khabour has run completely dry like other rivers, lakes and dams…

COP26: Why Are Women Still Missing at the Top Climate Table

Oct 30, 2021 | Bonnie Chiu

When the global face to climate action is Greta Thunberg, it can appear that women and girls are well represented at the top table. As…

Afghanistan: Exclusive - 'Women Encouraged to Work in Pine Nut Industry': Taliban to WION

Oct 28, 2021 | Anas Mallick, WION

Pine nuts, popularly known as Afghanistan's 'export gold', are one of the major sources of support for the country's economy, especially at a time like this…

Sierra Leone: From ECOWAS to New York: Beny Steinmetz Diamonds on Trial in Three Jurisdictions

Oct 27, 2021 | Africa Intelligence

People living close to the Koidu diamond mine in Sierra Leone fear the dismissal of a domestic court case against Beny Steinmetz's company Octea, which…

Can COP26 Become a Turning Point for Gender Responsive Climate Action?

Oct 26, 2021 | Mohammad Naciri, Samantha Hung, Sun-Ah Kim

Any meaningful international effort to address climate change must have women and girls at its center.

Afghanistan: Climate Now a Worse Crisis Than War for Afghanistan’s Farmers

Oct 26, 2021 | Al Jazeera

Drought stalks the parched fields around Afghanistan’s remote district of Bala Murghab, where the climate crisis is proving a deadlier foe than the country’s recent…

Ghana: Exclusion of Women in Peacebuilding Threat to Development

Oct 22, 2021 | Prince Acquah

The Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council (NPC), Mr George Amoh, has stated that the exclusion of women in peace building and security issues…

Vietnam/South China Sea: Vietnam Land-Filling on Disputed Reef in Spratlys, Imagery Shows

Oct 22, 2021 | Radio Free Asia

Vietnam appears to be doing new construction and land-filling on a remote reef it occupies in the disputed South China Sea, commercial satellite imagery shows.…

South Sudan: UNHCR Responding to Worst Flooding in Decades in South Sudan

Oct 19, 2021 | UNHCR

Weeks of heavy rain have caused unrelenting floods, affecting more than 700,000 people across the country, UNHCR Representative in the country Arafat Jamal said on Tuesday.  

The rains…

Palestine/Syria: Access to Natural Resources by Palestinians, Syrians Should Not Be Denied, Delegates Tell Second Committee

Oct 18, 2021 | UN

Israel’s ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Syrian Golan, colliding with the impacts of the COVID‑19 pandemic, have turned into a crisis within…

Filling Gender Gap in Agriculture: Viable Opportunities for Women

Oct 17, 2021 | Sorina Buzatu

Country life may be romantic, but regional development counts too. Digitalisation can help boost gender equality and curb rural poverty

Despite women playing a key role…

Ghana: Plan International Ghana Supports Vulnerable Rural Women with WISE Project

Oct 16, 2021 | News Ghana

Plan International Ghana through its project “Women’s Innovation for Sustainable Enterprise” (WISE), is organising series of activities to commemorate this year’s International Day of Rural…

The Right to a Clean and Healthy Environment: 6 Things You Need to Know

Oct 15, 2021 | UN

On 8 October, loud and unusual applause reverberated around the chamber of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. A battle fought for decades by…

Nigeria: Female Farmers Seek an End to Gender Disparities in Ownership of Land Holdings in Agriculture

Oct 15, 2021 | Great Ozozoyin

Female farmers in Taraba State have again expressed sadness at the way and manner they are often being relegated to the background in allocating lands…