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NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program

Brigitte Hugh

Brigitte Hugh holds a M.S. in Political Science from Utah State University. She is a current Fellow with the Climate in Foreign Policy Project at the United Nations Foundation and a former staff intern with the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program.

  • Equitable, Effective Climate Resilience Requires Cultural Intelligence

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    Guest Contributor  //  September 22, 2020  //  By Brigitte Hugh
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    By the end of 2020, Turkey’s long awaited Ilisu dam project will be complete. Turkey argues this new dam will bring power independence and shore up economic stability. As an added bonus, it ensures water resiliency in a water-scarce region. Meanwhile, environmentalists bemoan habitat destruction, and Iraqis worry about water shortages they will experience down river. For the Kurds, the Ilisu dam project wipes out thousands of years of culture. For them, it’s the latest in a methodical cultural extermination which has been their plight since the founding of the Republic of Turkey.

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  • Foresight for Action | Weathering the Storm: Improving Predictive Capabilities for Extreme Weather and Water Events in the Caribbean

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    Foresight for Action  //  December 12, 2019  //  By Brigitte Hugh
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    The Wilson Center is partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research to develop a framework to improve predictive capabilities for security risks posed by extreme weather events. Our “Foresight for Action” series highlights case studies used to develop the framework.

    For two weeks, Hurricane Dorian, one of the strongest hurricanes to make landfall in the Pacific, decimated large swaths of the Caribbean displacing 70,000 people and killing at least 50. Natural disasters like Hurricane Dorian in the Caribbean have only been worsening over the last decade, a trend often attributed to warming oceanic and atmospheric temperatures.

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  • By, for, and of the People: How Citizen Science Enhances Water Security

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    Water Security for a Resilient World  //  December 10, 2019  //  By Brigitte Hugh
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    This article is part of ECSP’s Water Security for a Resilient World series, a partnership with USAID’s Sustainable Water Partnership and Winrock International to share stories about global water security.

    In the Peruvian Andes, where cropland is irrigated and water availability is variable at best, knowledge of highland hydrology is crucial to survival. However, until recently, the locals did not have adequate information to be able to use their water efficiently. So the community worked with a nonprofit to develop a non-specialist/non-researcher run data-gathering project to monitor the water in the region to optimize its use: in short, they developed a citizen science project.

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  • Glass Half Full? Innovative Technologies Could Increase Global Water Security

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    Water Security for a Resilient World  //  November 21, 2019  //  By Brigitte Hugh
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    This article is part of ECSP’s Water Security for a Resilient World series, a partnership with USAID’s Sustainable Water Partnership and Winrock International to share stories about global water security.

    By 2050, the UN estimates that 52 percent of the world’s population will be at risk for water insecurity. Climate change is threatening water availability through increased temperatures and drought, unpredictable rain, and the growing threat of more pollution. Globally, most wastewater reenters the water cycle without being treated, introducing dangerous unseen particles including pharmaceuticals, diseases, and larger waste products such as plastics.

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  • Investing in Women’s Empowerment Essential to Achieving Peace, Security in Africa

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    Africa in Transition  //  From the Wilson Center  //  November 14, 2019  //  By Brigitte Hugh & Deekshita Ramanarayanan
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    A country can achieve sustainable peace and security only if women are included, said Monde Muyangwa, Director of the Wilson Center’s Africa Program at a recent Wilson Center event on the role of women in promoting peace and security in Africa. “And I would argue that part of the challenges that we face on the African continent, the insecurity that we face in parts of the African continent,” she said, “is precisely because not all segments of society are included.”

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  • Hidden Forces: The Role of Water in Economic Prosperity

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    From the Wilson Center  //  Water Security for a Resilient World  //  October 22, 2019  //  By Brigitte Hugh
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    This article is part of ECSP’s Water Security for a Resilient World series, a partnership with USAID’s Sustainable Water Partnership and Winrock International to share stories about global water security.

    “If you woke up one morning and found the taps in your house were dry, the first thing many of us here would do is pick up our phone and call the utility,” said Gordon Mumbo, Team Leader for Sustainable Water for the Mara River Basin, Winrock International. But for people living in the Mara River Basin, if their taps run dry, there is no utility to call, said Mumbo. Their only choice is to grab the water container and head down to the river where water quality may be poor. Mumbo spoke at the September 30th event, “Hidden Forces: The Role of Water in Economic Prosperity,” part of the “Water Security for a More Resilient World” series co-hosted by the Wilson Center, Winrock International, and the Sustainable Water Partnership.

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  • Defying Boundaries: Using Climate Risks to Forge Cross-Border Agreements

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    On the Beat  //  October 16, 2019  //  By Brigitte Hugh
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    Climate change is a risk, said Maurice Amollo, a Mercy Corps Chief of Party in Nigeria Mercy Corps. “But it is also an opportunity if people come together.” He spoke at a recent USAID Adaptation Community Meeting, “Tackling the threat multiplier: Addressing the role of climate change in conflict dynamics.” The discussion focused on USAID’s Peace III initiative that Amollo and Mercy Corps implemented in the Karamoja region along the borders of Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Uganda, where climate and conflict shocks are part of daily life for pastoralist ethnic groups. Addressing climate and conflict issues in these regions will require using the environment to build cooperation and peace, said Eliot Levine, the Director of Mercy Corps’ Environment Technical Support Unit.

    MORE
 
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