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Resilient Cities Need to Support the Informal Economy: Millions of Overlooked Working Poor
›For this World Cities Day, the UN’s theme calls for “building sustainable and resilient cities.” Cities across the Global South are assessing their physical preparedness against future shocks. Can cities that leave out—or often push out—poor workers claim resiliency? These moves are, in fact, weakening any preparedness. The foundations of truly sustainable and resilient cities lie in their residents’ abilities and agency.
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Dealing with Disasters: Invest in Communities to Realize Resilience Dividends
›September 27, 2017 // By Roger-Mark De SouzaThe 1-2-3 punch of hurricanes Irma, Harvey, and Maria has made it devastatingly clear that extreme weather events can and will destroy families, interrupt livelihoods, and tear apart communities, particularly in coastal and low-lying areas of vulnerable regions like the Caribbean and the United States.
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The Deadly “Humanitarian Ping-Pong” of Refugee Rescue at Sea
›In 2013, a boat capsized 61 miles from the Italian island of Lampedusa killing 268 refugees including 60 children. It was another horrific example of the risks taken by so many families fleeing violence in the Middle East and Africa. But recently released tapes of conversations with coast guard authorities reveal a deeper tragedy.
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Wild Laws: China and Its Role in Wildlife Trafficking
›China Environment Forum // From the Wilson Center // September 12, 2016 // By Evie Kirschke-Schwartz -
Can Myanmar Avoid Conflict Pitfalls in its Hydro Blitz?
›Myanmar is undergoing multiple transitions, from military rule to democracy, decades of civil war to peace, and from a command economy to a market-based one. No less of an important challenge amidst this backdrop of change and hope is addressing the country’s energy poverty.
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Jim Jarvie, SciDevNet
Urban Resilience to Climate Change in Asia Critical as Strong El Niño Looms
›September 7, 2015 // By Wilson Center StaffAn advisory released this August by the U.S. National Weather Service warned this year’s El Niño could be among the strongest ever recorded, lasting well into the first few months of 2016.
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Crossing Borders and Defying Policing, Abuses of Thailand’s Fishing Industry Challenge International System
›August 18, 2015 // By Linnea BennettSomewhere off the coast of Thailand, “ghost ships” bump and crash along the choppy waves scrapping the sea floor with nets that spare nothing. Pulling up these illegal hauls in shifts that sometimes last 20 hours are thousands of migrant fishermen, many of whom have been forced into indentured servitude or kidnapped. Far from shore on unregistered boats, they have little hope of escape and face daily abuse and squalid conditions. More recently, some captains have turned to trafficking Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar, pressing some into service, extorting others, and taking sex slaves.
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Lukas Rüttinger, Adelphi
Thailand and Sri Lanka Show How Disasters Can be Catalysts of Fragility or Opportunities for Peace
›June 26, 2015 // By Wilson Center StaffIn 2011 Thailand was hit by unprecedented monsoon rains far above the average rainfall of the previous 30 years. Two million people across 26 provinces were affected. During the crisis, hundreds of civilians took it to the streets to protest discrimination by the Flood Response Operation Center and the unfair distribution of water, electricity supply, shelter, and food. Civilians were so angry that they broke a sandbag wall in Bangkok which was protecting a wealthy district from water surges. Public unrest and discontent with the government continued until a military coup in 2013.
Showing posts from category Thailand.