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NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
Showing posts from category development.
  • Unpacking Covid-19 and the Connections Between Ecosystems, Human Health, and Security

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    Covid-19  //  Friday Podcasts  //  May 1, 2020  //  By Eliana Guterman

    7461106_8f86aa4373_o“What are the underlying drivers of risk that created the conditions for Covid-19 to emerge, and how do we better address them?” said Lauren Herzer Risi, Project Director for the Environmental Change and Security Program, in this week’s Friday Podcast, recorded during a recent Wilson Center Ground Truth Briefing on the Covid-19 pandemic. This question framed the discussion, which explored the intersection of the environment, public health, and national security. Although the global pandemic came as a shock to many, the novel coronavirus was not a surprise to epidemiologists and experts who had been sounding the alarm for decades. There have been clear signals of the risks we face from animal-to-human virus transmission, including Ebola, SARS, and other regional epidemics, said Risi. These zoonotic diseases, especially now, are creating concerns about food safety, wildlife conservation, and public health. But the risks don’t just come from wet markets and our increasingly connected world.

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  • Local Solutions Needed to Stem Humanitarian Crisis in Central America’s Dry Zone

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    Guest Contributor  //  April 22, 2020  //  By James Blake
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    As the humanitarian community responds to the Covid-19 pandemic, other long-term pressing priorities persist and require innovative solutions. The dry zone which extends across Central America encompassing parts of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua and a 10-year drought has left 1.4 million people in urgent need of food assistance. The impact of climate change, which includes extreme drought, poses an ever-increasing risk across Central America and contributes not only to food insecurity but also to migration issues that have plagued the continent in recent years.

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  • Investing in Girls and Women Could Set Stage for Peace, Development in Sahel

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    Africa in Transition  //  Guest Contributor  //  April 21, 2020  //  By Alisha Graves
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    The coronavirus pandemic has people throughout the world pondering how humankind should respond to a public health crisis. While individual countries are managing the crisis with varying degrees of success, we can all agree that the Covid-19 pandemic is commanding the international community’s attention. By contrast, it is much harder to get the world to care about the long-term public health crisis unfolding in the West African Sahel.

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  • The Covid-19 Crisis in Africa

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    Covid-19  //  On the Beat  //  April 16, 2020  //  By Wania Yad
    UNICEF Ethiopia PPE

    “African countries are facing a severe health crisis. As of this morning, there are 14,573 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 790 deaths in 52 out of 54 countries,” said Judd Devermont, director the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Africa Program, at an April 13th event on the impacts of Covid-19 in Africa. The World Health Organization has estimated a 5 percent drop in Africa’s GDP and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) believes that as many as 20 million jobs will be lost. There is also a political dimension to this crisis, as governments struggle to deliver services, provide safety and security, and allow people to continue livelihoods, said Judd.

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  • Chitra Nagarajan on What’s Changed for Women in Lake Chad Region

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    Africa in Transition  //  Friday Podcasts  //  March 27, 2020  //  By Wania Yad

    32897153005_4a8706bb01_k“Women and men face very different risks and challenges,” said Chitra Nagarajan, a writer and journalist who covers climate change, conflict, and gender. She spoke in this week’s podcast about what’s changed in the Lake Chad region. In the last few years the combination of profound climate change and high levels of insecurity have made life harder for the local population. To get a sense of how recent changes have affected Lake Chad’s residents, Nagarajan interviewed more than 250 people. These are some of her findings.

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  • Healthcare Facilities in Developing Countries a High Risk for Coronavirus Transmission

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    Covid-19  //  Guest Contributor  //  March 23, 2020  //  By Brett Walton
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    This article originally appeared on Circle of Blue.

    The front lines in the battle to limit damage from the new coronavirus are expanding.

    Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, emerged in China and then blossomed in comparatively wealthy countries like Italy, South Korea, and the United States.

    Now, the virus is spreading in poorer regions — in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and parts of Latin America — where essential defensive measures against infectious disease are often missing.

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  • A Conversation with Rodolfo Camacho on Using Data for Water Security

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    Friday Podcasts  //  Water Security for a Resilient World  //  Water Stories (Podcast Series)  //  March 20, 2020  //  By Eliana Guterman

    rodolfo podcastWhile there are many uses for global data sets and innovative data analysis technologies, the most important thing, Rodolfo Camacho said in this week’s Water Stories podcast, is not analyzing the data. It’s the collaboration among countries sharing data. Camacho, Project Director at Winrock International and Chief of Party for USAID’s Sustainable Water Partnership (SWP), sat down with Lauren Herzer Risi, Project Director of the Environmental Change & Security Program to discuss the importance of big data and machine learning on improving water security.

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  • How Natural Resources Could Help Build Peace in Afghanistan

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    Guest Contributor  //  March 16, 2020  //  By Elizabeth B. Hessami
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    Potential water wars due to plans for multiple dams, violent opium cartels supporting world heroin markets, and many conflict-financing minerals including everyday talc used for baby powder. These are the types of natural resources stories that usually make front page news about Afghanistan. But natural resources have a significant role to play in stabilizing Afghanistan. Instead of being a source of conflict, they may help with peacebuilding by creating livelihoods and creating opportunities for ex-combatants.

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