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NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
Showing posts from category poverty.
  • With War Over the GERD Unlikely, Institutionalizing Nile River Diplomacy Would Be a Wise Next Step

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    On the Beat  //  October 20, 2020  //  By Matthew Gallagher
    shutterstock_205579201

    The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) poses numerous challenges for the Nile river basin, but it also presents an opportunity for regional collaboration and shared prosperity, said Aaron Salzberg, Director of the Water Institute at the University of North Carolina and Wilson Center Global Fellow, at a recent event hosted by the University of North Carolina’s Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies.

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  • Better Governance Needed to Overcome Africa’s Resource Curse

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    From the Wilson Center  //  July 24, 2020  //  By Magdalena Baranowska

    Pisciculture workshop in Kisangani - DRC. Photo by Axel Fassio/CIFOR cifor.org forestsnews.cifor.org If you use one of our photos, please credit it accordingly and let us know. You can reach us through our Flickr account or at: cifor-mediainfo@cgiar.org and m.edliadi@cgiar.org

    “Africa, as you all know, is one of the most resource-rich regions of the world,” said Cyril Obi, Program Director of the African Peacebuilding Network at the Social Science Research Council. “But many observers have noted that in spite of all this natural wealth, Africa seems to have quite a substantial proportion of its population living under poverty.” He spoke at a recent Wilson Center Africa Program event that examined the relationship between natural resources, sustainable development, and peace in Africa. How do you explain a continent rich with natural resources where so many people live in poverty, he asked.   

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  • Cobalt is Critical to the Renewable Energy Transition. How Can We Minimize its Social And Environmental Cost?

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    Guest Contributor  //  June 17, 2020  //  By Bianca Nogrady

    This is a Gecamines owned artisanal cobalt mining site

    This article was originally published on Ensia.

    Its name conjures an image of vivid deep blues. But when cobalt is dug out of the ground in ore form, there’s barely a hint of the rich hue it lends its name to. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which produces more than half of the world’s supply, it takes the form of heterogenite, a dull brownish mineral that could easily be mistaken for small clods of dirt.

    But people die for this mineral. Children suffer for it. Livelihoods, educations, neighborhoods, environments and personal safety are sacrificed for it.

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  • How Gum Acacia Trees Could Help Build Peace in the Sahel

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    Guest Contributor  //  March 30, 2020  //  By Ousseyni Kalilou
    gum tree lead 1

    A special type of tree could facilitate peacebuilding in the Sahel. A stretch of semi-arid land south of the Sahara that runs from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean through 10 countries (Eritrea, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Algeria, Mauritania, and Senegal). But the western subregion covering the Lake Chad area (the intersection of Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger) and Liptako-Gourma (the tri-border zone of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger) in the Sahel has been the scene of a growing humanitarian crisis. Armed groups are terrorizing local populations. Rampant insecurity has forced 1 million people to flee their homes. People have been cut off from their livelihoods. Food insecurity is worsening. Casualties continue to mount. And climate change will likely exacerbate conditions, forcing more people to compete for depleted forest resources and land. More food shortages and instability will surely follow.

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  • Where Do the Plastic Miners Go When the “Mine” Disappears?

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    China Environment Forum  //  January 16, 2020  //  By Yining Zou
    shutterstock temple of heaven picture option for header

    Usually after dinner, Mr. Ma would take off his shirt, shut the door, and begin work making plastic pellets from scrap. But tonight, he sits in his darkened yard staring at two SUV-sized plastic processing machines and a bundle of colorful scrap plastic. No lights are on, no machines grind, and no familiar theme song of CCTV-1 plays in the background. Walking through other villages in Wen’an County, more men meander around their yards filled with the same idle processing machines and mini-mountains of scrap plastic. Most have never studied English, but they are fluent in the language of plastics, sprinkling words like ABS, PP, and PVC into their conversations. They are the owners of small plastic scrap recycling workshops that were once booming—but are now silent.

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  • Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Maternal and Infant Health Summit: Addressing Disparities in Maternal Health in Washington, D.C.

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    Dot-Mom  //  September 26, 2019  //  By Deekshita Ramanarayanan
    Mayor Bowser

    The maternal and child health crisis in Washington, D.C. is “a public health crisis that has been hiding in plain sight for 30 years”, said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser at the second annual Maternal and Infant Health Summit on September 10 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Panelists at this year’s summit discussed issues such as racial disparities in healthcare, proper nutrition and breastfeeding for new and expectant mothers, and support for midwives and doulas in D.C. “The health of a nation is dependent on the health of its women,” said actress and activist, Alyssa Milano.

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  • Achieving the SDGs: Three New UN Reports Call for Reoriented Policy Priorities

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    Guest Contributor  //  August 26, 2019  //  By Anuj Krishnamurthy
    DSG Interview at the SDG Zone

    This summer, United Nations agencies published three reports that offer a sobering assessment of the current state of international security and development, focusing on multidimensional poverty, hunger, and forcible displacement. As some countries succeed in steadily improving the living conditions of their most vulnerable populations, others have struggled to overcome sustained episodes of political instability and violent conflict. Together, the reports affirm the urgency with which the international community must reorient its policy priorities and take action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

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  • Climate and Conflict: Where Environment, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Power Intersect

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    Reading Radar  //  May 20, 2019  //  By Benjamin Dills

    PSD-Special-Issue-Climate-Change-Cover-1574x2023_cAs researchers investigate the connection between climate change and conflict, the relative power of communities and individuals attempting to cope with climate change has become a recurring theme. While climate change may not directly cause conflict, it may be inextricably woven into pre-existing conflicts of power, ethnicity, and economic interest.

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