Despite the fact that more than half of the professional health workforce are nurses and 90 percent of nurses and midwives are women, a strong gender bias still impacts women nurse’s decision-making power in the health sector. In this month’s most read article, Peter Johnson, a male nurse and midwife, challenges men both in and outside of the profession to do better in elevating the voices of women nurses and midwives and ensuring they have a seat at the table when decisions are made.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread and transform everyday lives, Rose Nzyoka and Vikas Dwivedi argue that using digital tools to improve systems to manage real-time data and decision-support systems could help the response to COVID-19. In our most read post this month, they propose five initiatives that ministries of health in low-and-middle-income countries need to focus on to limit the spread of COVID-19.

What is needed to close the billion dollar financing gap to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6—ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all—by 2030? In our most read post of the month, Wania Yad, Amanda King, Kelly Bridges, and Thomas Boynton explore a range of financing approaches that can accelerate global access to water and sanitation. 

Indigenous women and girls are making significant contributions to global peace agendas through their traditional knowledge of natural resource management and valuable insights on how to cope with the negative impacts of climate change. In our most read post, Marisa O. Ensor highlights the importance of these “Unsung Sheroes” in moving global agendas forward.

The world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, China, is projected to fulfill its Paris commitment to reduce the proportion of coal in its energy mix ten years ahead of schedule. However, the country remains the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal, and coal conversion practices are steadily on the rise. In this month’s top post, China Environment Forum’s Richard Liu, Zhou Yang, and Xinzhou Qian track China’s risky gamble on coal conversion.

In our most read post of the month, Adilsonio da Costa outlines the environmental and livelihood risks Timor-Leste citizens face if the government and proponents of a petroleum infrastructure project do not implement environmental protections and follow Timor-Leste’s environmental laws, and dismiss affected communities while continuing to build the project.

In November, New Security Beat launched a new series, “Uncharted Territory: The Next 25 Years of Environment, Health, and Security.” In the most read post of November, Kayly Ober’s contribution to the special series offers creative policy solutions to the climate migration debate.

In September and October, the Maternal Health Initiative grabbed the No. 1 spot as Nazra Amin took a look into one of the world’s largest brothels in the village of Daulatdia, Bangladesh. She examined the legality of sex work in Bangladesh, maternal mortality, and barriers to health services among sex workers.