The Arctic Council, which helps broker economic and environmental agreements between the Arctic nations, needs a larger role in developing joint international policy, says Norway’s ambassador to Canada. Accelerating ice melt is expected to open the Arctic Ocean to seasonal ship traffic sometime between 2013 and 2030 – which analysts worry will lead to disputes over newly accessible oil and gas reserves.

In 1998, Peru and Ecuador settled a long-running border dispute in the Cordillera del Cóndor mountain range that had killed and wounded dozens on both sides in 1995. In addition to pledging renewed cooperation on deciding the final placement of the border, the agreement, the Acta Presidencial de Brasilia, committed both sides to establishing extensive ecological protection reserves on both sides of the border: A peace park of sorts was born.

Media reports on the neglected discussion of maternal and child health often focus on the problems and projects in sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia, which is understandable, as a disproportionate 90 percent of global maternal deaths occur in these two regions. Last month, however, PBS correspondent Ray Suarez reminded us that maternal and child mortality affects countries all over the world, including Peru, where “maternal death rates has historically been unusually high,” he noted in a report for NewsHour. 

“Few people in the highlands of central Peru own automobiles and it’s hard to know exactly when the next bus is going to rumble by,” said Suarez. “Villagers are a long way from the nearest health clinic, even further from a fully equipped clinic.” Unfortunately, this scene could describe most developing countries struggling to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 target of reducing maternal deaths by 75 percent by 2015. Maternal health advocates argue that MDG 5 does not require a cure, but rather increased political willpower.

“Health officials, obstetricians, nurses, and community activists looked for ways to make better use of existing resources and connect expecting mothers with them,” said Suarez, reporting from the remote town of Vilcashuaman. At the Casa Materna, or “mother’s house,” nurses plot on a felt, bulls-eye map the names, due dates, geographical proximity, and travel times of pregnant women in nearby villages. Utilizing two-way radio communication, Casa Materna stays in contact with these remote villages and can signal the regional hospital, hours away in Ayacucho, for ambulance assistance for women needing emergency obstetric care.

Delivery teams at the Ayacucho hospital are familiar with indigenous languages and cultures, and welcome traditional practices, such as displaying herbs and giving figurines to new mothers. “The medical professionals in the area know bringing delivering mothers to the hospital can mean the difference between life and death and are prepared to be as accommodating as possible to lure women from home delivery,” reports Suarez. In the Ayacucho district, maternal mortality rates have decreased by 50 percent in five years.

While Suarez said “cultural competence, a welcoming atmosphere, and low-cost, high-result treatment strategies” may seem “pretty smart and straightforward,” it is important to evaluate the regional health system at a larger level, and consider additional factors, such as access to family planning, that may have contributed to Ayacucho’s success in reducing maternal mortality.

Another part of the solution is improving transportation and referral strategies, but increased research is needed to evaluate best practices and scalability of programs such as the one in Ayacucho. On May 19-20, as part of the Maternal Health Dialogue Series, the Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative will host a two-day conference on “Improving Transportation and Referral for Maternal Health.” Speakers working on transportation and referral strategies in Bolivia, Ghana, and India will share their experiences and best practices.

Calyn Ostrowski is the program associate for the Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative.

Photo Credits: Mothers in Peru learn to identify risk factors during pregnancy. Courtesy of Flickr user International Women’s Health Coalition

The journal Nature Geoscience recently published a study comparing the impacts of rural and urban population growth on deforestation. “Deforestation Driven by Urban Population Growth and Agricultural Trade in the Twenty-First Century” finds deforestation is positively correlated with urban population growth and agricultural exports to international markets. In rural areas, however, the link between deforestation and population growth was absent, indicating that urbanization and agricultural export-oriented economies were the primary drivers for forest loss. The study concludes that, rather than focusing on the activities of rural populations, deforestation reduction efforts should target “industrial-scale, export-oriented agricultural production, concomitant with efforts to increase yields in non-forested lands.” (SUBSCRIPTION ONLY)

When the dust settled at the COP15 in Copenhagen, participating parties failed to reach a formal climate change agreement and old divisions between developed and developing countries intensified. Despite such setbacks, there may be a natural building block in formal climate change negotiations between the north and south in the future: water.

Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, argues in a recent LA Times op-ed that economic interdependence and, more concretely, basic survival hinge on water in both developed and developing countries alike, most especially in Latin America.

With 31 percent of the world’s freshwater resources, Latin America enjoys a competitive advantage in agriculture and energy. But recently, drought has taken its toll. Repercussions were most acutely felt in Argentina in 2008, when 1.5 million head of cattle died and half its wheat crop was ruined. Meanwhile, hydroelectric output in the most populous part of Chile plunged by 34 percent and water-dependent states like Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay, and Mexico rationed water, cut power, or both.

Water’s importance in the region is obvious, but why should developed countries care about it when negotiating a climate deal? The simplest answer, according to Moreno, is that developed countries can invest in projects that resolve near-term, climate-related problems such as water supply and sanitation as they look for ways to spend the billions in aid they have just pledged for climate adaptation in the developing world. And many international donors, particularly the UN Development Programme, World Bank, and World Wildlife Fund already have invested millions of dollars towards water management and sanitation adaptation projects.

On the other side of the coin, Latin American governments should “start treating water as a truly strategic resource instead of a free and limitless one.” Moreno claims this would mean “prioritizing investments and reforms in basic services in order to reduce waste, closing the coverage gap and eliminating waterborne diseases among the poor” in the short term and would also require “a willingness to make concessions in pursuit of global emission reductions that…could be crucial to ensuring reliable supplies of water.”

While it may seem that Latin America’s water problems are not pressing, it is undeniable that if not properly managed, essential components of the region—such as the vital agricultural economy, the health of the population, and political and economic stability—may be in jeopardy.

Photo: Man drinking water from a pipe in Ecuador. Courtesy Edwin Huffman and the World Bank.

Many see wind as a great source of green energy, but some local communities around the world are seeing red. Specific cases in the United States and Mexico—two countries that are now investing heavily in wind energy—highlight the potential for community opposition to wind farms in the rural areas where they are being built.

Two articles in the Sunday New York Times revealed that some residents of Mexico City and Charleston, West Virginia, share a common bond: lack of clean water. While drought and leaks have drained Mexico City’s reservoirs, pollution and run-off from coal plants has befouled water supplies in West Virginia’s small towns. But in both cases, the less powerful are the ones stuck up the creek without a paddle.

The strategic minerals debate is back—but starring some new rocks. One that has received much recent attention is lithium, which is used in cell phone batteries, as well as those under development for electric cars.

Turns out lithium isn’t found in too many places. Around 50 percent of known reserves are in Bolivia, underneath some very dramatic and desolate salt flats. Worldfocus has a terrific news story that gives a glimpse of the place, the politics, and the battle over lithium extraction. Talk of an OPEC-like lithium cartel with China and Chile suggests that the politics at the international level will be just as contentious as the Bolivian domestic scene.