Food and water are tied to one another fundamentally. But in addition to their biophysical relationship, human systems intervene, whether through pricing schemes and trade agreements or shifting patterns in consumption and taste.

Start with the good news from this week’s finance for development conference in Addis Ababa: at least it got the narrative right.

Fear of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and other infectious diseases has been used as an excuse to deny women health care around the world. Some women living with HIV have even been sterilized without their knowledge. But with proper treatment, the chances of transmission to an unborn child are very low in many cases. The World Health Organization (WHO), in fact, just declared Cuba the first country to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.

In 2007, the world crossed a threshold:  for the first time in human history, the majority of people lived in urban areas. Today, Africa and Asia are the only remaining continents where the rural population outnumbers urban, but they are urbanizing at unprecedented rates. This rapid growth is a double-edged sword. While urbanization spurs economic opportunity and often increases access to infrastructure, it is also widening disparities in health and development, according to a new data sheet by the Population Reference Bureau.

In my tiny, half-an-island country of Timor-Leste, cemeteries smell of jasmine and come to life on All Saints’ Day. Families have picnics and kids roam wild over the tombstones. Here, stepping on somebody else’s family tombstones is not seen as an offense but as the norm; after all, since there isn’t enough land to hold so many graves, not stepping on one is impossible unless you have mastered levitation.

Fifteen years ago last month, I was brought to America through the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program after having lived in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya for more than a decade. As I reflect on my experience, it is my hope that it will inspire others and help inform dialogue on forced migration so that refugees are perceived not just as victims, but models of resilience.