Posted on January 4, 2016
By Ranjana Das and Tzili Mor, Landesa
A farmer working in a paddy field is silhouetted against the setting sun on the outskirts of Agartala, capital of India’s northeastern state of Tripura August 9, 2010. REUTERS/Jayanta Dey
As world leaders convene in Paris this week for the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference, it is important that they recognize secure land rights for smallholder farmers – and especially for women farmers – as a critical tool for building a more sustainable planet.
It is increasingly understood that climate change is far from gender neutral. In fact, hotter temperatures, erratic rainfall, and worsening natural disasters ravage rural women in general and women small-scale farmers in particular. They must travel further for water and firewood, struggle with drought-stricken yields, grapple with disaster reduction and recovery efforts that fail to account for their interests and needs, and shoulder increased domestic workload related to climate change.
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Posted on December 14, 2015
By Heather Coleman, Oxfam America
Global climate negotiations begin in France on Sunday. Photo: http://bit.ly/1T4UMN8
A few top-line comments on the agreement coming out of COP21
We have been waiting for the world to act and today, more than 190 countries — including the US, have come together to do just that. Having been part of the climate movement for most of my professional life, it will be a moment I will not forget. It’s hard to overstate how important and historic a moment this is, with the US at the center of a global agreement that addresses one of the greatest challenges of our time.
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Posted on November 30, 2015
By Kaitlin Marshall
American Red Cross
Since 2011, the situation in Syria has escalated from a series of peaceful demonstrations to civil war. Nationwide protests against President Bashar Al-Assad were met with violent crackdowns at the hands of the government and the Syrian army. In January 2015, the death toll surpassed 220,000 and has since been estimated to be as high as 310,000. As Syria has plunged further into violence, the country’s infrastructure has been left in ruins. More than 11 million Syrian refugees have fled their homes to find safety abroad. What began as an isolated conflict in one country is now a crisis that requires the world to come together to give displaced Syrians a new beginning.
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