News (70)
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Zimbabwe: Villagers up in Arms over Relocation |
By :Tatenda Chitagu, Newsday.Co.Zw |
29 October 2020 |
RUNDE Rural District Council (RDC) faces resistance from about 50 families it intends to evict to pave way for the upgrading of Vugwi Business Centre into a growth point.
The business centre is about 22km from Zvishavane town and falls under Runde RDC.
The affected villagers have vowed to resist eviction without More...
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COVID Impact on Nairobi`s Food System |
By :Samuel Ikua, Thrive |
15 October 2020 |
The impact of COVID-19 on the food system in Nairobi
There have been far reaching effects on Nairobi’s economy following the COVID-19 crisis, with the informal sector being the most severely affected. Food accounts for almost half of the trade in the city’s informal sector, and the containment measures have been More...
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New from HIC-HLRN: “A Pandemic of Violations” |
By :HIC-HLRN |
05 October 2020 |
On the occasion of World Habitat Day (5 October 2020) and “Urban October,” HIC-HLRN has produced its annual report from the HLRN Violation Database.
This year’s review of patterns and trends in housing and land rights violation around the world is dedicated to the theme: A Pandemic of Violations: Forced Evictions More...
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New from HIC-HLRN: "A Pandemic of Violations" |
By :HIC-HLRN |
05 October 2020 |
On the occasion of World Habitat Day (5 October 2020) and “Urban October,” HIC-HLRN has produced its annual report from the HLRN Violation Database.
This year’s review of patterns and trends in housing and land rights violation around the world is dedicated to the theme: A Pandemic of Violations: Forced Evictions More...
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New: "Development" Dispossessing Women |
By :HIC-HLRN, Mazingira Institute, Pamoja Trust |
25 September 2020 |
Incidents of Infrastructure Development That Dispossess and Displace People: Baseline assessment of women’s wealth, wellbeing and habitat
HIC-HLRN has just released the outcomes of an unprecedented assessment of impacts from infrastructure development on women in Kenya.
This is the product of a collaborative project of Mazingira Institute, Pamoja Trust and HIC-HLRN on More...
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Innovations in Land Administration |
By :Zoe Tabary, Thomas Reuter Foundation |
18 September 2020 |
From Indonesia to Puerto Rico, communities are using open source tools to help contain the coronavirus by mapping handwashing stations and those at risk.
The pandemic has underlined the importance of maps, that remain inaccurate and incomplete in many parts of the world, leaving more than one billion people “invisible,” activists More...
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Indonesia: Mapping Policy Losses |
By :A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil, Jakarta Post |
04 September 2020 |
Concerns of transparency, inclusivity raised as One Map nears completion
Jakarta—Indonesia`s highly anticipated One Map Policy is inching toward completion with most datasets successfully compiled by the government, but observers are wary of the project`s lack of transparency and inclusiveness and whether the rights of indigenous communities are honored.
Initiated in More...
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Court to Cape Town: “redress apartheid legacy” |
By :Murray Williams, news24 |
31 August 2020 |
High Court sets aside R135m Sea Point school sale, frees land to address apartheid legacy
· The Tafelberg school property case has been running for five years.
· Finally, the High Court has ruled, upholding the legal challenge by two not-for-profit organisations.
· The sale of the land has now been reversed – much to More...
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Indonesia: Indigenous Timor Families Evicted |
By :Ryan Dagur, Union of Catholic Asian News |
18 August 2020 |
Evicted Indonesian families vow to stay put
Dozens of people in Catholic-majority province left homeless as land dispute turns violent
Defiant members of an indigenous community in Indonesia have vowed to stay put after security forces fired tear gas and demolished their homes on Aug. 18 in a bid to More...
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India: Turning 170K-ha Forest to Coal |
By :Hannah Ellis-Peterson, The Guardian |
08 August 2020 |
India plans to fell ancient forest to create 40 new coalfields
Narendra Modi’s dream of a ‘self-reliant India’ comes at a terrible price for its indigenous population
Over the past decade, Umeshwar Singh Amra has witnessed his homeland descend into a battleground. The war being waged in Hasdeo Arand, a rich and More...
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Land Times issue 20 |
By :HIC-HLRN |
08 August 2020 |
HIC’s Housing and Land Rights Network (HIC-HLRN) welcomes you to its 20th issue of Land Times. This milestone edition emphasizes the role of civil society in identifying and remedying housing and land rights problems in the context of a global pandemic.
Amid this protracted crisis, events and developments in the Middle More...
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Palestine/Israel: JNF Trees Dispossess Bedouin |
By :Zafrir Rinat and Almog Ben Zikri, Haaretz |
14 July 2020 |
Israel pushing large tree planting in Naqab to disclaim lands to Bedouin
Israel is pushing through a plan to plant trees across a significant swath of the Negev in a bid to deny Bedouin residents from accessing the lands.
The plan is described as “agricultural planting” but local activists and human More...
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Zim: “We need rights, not foreign trainers" |
By :Chris Bishop, CNBC Africa |
11 July 2020 |
Veteran Zimbabwe farmer pours cold water on $58 million mission from Belarus with love
Veteran Zimbabwe farmer Ben Freeth poured cold water on a plan that’ll see trainers from the former Soviet republic of Belarus train a thousand farmers to till the soil in the former breadbasket of Africa.
This month a More...
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USA: Judge Shuts Down Dakota Access Pipeline |
By :Amy R. Sisk, Bismarck Tribune |
06 July 2020 |
A federal judge has ordered the shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline while a lengthy environmental review is conducted of the project opposed by environmentalists and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
The move was requested earlier this year by Standing Rock and three other Sioux tribes in the Dakotas who fear environmental harm from More...
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Kenya: Ruai Evictions, Why Now? |
By :Ruai News |
21 May 2020 |
Ruai Evictions : Is This Why Government Had To Do It Before September?
Renowned political commentator Allan Kibet has come out to claim that President Uhuru Kenyatta forcefully evicted the residents of Ruai and Kariobangi from the ` public` land so as to commence the construction of Nairobi Metropolitan Services Improvement More...
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Nicaragua: Assaults on Indigenous Lands |
By :Oakland Institute |
29 April 2020 |
Nicaragua’s Failed Revolution details the incessant violence facing the Indigenous communities in the Caribbean Coast Autonomous Regions, as evidenced by recent attacks against the Alal, Wasakin, and Miskitu communities, and provides in depth information about the actors involved—foreign gold mining firms, national and international actors in logging and cattle ranching industry, More...
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One Species Responsible for COVID-19 - Us |
By :Josef Settele, Sandra Díaz, Eduardo Brondizio[1] and Peter Daszak[2] |
27 April 2020 |
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
COVID-19 stimulus measures must save lives, protect livelihoods, and safeguard nature to reduce the risk of future pandemics
There is a single species that is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic - us. As with the climate and biodiversity crises, recent pandemics are More...
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New Tool: "Lo—TEK" Indigenous Technologies |
By :Sala Elise Patterson, Harvard University Graduate School of Design |
03 March 2020 |
First-ever compendium of indigenous technologies provides a powerful toolkit for climate-resilient design
The design field is at an inflection point. It must challenge its repertoire, rethink technology, and begin to see biodiversity as a building block of urban environments. Julia Watson’s lush and meticulous new book, Lo—TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism, provides More...
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HIC-HLRN: New Ways to Work with UN Habitat |
By :HIC-HLRN |
09 February 2020 |
ABU DHABI—At a networking event in the 10th World Urban Forum (WUF) to consider a new UN Habitat “Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism for Sustainable Development,” HIC-HLRN presented its contribution to the current discussion about the eventual methods and functions of UN Habitat’s partnership with civil society, local governments and authorities, and More...
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ETOs: German Cement Giant in Occupied Land |
By :Al Haq and SOMO |
04 February 2020 |
The German extraction industry giant, HeidelbergCement is implicated in cross-border organized violations of international law in Palestine.
AMSTERDAM/RAMALLAH—The German multinational HeidelbergCement is complicit in the pillaging of natural resources from the Nahal Raba quarry in the occupied West Bank, with serious human and environmental rights violations against Palestinians, a new report by SOMO and Al-Haq More...
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How Chevron Crushes an Environment Defender |
By :Sharon Lerner, The Intercept |
29 January 2020 |
How the Environmental Lawyer Who Won a Massive Judgment against Chevron Lost Everything
Last August, during the second-hottest year on record, while the fires in the Amazon rainforest were raging, the ice sheet in Greenland was melting, and Greta Thunberg was being greeted by adoring crowds across the U.S., something else happened More...
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Peru: Indigenous Win Amazon Oil Battle |
By :Maria Cervantes, Reuters |
22 January 2020 |
Peruvian indigenous group wins suit to block oil exploration in Amazonian region
LIMA—A Peruvian judge ruled that the government exclude an indigenous region of the Amazon near the border with Brazil from any oil exploration and exploitation, a legal group said on Wednesday, in a win for native communities that have More...
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Outrage over Siemens Backing Adani Coal |
By :Deutsche Welle |
13 January 2020 |
Climate Activists Outraged as Siemens Backs Adani Coal Mining Project in Australia
Siemens has announced it will remain involved in a controversial coal mining project in Australia, despite massive environmental criticism as the country continues to be ravaged by bushfires.
The German engineering conglomerate has a contract worth roughly €18 million ($20 million) which requires More...
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India: Protesting > 40K Trees Cut for Mine, Police Crack Down |
By :Newsclick Report |
12 December 2019 |
India: Talabira Odisha: Over 40,000 trees removed to pave way for Adani’s Mine. Heavy police force is present on the site to completely cordon off the region. Activists are terming the removal of the trees as a grave violation of community forest rights.
The green lungs of industrial Odisha’s Sambalpur are More...
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Major Victory for Ecuadoran Indigenous Peoples |
By :DTE Staff |
07 November 2019 |
Chinese company pulls out of contract to drill for oil in remote rainforest after protests by indigenous groups
Indigenous leaders from Ecuador’s Amazon declared victory on November 6, 2019, after revealing that the country’s government had granted a force majeure request by Andes Petroleum Ltd Ecuador to stop drilling in a rainforest concession More...
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Kenya: Village Struggles with Industrial Giant |
By :Lotte Hughes and Daniel Lepariyo, The Star |
01 November 2019 |
David v Goliath: A small village’s struggle with an industrial giant
Known as Kambi Turkana to its largely Maasai neighbours, Lorropil has 47 residents, including Turkana, Samburu, Kikuyu, Il Chamus, Kisii and Kalenjin. Akiira Geothermal Ltd claims these destitute people are ‘squatters’ who have only recently moved onto the land in More...
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USA: Keystone Pipeline Leaks 383K Gallons |
By :James MacPherson, Associated Press |
31 October 2019 |
BISMARCK ND—TC Energy’s Keystone pipeline leaked an estimated 383,000 gallons (1.4 million liters) of oil in northeastern North Dakota, state regulators said Thursday.
Crews on Tuesday shut down the pipeline that carries tar sands oil from Canada through seven states after the leak was discovered said Karl Rockeman, North Dakota’s water More...
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Canada: Alberta’s Oil, Gas and Coal Scandal |
By :Andrew Nikiforuk. TheTyee.ca |
08 October 2019 |
Alberta’s energy regulator blasted for conflicts, mismanagement and misusing millions. It’s no surprise, say critics of agency responsible for regulating oil, gas and coal production.
Critics of the energy regulator’s performance on issues like cleanup of abandoned well say that reports the agency was mismanaged are no surprise.
Three separate Alberta government More...
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Adani Coal Takes Native Land as Oz Burns |
By :Ben Doherty, The Guardian |
31 August 2019 |
While Queensland extinguishes native title over Indigenous land to make way for Adani coalmine
Palaszczuk government did not announce decision Wangan and Jagalingou people say makes them trespassers on their own land
The Queensland government has extinguished native title over 1,385 hectares of Wangan and Jagalingou country for the proposed Adani coalmine in More...
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What`s Destroying the Amazon? |
By :Rhett A. Butler, Mongabay News |
23 August 2019 |
Since 1978 over 750,000 square kilometers (289,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana. Why is Earth`s largest rainforest being destroyed?
For most of human history, deforestation in the Amazon was primarily the product of subsistence farmers who cut down trees to produce More...
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RCEP Trade Deal to Intensify Asia Land Grabs |
By :GRAIN |
12 July 2019 |
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed mega-trade agreement that involves 10 countries of Southeast Asia and six of their trading partners.[1] If adopted, it will be the biggest trade deal in the world. RCEP will not just change rules on the export and import of goods and services; More...
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World Bank’s Attack on Small Farmers |
By :AfricaFocus Bulletin |
27 May 2019 |
Editor`s Note:
“Enabling the Business of Agriculture,” promoted by the World Bank, and now enhanced with a new sub-indicator on land policy, is presented as a way to advance agricultural development, particularly in Africa. In reality, notes a new report from the Oakland Institute, it gives an additional push to a More...
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DRC: Failed Agro-Industrial Park Model |
By :Oakland Institute and HLRN |
25 April 2019 |
The Bukanga Lonzo Debacle: The Failure of Agro-Industrial Parks in DRC is a new report of the Oakland Institute that exposes the numerous land rights violations and human rights abuses, pollution and health hazards, misspent funds, charges of embezzlement and corruption, and legal action since the establishment and collapse of More...
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Waorani People Sue for Survival against Big Oil |
By :Reynard Loki, Independent Media Institute |
11 April 2019 |
Indigenous peoples go to court to save the Amazon from oil company greed
On 27 February, hundreds of Indigenous Waorani elders, youth and leaders arrived in the city of Puyo, Ecuador. They left their homes deep in the Amazon rainforest to march peacefully through the streets, hold banners, sing songs and, More...
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Human Right to Adequate Housing v. Blackstone L.P. |
By :HLRN |
26 March 2019 |
Today, UN Special Rapporteur on to Adequate Housing Leilani Farha held a press conference in Copenhagen to speak about letters that she and Surya Deva, Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises jointly released to governments and corporations More...
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United Nations` Land and Conflict Guidance |
By :HIC-HLRN |
15 March 2019 |
Competition and control over land are among the common root causes and subjects of conflict, as well as the underlying factors hindering recovery and durable peace. Meanwhile, land has not been adequately treated in conflict management and resolution. At the same, the land and conflict nexus is only becoming more More...
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USA: Court Rules IFC Not Immune |
By :Diane Desierto, European Journal of International Law blog |
28 February 2019 |
SCOTUS decision in Jam et al v. International Finance Corporation (IFC) denies absolute immunity to IFC…with caveats
When it rains, it somehow pours.
February 2019 ended up being such a landmark month for international law adjudication. A day after the International Court of Justice released its landmark Chagos Advisory Opinion (finely discussed by More...
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Ireland: Gas Terminal Project Goes to EU Court |
By :Ann O`Loughlin, Irish Examiner |
15 February 2019 |
Shannon Estuary gas terminal project referred to European Court of Justice by the Irish High Court as it triggers the EU Habitats Directive.
The High Court has referred to Europe a number of questions relating to a five-year extension of planning permission for a liquid gas terminal on the Shannon Estuary.
Mr More...
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Brazil: Another Mining Dam Disaster |
By :Associated Press |
28 January 2019 |
Search for Brazil dam survivors renews as death toll hits 58
BRUMADINHO, Brazil—Brazilian rescue crews returned to mud-covered flats Sunday to resume the search for hundreds of people missing in the wake of a dam collapse after the operation was suspended for several hours over fears that a second dam was More...
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World Bank Schemes to Privatize the Commons |
By :Oakland Institute |
24 January 2019 |
The Highest Bidder Takes It All: The World Bank’s Scheme to Privatize the Commons details how the Bank’s prescribes reforms, via a new land indicator in the Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) project, promotes large-scale land acquisitions and the expansion of agribusinesses in the developing world. This new indicator is More...
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Haiti: Social Production in Canaan |
By :Jacob Kushner, Place |
07 January 2019 |
In Haiti`s city-without-a-government, residents want land titles, taxation. Without titles, residents risk losing any investment they make and cannot use their property as collateral.
CANAAN, Haiti—On a street of rocks and white dust in the centre of one of the world`s newest cities, Alisma Robert pointed to an array of electric More...
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Kenya: Inhabitants Seek Protection from Evictions |
By :Jillo Kadida, The Star |
01 August 2018 |
Residents of more than six Nairobi estates yesterday sought to stop their eviction by the government.
Houses are to be demolished today in Kaloleni, Makongeni, Mbotela, Mutindwa, Dandora and Kenyatta University villages, Lang’ata and Wilson-South C link road reserve.
Moses Nyakiongora served residents with the notice on July 19. He is the More...
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Progress in Land Indicators |
By :Oumar Sylla and Everlyne Nairesiae |
30 July 2018 |
This July is the first time the United Nations will review the progress made towards meeting Sustainable Development Goal 15, which is about Life on Land. Each goal will be reviewed about every four years until 2030.
The reviews will be based on the 10 indicators countries agreed on, that assess change in More...
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Laos: “Substandard construction” Causes Dam Collapse |
By :Kocha Olarn, Sandi Sidhu and Ben Westcott, CNN |
27 July 2018 |
Minister says “substandard construction” caused Laos dam to collapse. 25,000 people evacuated.
The collapse of Laos dam that triggered massive flooding and devastation was due to "substandard construction," the country`s Minister of Energy and Mines said Thursday.
According to the state-run Laos News Agency, Minister Khammany Inthirath told reporters at a news More...
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World Bank Evaluation: Things Fall Apart |
By :Sophie Edwards, Devex |
18 June 2018 |
World Bank failing to follow watchdog advice, says IEG report
WASHINGTON — World Bank managers are failing to properly implement, and in some cases ignoring, the recommendations of its own independent watchdog, according to evaluators.
In a report presented Thursday, the Independent Evaluation Group, the body tasked with evaluating the performance of all parts of the World More...
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World Bank Evaluation: Things Fall Apart |
By :Sophie Edwards, Devex |
18 June 2018 |
World Bank failing to follow watchdog advice, says IEG report
WASHINGTON — World Bank managers are failing to properly implement, and in some cases ignoring, the recommendations of its own independent watchdog, according to evaluators.
In a report presented Thursday, the Independent Evaluation Group, the body tasked with evaluating the performance of all parts of the World More...
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30 Cities Join Global Sur and Hasankeyf Action Day |
By :Platform No to the Destruction of Sur, Istanbul Sur Solidarity, Mesopotamia Ecology Movement, and Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive |
30 April 2018 |
DIYARBAKIR / AMED—As part of the Global Sur and Hasankeyf Action Day in almost 30 cities, actions have been organized on 28 April 2018. Activists and civil organization raised awareness on the ongoing destruction of the two antique cities Sur and Hasankeyf at the Tigris River in North (Turkish) Kurdistan. More...
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China Mining Co. Destroys Mozambique Village |
By :Ghana News |
01 April 2018 |
Mozambique’s coastal village on the brink of extinction from irresponsible Chinese mining company. Mining giant Haiyu denies responsibility for flood that left 290 people homeless, while Mozambican authorities fail to regulate mining industry to ensure people’s safety, denying village residents reparation for their losses.
An irresponsible Chinese mining operation in Mozambique More...
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Pakistan: Empowering Sindh’s Landless Farmers |
By :Amin Ahmed, Dawn |
05 February 2018 |
$5m project aims to empower Sindh’s landless farmers
An internationally funded project was launched in Sindh last week in an attempt to improve land tenancy for landless farmers.
Landless farmers (or haris) in the province usually have access to land as tenants through paperless agreements between them and landlords. Without having any More...
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China’s OBOR Project Dispossesses, Displaces Tibetans |
By :David Brewster, Inside Policy |
24 January 2018 |
China’s Belt and Road Initiative will result in important strategic consequence for the countries of South Asia, writes David Brewster. But its impact on China itself should not be ignored.
In geopolitical terms, South Asia has long functioned like an island, nominally attached to Eurasia but not really part of it. More...
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Belgium Supports UNRWA as USA Defunds |
By :Haaretz |
17 January 2018 |
Belgium has stepped in to help out the UN Agency assisting Palestinian refugees with an immediate disbursement of $23 million Wednesday a day after the Trump administration suspended $65 million in aid for the international organization.
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Wednesday that "for a lot of More...
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USA: GOP Enables Arctic Drilling |
By :Alex Seitz-Wald, NBC News |
18 October 2017 |
GOP lawmakers open door to arctic drilling
WASHINGTON—Tucked into the budget bill the Senate is likely to pass this week is a provision that could quietly open the door to drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — a controversial issue that has been the subject of fierce debate in More...
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HIComment on UN-Habitat Review |
By :HIC-HLRN |
05 September 2017 |
In advance of a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on 5 and 6 September 2017, HIC and HLRN have reviewed the High-level Independent Panel assessing the performance and capacity of UN-Habitat and posing recommendations for its future. The Panel’s report considers UN-Habitat performance and capacity from four angles, including More...
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India: What Exactly Is a Smart City? |
By :Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava, Scroll-in |
04 September 2017 |
What exactly is a smart city? The Indian government does not want you to know. It thwarted the Bureau of Indian Standards’ plan to fix clear criteria for defining a smart city, and came out with a fuzzy ‘Liveability Index’ instead.
Are the urban centres selected by the Union government More...
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The Cost of Land Grabbing in Mozambique |
By :Burag Gurden, Pambazuka News |
31 August 2017 |
The cost of land grabbing in Mozambique`s Tete Province
Tete Province is very rich in coal. An estimated 23 billion tons of mostly untapped coal lies beneath Tete. It is expected to become the region’s energy powerhouse built on coal and hydroelectricity. However, local farmer communities have been on the losing More...
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Nicaragua: Future Canal Threatens Mass Eviction |
By :Amnesty International |
03 August 2017 |
Nicaragua: Country’s future for sale as canal threatens thousands with forced eviction
The Nicaraguan government must stop placing business before the future of the country and its people, Amnesty International said in a new report today looking at a secretive deal that will lead to the construction of a canal More...
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Myanmar’ Karen Protest Harmful Thai Coal Mine |
By :Inclusive Development |
19 June 2017 |
Karen communities in Myanmar to Thai Rights Commission: Stop harmful coal mine
Representatives of indigenous Karen communities in Myanmar this week filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand alleging human rights violations resulting from the activities of Thai companies operating an open-pit coal mine. The Ban More...
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China Evicts More Tibetan Nomads for “Development” |
By :RFA |
15 June 2017 |
Tibetan nomads forced from resettlement towns to make way for development
Tibetan nomads previously forced from traditional grazing lands in a state-directed resettlement scheme in Qinghai are now being told to go back, as authorities begin to target their current homes for development as tourist centers and housing for government employees, More...
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World Bank’s Agriculture Initiative Criticized |
By :Brettonwoods Project |
18 January 2017 |
Civil society has called on the World Bank to terminate its Enabling the Business of Agriculture initiative.
In mid-January, 157 organisations and individuals sent a letter to World Bank president Jim Yong Kim calling for the termination of the Bank’s Enabling the Business of Agriculture initiative (EBA, see Bulletin May 2014, More...
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Sri Lanka: Clashes over Land in China Port Deal |
By :abc.net.au |
07 January 2017 |
Sri Lankan police used water cannons to try to break up violent clashes between government supporters and villagers marching against what they say is a plan to take over private land for an industrial zone in which China will have a major stake.
Key points:
Clash takes place as Prime Minister attends More...
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Nigerian King Sues Shell in London |
By :Alice Ritchie, Phys.org |
22 November 2016 |
Nigerian tribal king Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi has flown to London for a High Court hearing in which lawyers for more than 40,000 Nigerians are demanding action from Shell to clean up oil spills
King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi holds up a plastic bottle containing contaminated water from his community More...
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Nigeria: When They Bulldozed, She Fought Back |
By :Betty Abah and Elaine Zuckerman, Ms. magazine |
03 October 2016 |
Bimbo, 57 and a mother of four, grew up in Makoko, Lagos Nigeria’s largest slum, married, and established a thriving soft drink business in boisterous Badia East, another Lagos slum. Her life was upturned when the World Bank-financed Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project bulldozed Badia East in 2013 without notice.
The “urban More...
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World Bank Policies Imperil Land Defenders |
By :Cyril Mychalejko, teleSUR |
04 August 2016 |
Just 5 months since the murder of Honduran environmental defender Berta Caceres, the Bank is passing new safeguards that do more harm than good.
The World Bank is expected to approve Thursday its new “Environmental and Social Framework” which civil society groups say weakens human rights protections and will likely endanger the very communities the safeguards are intended to protect.
At issue More...
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India Mine Displaced 400 Adivasi Families |
By :Elizabeth Puranam, Al Jazeera |
07 July 2016 |
The mine that displaced India`s indigenous people. About 400 Adivasi families once lived near the Chaal coal mine, but blasting and water contamination forced them to leave
The earth-shattering sound of dynamite welcomed us to the small village of Lath, which sits on the edge of an open-cast coal mine. More...
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Demise of World Bank Accountability |
By :HIC-HLRN |
22 June 2016 |
A forthcoming article in the American University International Law Review(AUILR) addressed “The Demise of Accountability at the World Bank?” The article by Natalie Bugalski, of Inclusive Development, examines recent trends in the accountability system at the World Bank, including the proposed Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) and developments at the More...
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Brazil: Fundão Dam Devastation |
By :Ingrid Fadnes, Al Jazeera |
14 June 2016 |
MARIANA, Brazil—On November 5, 2015, the Fundao dam burst in the inland municipality of Mariana in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The Brazilian mining company Samarco, owned by two of the world`s biggest mining corporations, Vale SA and BHP Billiton, operated the dam.
Tcharly do Barmo Batista, a 23-year-old father, More...
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World Bank Accountability @ Spring Meetings |
By :Oakland Institute |
12 April 2016 |
World Bank Accountability on Forced Resettlements Must be a Priority at Its Spring Meetings
Oakland, CA—World Bank accountability on forced resettlements resulting from its programs must be front and center at its spring meetings, taking place this week in Washington DC.
Between 2004 and 2013, nearly 3.4 million people were physically or economically More...
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U.S. Congress to World Bank: End Water PPPs |
12 April 2016 |
Congresswoman wants to halt and investigate World Bank’s private water investments
The practice of the World Bank both advising countries on water and investing in private water companies presents a concerning conflict of interest, said Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wisc., in a letter addressed to World Bank head Jim Kim. In it, More...
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World Bank Rolls back Safeguards Further |
By :BIC |
04 August 2015 |
Dangerous rollback in environmental and social protections with the World Bank’s new Framework, undermining President Kim’s commitment to “no dilution”
Washington—The World Bank has released new draft safeguard policies[i] that will vastly weaken protections for affected communities and the environment at the same time as the bank intends to finance more More...
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World Bank Group’s Compliance & Land |
By :HIC-HLRN |
30 June 2015 |
Private sector investment affecting land in developing countries often leads to disputes between companies and local communities over land rights and land use. Since 1999, the private-sector arms of the World Bank Group (WBG)—the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)—have had an accountability mechanism to More...
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