All published articles in this category.
Schools in Kenya closed for several months in 2020 due to the pandemic. Photo: Richard Portsmouth / Flickr.
Of: Joyce
COVID-19 undermines Kenya's education as schools abruptly closed for nine months from March 2020. Highlighting the urgent need to develop Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure in education.
Deforestation and violence aimed at those protecting the environment have increased in the post-conflict period following the 2016 permanent ceasefire agreement in Colombia. Photo: Katie Rodriguez / Unsplash
Of: Eleonora Moen
Deforestation is harmful in tropical areas, and most of the tropical regions of the world are located in conflict-ridden countries. Thus there is an often unexplored relationship between deforestation and conflict zones. In the case of Colombia, the peace process has led to an increase in deforestation, as well as an increase in violence on those who aim to protect the environment.
Young Iraqis took to the streets to demand an end of sectarian politics in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, October 2019.
Photo: Mondalawy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Of: Ghadeer Hussein
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Baghdad's Tahrir Square in October 2019. They were chanting: “we want our country back”. What does that mean in post-conflict Iraq that 2018 had restored control over its territories and what are the driving factors for this uprising?
Uncertainty surrounds the implementation of Colombia's peace agreement following the election of the new government.
Photo: Leonfhl: / Flickr
Of: Aarne Hakomäki
In 2016 the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) reached a historic peace agreement. Over four years later the peace stands on uncertain ground, as new political leaders fail to embrace it.
Many people see rural areas as non-economical; however, the Taiwanese government has declared 2019 as Taiwan's Regional Revitalization Year to make a change. Photo: Pixabay
Of: Yi-Chia Chen
Regional revitalization is a concept originated from Japan in 2012. Since Taiwan is facing similar problems as Japan, the Taiwanese government also decides to adopt this concept to attract people to move to rural areas. Instead of focusing on redevelopment, revitalization comes to play an important role.
Claire van Enk created Farm to Feed Kenya to connect farmers and people suffering from hunger. Photo: Micky Schepers-Farm to Feed Kenya
Of: Maria Malmsten
The paradox of hunger, food loss and waste is a global issue. All around the world, a third of all produced food never reaches the consumer. Claire van Enk has created Farm to Feed Kenya to bring about change in these issues, while striving for a healthier planet.
The most common illegal migrant route into Ceuta is climbing the barbed wire at the border to Morocco. Photo: Markus Barnevik Olsson.
2020 will go down in history as the year of turbulent surprises. Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in northern Morocco, is certainly not an exception. COVID-19 has triggered a reversed migration crisis in the EU's barbed-fenced stronghold on the African continent.
Machineries, household equipment, buses, generators and computers are among the things that get dismantled in the scrapyard. Photo: Johanna Caminati Engström
Ghana is trying to deal sustainably with the increasing amounts of e-waste in the country. In the metal scrapyard in Agbobloshie, Accra, young men dismantle various machinery to obtain scrap parts. The working conditions are dangerous but many workers see the scrapyard as an escape route out of poverty.
Vakhsh River, Tajikistan. Photo: Wikimedia
Of: Jonathan Wirth's and Tessa Stockburger
Water has often been a central topic in the relations between the five former Soviet Republics - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The current construction of Rogun Dam on the Vakhsh River in Tajikistan illustrates how the demand for water can become the source of various conflicts.
Bacha bazi, or "boy play" in Dari, is a practice that is synonymous with the sexual exploitation of boys. Photo: US Embassy Kabul, Flickr.
Of: Alexandra Håkansson and Lisa Elamson
In 2017 the Afghan government introduced a new Criminal Code explicitly addressing the under-reported issue of bacha bazi. The practice involves older men taking advantage of young boys in vulnerable situations and has increased since the fall of the Taliban regime. Although introducing new laws banning bacha bazi is a welcome move, the issue extends far beyond national laws.