Jordan is facing a deepening, multi-faceted freshwater crisis and it’ll take aggressive action by the country and its international partners to gain a foothold on its water future. In this month’s top post, Steven M. Gorelick, Jim Yoon, Christian Klassert feature their recently published framework that assesses the key factors playing a role in exacerbating Jordan’s limited natural water availability and Jordan’s water security outlook.⁠

The Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum continues the conversation around a different threat facing water security in this month’s second and third top posts—plastic waste pollution. Dieuwertje Nelissen and Tauhid Pandji showcase Indonesia’s leadership in building a circular economy for reducing, reusing, and recycling plastic waste. Ruyi Li and Clare Auld-Brokish sat down with  Break Free From Plastic’s former Asia-Pacific Coordinator Beau Baconguis to learn about her efforts to end plastic waste pollution in the Philippines.

The Maternal Health Initiative underscores some of the ways COVID-19 and other intersecting crises are impacting women’s health care, safety, and mental well-being in this month’s fourth and fifth top posts. Hannah Chosid highlights what compounding crises of COVID-19, gender-based violence, and maternal mental health mean for women with a history of sexual trauma and offers innovations in health care and policy to improve their pregnancy experiences. For pregnant women around the world, the pandemic has made a delicate time even more uncertain. In the latest contribution to our Africa in Transition series, Koki Agarwal shares lessons learned for ensuring the delivery of essential health services for mothers and newborns and steps towards building resilient health systems. 

1. Avoiding Crisis in Jordan’s Tenuous Water Future by Steven M. Gorelick, Jim Yoon, & Christian Klassert
2. The Circular Business Models Behind Indonesia’s Reuse Revolution by Dieuwertje Nelissen & Tauhid Pandji
3. Building Local Capacity for Zero-Waste in the Philippines: Q&A with Break Free From Plastic’s Former Asia-Pacific Coordinator Beau Baconguis by Ruyi Li & Clare Auld-Brokish
4. Overlapping Crises: Gender-Based Violence, Maternal Mental Health, and COVID-19 by Hannah Chosid
5. Ensuring Essential Health Care for Mothers and Newborns During the Pandemic by Koki Agarwal