Women around the world are choosing to forego motherhood. Yet more often than not stigma remains the global response, despite a decades-long global trend of women making this decision.  

Varied social perceptions greet the choice to not bear children, depending on the culture and economic status of the country. Yet regardless of income level, globally recognized female stereotypes often place a high value on a woman’s fertility and her potential role as a mother, making it harder for women to exercise their agency to embrace other alternatives.

A new contribution in a continuing series examining “backdraft“—the unintended consequences of climate change responses—and how its effects might be anticipated and minimized to avoid conflict and promote peace.

Climate change is widely recognized as one the greatest threats to peace and security in the 21^st century. The causal pathways that link deteriorating environmental conditions, insecurity, and conflict, while seldom automatic or linear, are, nevertheless, ubiquitous. The adverse impacts of climate change exacerbate other risk factors, especially in already fragile contexts. In turn, these factors magnify pre-existing economic, social, or political drivers of insecurity.

Care work makes all other work possible. It is also the fastest-growing sector of work in the world—projected to add 150 million jobs by 2030. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the importance of care work. It has also exposed how women perform most caregiving work, which is unpaid, underpaid, and/or undervalued. Globally, women and girls contribute more than 70 percent of total global caregiving hours (paid and unpaid) and perform more than 75 percent of unpaid care work. The inordinate amount of unpaid care work women and girls perform prevents them from earning a paid income, which contributes to greater gender inequities worldwide.

In recent years, Mexican women have experienced a significant downgrade in the quality and accessibility of public healthcare – and not due to the COVID-19 pandemic – said Irene Tello, Executive Director of Mexican impunity watchdog Impunidad Cero, at a recent event hosted by the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute. The expert panel agreed that the greatest barriers for Mexican women seeking medical attention lie in the current government’s nearsighted health policies and mismanagement of the public health sector.

The devastation wrought by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shocked the world. But underneath the searing photographs and headlines, the war also highlights how access to natural resources shapes conflict—and how addressing regional resource needs is central to effective peacebuilding. For instance, the contentious North Crimean Canal cut off most of the water in occupied Crimea in 2014, leading to water insecurity and a loss of arable land. In our top post for March, Mehmet Altingoz and Saleem Ali discuss the role of water infrastructure in the years-long conflict between Russia and Ukraine and explain how water-sharing agreements could make critical contributions to peace.

On the night of April 14, 2014, a group of militants attacked the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Nigeria. They kidnapped 276 female students, ranging from ages 15 to 19 years. An armed group called Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Finance for climate action is growing—however, much of this money is being invested in wealthier nations, while the regions where funds are needed most are often overlooked and underfunded by both public and private institutions. The good news for funders is that there are climate solutions that not only significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also create cascading social and public health benefits for communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. For those looking to get the biggest return on their investment—for both people and planet—we offer two particularly promising solutions: ramp up funding for clean cooking and electricity where they matter most. 

Security conditions in the Sahel are rapidly deteriorating. Since 2016, the region has witnessed a 16-fold increase in terrorist attacks. In Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, 10.5 million people are facing starvation, and with climate-related disasters increasing and intensifying in the region, food insecurity is projected to rise. Against this backdrop, rapid population growth is outpacing governments’ ability to provide access to basic services. These pressures have transformed the central Sahel into the epicenter of a forced displacement crisis, with dire long-term and global humanitarian consequences that reverberate well beyond the region’s borders.