A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

What’s Next for the Teesta Water Disputes? (The Hindu) 

The recent political upheaval in Bangladesh which led to the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the return of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammed Yunus as leader of an interim government is not the only tumult in this nation. A worsening trend in weather events there has heightened Bangladesh’s exposure to climate shocks and allowed a dispute over the Teesta River to reemerge.

We’re often told that we’re living during a population crisis, a time of simultaneous concerns born of too many people to sustain necessary resources for a healthy planet, and too few working-age people to support a healthy economy. Population dynamics and trends are key to national and international security and contribute to the overall wellbeing of a society. Fertility, along with mortality and migration, is central to population and its importance to demographers, policymakers, economists, and a country’s development is without question. But focusing on population trends without considering the experiences of the billions of individuals who make up those trends—each with a unique life course, personal aspirations, and individual potential—establishes an unhealthy and dangerous tension that can strip women of their rights and leave them socially disenfranchised.

Gambian lawmakers voted on July 15, 2024, to maintain the nine-year old ban on female genital cutting (FGC). Also known as female genital mutilation (FGM), female genital cutting is defined by the World Health Organization as “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.” The negative health outcomes of FGC can include severe pain, infections, sexual health problems, and obstetric complications.

Resource-rich nations such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda—which produce minerals ranging from coltan, cobalt, gold, tungsten, and tantalum, to tin (3TG)—hold tremendous importance in the global supply chains. The DRC produces 70% of global cobalt production, while its neighbor, Rwanda, generates around 30% of Tantalum.  

Ongoing fighting in Sudan has led to a devastating humanitarian crisis that United Nations Humanitarian and Emergency Relief Chief Martin Griffiths calls “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history.”  

Among the millions of people harmed by the fighting are countless pregnant people and new mothers, who face direct and indirect threats to their health and lives in the country’s renewed conflict. Sudan was already suffering from a maternal mortality crisis prior to the onset of its latest civil war. Before the most recent round of bloodshed, Sudan’s maternal mortality rate stood at 270 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020 – higher than the global average of 223 deaths. And as this crisis worsens, it is imperative to call attention to what is occurring there.  

A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

Climate Security and Canada’s Promises to NATO  (Global News) 

As a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Canada has been influential in the integration of climate change policy with the alliance’s mission. It supported the development of NATO’s Climate Change and Security Action Plan aligning with the alliance’s core tasks of deterrence and defense, crisis prevention and management, and cooperative security. Following the Canadian proposal 2021, Global Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defense jointly lead NATO’s Climate Change and Security Centre of Excellence (CCASCOE) to research and identify best practices to address climate change and security-related challenges.  

Last month, the biopharmaceutical company Gilead shared groundbreaking results from a recent clinical trial (PURPOSE1) for long-acting injectable HIV prevention. The twice-yearly injectable drug, lenacapavir, provided total protection from HIV for a test group of 2,134 women in Uganda and South Africa. While lenacapavir has been used to treat multi-drug resistant HIV since 2022, this trial marks the first usage as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP is one tool to prevent the virus, and refers to anti-retroviral medication taken by people who do not have HIV to reduce the risk of contracting it through sexual transmission or injection drug use. These new findings offer immense promise for the future of PrEP as a global tactic to protect young women from contracting HIV. 

Mildred is a fish trader in Kenya. I met her a few years ago, when I was conducting research. (“Mildred” is not her real name; I promised all my participants anonymity as I worked.) She mentors, trains, and educates young women on how to dry, gut, fry fish, and run successful fish businesses.