“The aspirations of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs are really high, and the data that will enable that have a long way to go,” said Rachel Snow from the United Nations Population Fund at a Wilson Center event on July 14, 2017.

More than 60 percent of the world’s refugees and 80 percent of internally displaced persons (IDPs) now live in urban areas. In contrast to traditional refugee camps, which have mainly been in rural areas, cities and other urban settings can offer refugees greater economic opportunities, a degree of anonymity, and better access to services—at least in theory, said Mary Nell Wegner, executive director of the Maternal Health Task Force, at the Wilson Center on May 31. However, in practice, the urban advantage may be a myth, as local systems, already strained by growing populations, are not well equipped to handle a large influx of people with complex needs.

Our nine-part “Choke Point: Tamil Nadu” series with Circle of Blue has been a must-read on the conflicting demands for water, food, and energy in the South Indian state. In May’s most popular post, S. Gopikrishna Warrier introduces us to Chennai’s tech-savvy social entrepreneurs, who are providing the city’s residents with real-time information on the risk of flooding. (The ninth and final post in the series was published yesterday; catch up on all of them at “Choke Point: Tamil Nadu”).

Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, the executive director of UNFPA and an inspiring leader in the global health community, passed at his home on June 4 at the age of 68.

KODAIKANAL, India – In the dogged community of eco-activists, journalists, local leaders, and artists that find common ground defending Tamil Nadu from rapacious development and rampant pollution, Nityanand Jayaraman stands out.

A steadily increasing global population, growing food demand, and changing climate necessitate new kinds of thinking in agriculture but also fields like public health and energy, concludes a new book, Hot, Hungry Planet, by former Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar and current Senior Fellow at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center Lisa Palmer.