The takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban not only threatens people’s lives, security, and fundamental freedom, but also significantly increases risks of water insecurity both immediately and in the long term. While our hearts and minds are with the people struggling for survival and freedom in Afghanistan today, we should not forget that the implications of Taliban rule will add yet another challenge to the long-term future of the Afghan people, and possibly also to the entire region’s stability.

In the United States, approximately 10 to 15 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. But this doesn’t capture the full picture. In reality, studies show that as many as half of all pregnancies may end in miscarriage, with the vast majority occurring before people realize they are pregnant. A miscarriage is defined as pregnancy loss before 20 weeks gestation. While some health conditions such as autoimmune disorders, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and diabetes can exacerbate the risk of having a miscarriage, the exact causes of pregnancy loss are largely unknown.

In 2007, at the (U.S.) National Intelligence Council, a colleague and I set out to determine if we could forecast two distinct political phenomena, the rise and the demise of high levels of democracy. To guide our decade-long forecasts, we relied on a simple statistical model and a spreadsheet of demographic projections from the UN’s 2006 World Population Prospects data set. Now that the experimental period (from 2010 to 2020) has ended, we can look back and ask: How well did these forecasts perform? 

No country has escaped the setbacks caused by COVID-19, but impacts on low-income countries are proving far worse. The World Bank estimates the pandemic and the actions necessary to contain it will drive 150 million people globally into extreme poverty. Post-pandemic, there will likely be long-term effects. Even with this grim reality, there is hope. Governments and international development organizations have accumulated a wealth of knowledge about what works to reduce poverty and increase economic activity. As the Biden administration and other actors work to build a post-pandemic environment, key lessons can be drawn from this knowledge to inform recovery efforts.

“There is little doubt that tens of millions of people will be displaced over the next two to three decades due in large measure by disaster and other environmental changes affected by climate, with the majority displaced within the borders of their own countries. The United States has a special responsibility to lead on issues of climate change, migration, and displacement,” said Eric Schwartz, President of Refugees International, at a recent event presenting a Blue-Ribbon Task Force report on climate change and migration.

Growing up in Xicai village in rural Hebei Province, Chen Liwen spent plenty of her childhood outdoors, where she cultivated a deep connection with nature. This connection eventually led her to pursue a career working at environmental NGOs. Early in her career while she was surveying landfills outside of Beijing, she discovered “mountains” of putrid waste that were leaking into waterways, making nearby residents sick. That incident sparked her to focus her work on reducing waste and waste pollution. After working on urban waste issues Chen became concerned that pollution reforms to expand waste sorting and recycling in cities were not extended to rural areas, where 40 percent of China’s population live. 

After enduring sexual violence in the DRC conflict, Steven Kighoma fled to Uganda where he became an activist with the NGO, Men of Hope Refugee Association, supporting male victims of conflict-related sexual violence. The experiences of male victims include rape, being forced to watch family members being raped, being beaten on the genitals, and enduring other kinds of abuse. Compounding their trauma, men who have suffered sexual violence in the region are often seen as not properly masculine and face homophobic violence and criminalization, regardless of their sexual orientation. In addition, they face exclusion from survivor support services which assume that only women face sexual violence.

The biggest challenge is “the ignorance of the government, the medical institutions, the community, not knowing a male victim of sexual violence exists,” says Kighoma. “There is a confusion when you talk about male victims of sexual violence. People confuse it with homosexuality.”