Dear Deeply Readers,
Welcome to the archives of Water Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on November 1, 2018, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on water resilience. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors and contributors.
We continue to produce events and special projects while we explore where the on-site journalism goes next. If you’d like to reach us with feedback or ideas for collaboration you can do so at [email protected].
Guy Goodwin-Gill Professor of Law, UNSW
On the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Protocol on Refugees, top refugee law expert Guy S Goodwin-Gill explains the significance of recognizing the international community’s responsibility to protect all refugees and how Australia’s recent policies put this at risk.
Chisina Kapungu Provides Technical Oversight to Research and Evaluation Projects, ICRW
Self-harm is the second leading cause of death for older adolescent girls. Understanding the intersection between adolescence, mental health and gender is crucial in tackling suicide rates worldwide, says Chisina Kapungu, senior gender and youth specialist at the ICRW.
Barrister and philanthropist Cherie Blair talked to News Deeply about her work to empower women business owners in the developing world, and how her former life in Downing Street shapes her approach.
David O’Neill and Karyn Stockdale of the National Audubon Society talk about a recent report that highlights the threats to two major habitats used by migrating birds in the West: saline lakes and riparian habitat along the Colorado River.
David James Cantor
While Latin America leads the way in responding to displacement by organized criminal violence, many of these countries are still catching up with the implications of the shift from Cold War conflicts to criminal violence, explains Refugee Law Initiative’s David Cantor.
No one yet knows how big the legalized recreational marijuana business will become. But as it grows, water consumption is sure to become a concern in the arid West. Brandy Keen gives one industry leader’s point of view.
Rouba Mhaissen Syrian-Lebanese Economist, Activist, Community Mobilizer
Sidelining Syrian civil society groups in plans for rebuilding the country may lay the groundwork for future violence and unrest, writes activist and development practitioner Rouba Mhaissen.
Rothna Begum Women’s rights researcher for the Middle East and North Africa region at Human Rights Watch
Saudi Arabia has lifted its ban on women driving, after 17 years of protest from committed women’s rights activists. Now the government must make sure they have exactly the same driving rights as men, says Rothna Begum of Human Rights Watch.
Small island states face increasing threats from climate change – from rising sea levels to the loss of coral reefs. University of Hawaii law professor Maxine Burkett discusses legal strategies that could help them secure compensation for those impacts.
Kenneth Roth Executive Director, Human Rights Watch
Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, highlights the importance of collecting evidence of war crimes committed in Assad’s prisons in preparation for the potential prosecution of the Syrian government.
Tara Sullivan Director, USAID-supported Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project
Beth Schlachter Executive Director, Family Planning 2020 (FP2020)
Two family planning specialists share the experiences that shaped their approach to reproductive health and explain how highlighting the voices of individual women can make a real difference.
John Bezdek Attorney in Private Practice, Washington, D.C.
Dan Keppen Executive Director, Family Farm Alliance
A recent federal audit over a water-banking program in the Klamath Basin lacks an understanding of the on-the-ground reality in the region, writes attorney John Bezdek and Family Farm Alliance’s Dan Keppen.
Marla Darwin Cofounder, Grrrl Gang Manila
To tackle the rising pregnancy rates among Filipino teens, young women need places both online and in real life where they can discuss sex and their bodies without fear of judgment, says Marla Darwin, cofounder of Grrrl Gang Manila.
Some of the women working with the Value Female Network were subjected to female genital mutilation when they were girls. Now they visit communities around Nigeria to raise awareness about the procedure’s dangers and help cutters find new ways to make a living.
Matteo Fumagalli Senior lecturer in international relations at the University of St Andrews
After years of discrimination and conflicts, the current Rohingya crisis is the worst ever seen. The University of St. Andrews’ Matteo Fumagalli explains how geopolitics aligned to give Myanmar generals an opportunity for a brutal offensive with few consequences.
Meadows play an important role in water storage and flood prevention. But a new study shows that warming temperatures and resulting tree encroachment could doom these landscapes, except at very high elevations.
A year after the New York declaration, Refugees Deeply asked a delegation of refugees what impact it has had so far and where it has fallen short.
Nuns from the Drukpa lineage of Buddhism are known for their strength, athletic ability and humanitarian relief work. By example, they are teaching conservative villages that girls should be nurtured and supported.
Researcher Rebecca Selden talks about her new study, which looks at the impact of climate change on predator-prey relationships and how the migration of a keystone species can roil local economies.
Steven Moore Vice Chair, State Water Resources Control Board
Water boards have improved their use of modern data management to change public habits on critical water issues and are hoping to do more in the future, writes Steven Moore, vice chair of the State Water Resources Control Board.
Andrew Tabler Senior Fellow in the Program on Arab Politics, Washington Institute
By enabling Assad’s forces to bridge the Euphrates river, Moscow is denying Washington leverage over the Syrian government and is raising the risk of direct confrontation between U.S. and Russian proxies in east Syria, writes the Washington Institute’s Andrew Tabler.
Julie Jalloul Officer and Humanitarian Interpreter, Translators without Borders
Humanitarian interpreters are in short supply, undermining effective refugee response in countries like Greece, writes Julie Jalloul of Translators without Borders, which is launching a new platform to help connect interpreters and refugee support groups.
Karina Nagin Executive Director, Mission
Five billion people worldwide are unable to access essential surgical care. To address this global health crisis, we need to encourage more women to step up to the operating table, says Karina Nagin, executive director of Mission: Restore.
Philippe Legrain Founder, OPEN
What kind of support do refugees really need to get jobs? Philippe Legrain, founder of the OPEN think-tank, outlines his new 22-country study on what works best to help refugees find employment quickly, thus bringing dividends to local economies.
Scientist Thomas Galarneau finds that the previously unrecognized Chiricahua Gap, a 150-mile break between mountain ranges, is a vital conduit for wet monsoon storms moving from the Gulf of Mexico into Arizona.
Jeff Crisp Formerly Head of Policy Development and Evaluation, UNHCR
A year after the first ever U.N. refugee summit, policy expert Jeff Crisp examines the four key objectives of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework agreed in New York, and the major questions and obstacles that remain to be resolved.
Phil Robertson Deputy Asia Director, Human Rights Watch
Amid international attention on Pyongyang’s missile tests, there is another life-threatening crisis emanating from North Korea that few are watching. Human Rights Watch’s Phil Robertson documents China’s increasing detention and return of North Korean refugees.
The world watched the tragic flooding in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean. U.C. Davis’ Nicholas Pinter says the shocking events should spur states like California to think about and improve their own flood management.
Dr. Swee Chai Ang Co-Founder, Medical Aid for Palestinians
When Palestinian refugees were massacred in Beirut in 1982, Dr. Swee Chai Ang, a refugee living in the U.K., was working as a young volunteer medic in the camp. On the 35th anniversary, Ang describes her memories and unanswered questions.
Kirby Brill Former General Manager, Mojave Water Agency in Southern California
Among water users and agencies, data is often kept in private and hidden from public view, but that’s beginning to change, writes Kirby Brill, former general manager of the Mojave Water Agency.
Growing evidence indicates that underwater air guns used to detect oil and gas deposits affect the behavior of marine mammals. Arctic biologist Eva Garde talks about her research into the impact of air guns on elusive narwhals
Alan Davis Asia & Eurasia Director, Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Anti-Muslim and anti-Rohingya hate speech has flourished in Myanmar in recent years, contributing to rising Islamophobia and threats against journalists reporting on it, says Alan Davis of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, which has been documenting the problem.
As Australia tries to close its offshore detention centers, Refugees Deeply asked several experts to chart a way forward for its policy on refugee boats that would be both effective and humane.
Lina Khatib Head of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House
In Syria, hard evidence no longer drives accountability. The biggest beneficiary has been the Assad regime and its allies, who cannot be blamed for thinking they can get away with anything, says Lina Khatib, head of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Program.
Kirsten James Oversees the California Policy Program, Ceres
The state should tackle its water problems the same way it has worked to curb climate change and that includes passing a package of bills to reduce water waste and improve efficiency, writes Ceres’ Kirsten James.
Douglas Clark Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan’s School of Environment & Sustainability
The northern Canadian town of Churchill, Manitoba, may be an early casualty of climate change, but it could become an Arctic sustainability pioneer, says Douglas Clark, an associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan.
In Norway, on the final stop of her literary tour of the Arctic, the World Wildlife Fund’s Margaret Williams finds an amalgam of writers providing a unique sense of place and home.
As part of our ‘Experts to Watch’ series, we highlight nine experts who are advancing research, policy and interventions for women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights.
What role should the E.U. play in asylum systems in Greece and Italy? Refugees Deeply examined proposals for an E.U.-supported fast track asylum system with Maria Stavropoulou, director of the Greek Asylum Service, and Gerald Knaus of the European Stability Initiative.
As pro-government fighters inch closer to ISIS’ last Syrian stronghold, Deir Ezzor, Syria Deeply talks with Hassan Hassan of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy about the main stakeholders involved and the battle’s potential impact on Syria’s balance of power.
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