This paper examines the impacts of the financial, food and fuel crises on the livelihoods of low-income households Nigeria. It uses primary household level data from Nigeria to analyse the impacts of induced price variability on household welfare. Our results indicate that aggregate shocks have significant adverse effects on household consumption, human capital, and labour decisions with a degree of impact variability between northern and southern regions of the country.

À l’occasion de la Journée mondiale de l’eau, trois spécialistes de cette ressource fondamentale ont proposé aujourd’hui une définition du concept de « sécurité de l’eau » et plaidé pour que le Conseil de sécurité, comme il l’a fait avec les changements climatiques, inscrive à son ordre du jour la question de l’accès à l’eau comme menace à la paix et à la sécurité internationales.

Press release: Addressing loss and damage in the context of social vulnerability and resilience

L’ONG CARE et l’Université des Nations Unies ont présenté hier, lors de la 18e conférence des Nations Unies sur les changements climatiques, les résultats de l’étude Where the Rain Falls qui analyse les interactions entre variabilité des précipitations, sécurité alimentaire et déplacements de populations dans huit pays en développement.

This Policy Guide seeks to enhance the ability of policy makers and practitioners – in governments, regional and international organizations, and civil society – in strengthening their efforts to protect civilians from conflict-related grave harm and mass atrocity crimes

Brussels, 11 October 2012. Environmental degradation is a significant factor that reduces the adaptive capacity of societies to deal with disaster risk in many countries around the globe. The balance sheet for the ten years from 2002 to 2011 is alarming: 4,130 disasters, over one million dead and economic losses of at least 1.195 trillion US dollars. This is demonstrated by the second edition of the WorldRiskReport launched in Brussels today.

When considering climate change, indigenous peoples and marginalized populations warrant particular attention. Impacts on their territories and communities are anticipated to be both early and severe due to their location in vulnerable environments, including small islands, high-altitude zones, desert margins and the circumpolar Arctic. Indeed, climate change poses a direct threat to many indigenous societies due to their continuing reliance upon resource-based livelihoods. Heightened exposure to negative impacts, however, is not the only reason for specific attention and concern.

by Obijiofor Aginam

PUBLISHED 2012•06•26

Based on his chapter in a recently published book, UNU-ISP’s Obijiofor Aginam discusses the indiscriminate deployment of rape by combatants and the breakdown of public health infrastructure in war/conflict zones, and calls for effective reparation for HIV-infected victims of rape in post-conflict societies.

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Dramatically increased international agricultural commodity prices from 2007 to mid-2008 brought food inflation and greater incidence of poverty and malnutrition to developing countries. Higher food prices in 2011 threaten to repeat that crisis. The international community responded strongly to these concerns in 2008 and 2009, promising greater financial support for food aid, safety nets, and agricultural development.