Lands of the Arab Spring

Since the Arab Spring uprisings, much local and world attention has fixed on transforming central government institutions: presidency, legislatures and key ministries. However, contention at a far more-fundamental level, the "land question" is raging across

Sanctuary in the City? Urban Displacement & Aid

Civil Society on New Global Development Priorities

Upon expiration of the current Millennium Development Goals in 2015, the new “sustainable development goals” to be set at the international level were the subject of recent web-based consultations with global civil society conducted by

Is Fracking Flooding Egypt Village?

The village of Fares, located about 75km north of the city of Aswan near Kom Ombo, is currently being destroyed by severe flooding of contaminated water caused by controversial oil drilling practices performed over the

Arab Women and Affordable Housing: Falling Short?

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) governments are meeting the challenge of providing affordable housing for low- and average-income nationals through some bold initiatives and strategies. But women still face discrimination under most GCC regulations for getting

Fracking up Egypt’s Environment

It might sound like a swear word, but “fracking” isn’t causing a stir because of its sound. It’s a drilling method that has caused worry among some local environmentalists, who warn it could contaminate the

Call for Moratorium on Fracking

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights calls on the Egyptian government to place an immediate moratorium on unconventional extraction activities using hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, at least until independent impact studies have been conducted and

Nepal: Thapathali Squatters on Strike

KATHMANDU—Normal life has been affected in Lalitpur district due to a Lalitpur bandh called by locals to protest the government’s plan to resettle squatters evicted from encroached land in the Thapathali area at Sundarighat, Balkhu.   Shops

Turkey: History Razed in the Name of Regeneration

Turkey`s cultural capital is undergoing a huge construction programme that is driving out communities. A few hundred metres from the bustling Taksim Square in Istanbul, the sound of jackhammers reverberates through the street: demolitions in the