Writing history with water and salt – two essential items for the hunger strikers. By permission from Mohammad Sabaaneh.

As thousands of Palestinian prisoners are engaged in the painful self-sacrifice of a hunger strike, the recent draconian move by Israel’s Defense Minister declaring the Palestinian National Fund a terrorist organization deserves attention. This fund is the conduit by which financial support is provided to thousands of Palestinian families who had or have loved ones in Israeli jails. We should mention that it is estimated that more than one million Palestinians have been imprisoned by Israel since 1967 alone and Palestinians are considered the most incarcerated nation in the world. All of this a result of Israeli policy of arresting political activists, leaders, intellectuals and fighters and lumping them into a single category of “terrorists.”

There is a process by which prisoners and former prisoners are provided financial support and the…

Guest post by Richie Robertson, Director of University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre

La Soufriere volcano looms largely in the consciousness of most Vincentians.  Although it occupies the northern third of the island and is often shrouded in clouds, it does not take very much to command our attention.  There have been numerous instances in the past when the occasional smell of sulphur, thunderstorms over the volcano and the spurious observation of someone visiting the summit crater, have led to rumours of an eruption.  It is, therefore, not surprising that the most recent eruption of the volcano still remains fresh in the minds of those of us who experienced it.

St Vincent in eruption, April 1979. Photo credit – Steve Sparks.

My own path to becoming a volcanologist and current leader of the regional volcano monitoring organization in the English-speaking Eastern Caribbean began with the 1979 eruption.  I…

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Daryl Vaz (centre), displays a signed copy of the Instrument of Ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change during a seminar at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St Andrew on April 11. Others sharing the moment (from left) are Deputy Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Elsie Laurence Chounoune; and Principal Director, Climate Change Division, Una-May Gordon. The Paris Agreement, which was adopted at the Climate Change Summit in Paris in December 2015, signals the commitment of the international community to combat climate change and its wide-ranging effects. (Photo: JIS)

The Climate Change Division of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation of Jamaica is undertaking a public outreach entitled “Uncut Conversations on Climate Change: Dialogue for the Future” at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica from 11 to 13 April 2017. The…

Photo Credit: Stuart Claggett

Newly-released analysis from CDKN has identified a series of approaches to help community-level organisations to increase climate resilience. The analysis focusses on the Caribbean, but has widely applicable lessons for community-based adaptation in other parts of the world. Will Bugler and Olivia Palin explain further:

The research acknowledges that the success of adaptation measures is highly dependent on local context, and shows how multi-level governance approaches can deliver locally-appropriate adaptation actions. By using approaches and methods such as network analysis, community-based vulnerability assessments and a ‘local adaptive capacity framework’, the research suggests that communities can improve the efficacy of climate action at the local level. What’s more the analysis also finds that more co-ordinated action at the local level can lead to increased influence on regional and national decision making.

The new analysis draws on outputs from three CDKN-funded projects spanning a decade’s worth of applied research…