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The document advocates for Community Forest Management (CFM) as a holistic approach to territorial governance that prioritizes the 'Good Living' of indigenous and peasant communities over capitalist development. It asserts that CFM is more effective at reducing deforestation than absolute protection regimes and is essential for maintaining biodiversity and climate stability. The report warns against 'commercial logging' disguised as sustainable management and rejects REDD+ and carbon markets, arguing they centralize power and commodify nature. It recommends strengthening community land tenure, investing in local capacity building, and shifting international finance away from fossil fuels toward community-led conservation.

The report promotes community forest management (GCF) as a holistic approach to forest conservation and social justice, contrasting it with destructive industrial logging and the REDD+ mechanism. It argues that GCF, rooted in the 'bien-vivre' paradigm, effectively reduces deforestation and protects biodiversity by empowering indigenous and local communities with secure land tenure and ancestral knowledge. The document highlights the failures of carbon markets and 'sustainable forest management' labels used by corporations to mask extraction. It recommends strengthening community land rights, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies to fund adaptation, and reducing international trade in tropical hardwoods.

The report evaluates global progress in forest governance and land rights, noting a record 182 killings of environmental defenders in 2016. While it highlights positive developments in illegal timber import controls in countries like South Korea, Malaysia, and the US, and the implementation of EU FLEGT agreements in Indonesia and Vietnam, it warns that climate finance for local communities remains insufficient, with only 10 percent reaching the local level in 2016. The document also emphasizes the lack of gender-sensitive provisions in community-based tenure regimes and the ongoing effort to track tenure security via SDG Indicator 1.4.2.

The report finds that while infrastructure and mining are major drivers of forest loss, a lack of aggregate data prevents a global assessment of progress. It highlights the role of transport networks and mineral extraction in tropical deforestation and details emerging sustainability standards and data initiatives intended to fill these research gaps.

The assessment finds that while over USD 4.1 billion has been committed to results-based REDD+ payments, disbursements remain limited and concentrated, primarily in Brazil. It highlights the emergence of jurisdictional-sourcing initiatives across Asia, Latin America, and Africa as a promising mechanism to scale zero-deforestation commitments, though private resource flows remain small.

The document analyzes the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, where the government sought to leverage mining infrastructure to create 'horizontal linkages' for broader economic development via the Southern Guinea Growth Corridor (SGGC). While the project promised to double Guinea's GDP through a 650km railway and deep-water port, it faced immense capital costs (estimated over USD 15 billion) and a more economical alternative route through Liberia. The case highlights the tension between national development goals and project financial feasibility, noting that requiring multipurpose infrastructure can lower investment returns and increase risk.

The research paper examines the persistent issue of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) perpetrated by UN peacekeepers, particularly in conflict-affected regions of Africa. It highlights how power imbalances and poverty drive transactional sex and notes that legal hurdles, such as Status of Force Agreements (SOFAs), often shield perpetrators from prosecution by leaving jurisdiction with home countries. The paper details the UN's response through Resolution 1325 and Resolution 2272, the latter of which empowers the Secretary-General to repatriate troops and requires member states to report on investigations. It concludes that while reforms under Secretary-General António Guterres provide an opportunity for improvement, success depends on sustained political will and balancing troop deployment needs with stringent vetting.

This report by the Institute for Security Studies examines the African Union's (AU) use of mediation as a conflict-prevention tool. It analyzes the institutional gaps, the tension between formal and informal approaches, and the need for a more structured, long-term strategy to address the root causes of conflict in Africa.

The GCF Secretariat report for the period of 11 June to 8 September 2017 details progress across its operational divisions. Key achievements include the finalization of 33 Accreditation Master Agreements (AMAs) and 19 Funded Activity Agreements (FAAs), the approval of 123 readiness support requests for 88 countries totaling USD 39.5 million, and the launch of the 'GCF 101' online guide. The Secretariat also advanced its gender mainstreaming efforts, with 84% of approved funding proposals containing a gender assessment. Efforts to secure privileges and immunities continue, with 13 bilateral agreements signed to date. The report also outlines the development of a draft Indigenous Peoples Policy and the progress of the Private Sector Facility, which received approximately 350 concept notes for its 'Mobilizing Funds at Scale' request for proposals.

The report argues that for transitional justice to be effective in South Sudan, the African Union must move beyond the mere establishment of a hybrid court to support a coordinated, victim-centred strategy. This includes the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing (CTRH) and the Compensation and Reparation Authority (CRA), alongside traditional reconciliation mechanisms. The authors emphasize that security, psychosocial support, and the inclusion of civil society and the diaspora are essential preconditions for success. Drawing on lessons from other African nations, the report highlights the limitations of international trials and the critical importance of tangible reparations and local ownership to ensure the non-recurrence of violence.

The document examines 'jurisdictional approaches' to deforestation, which align governments, businesses, and NGOs around shared conservation and sustainable development goals. Based on a workshop of practitioners from five initiatives, it identifies key success factors including political leadership, participatory design, and sustainable financing. It highlights the challenge of aligning short-term corporate and government expectations with the long-term systemic change required for landscape-scale forest loss reduction.

The report examines jurisdictional approaches to deforestation, emphasizing the necessity of political leadership, participatory design, and diverse financing. Through case studies in Brazil, Liberia, Ghana, and Colombia, it argues that while these models are nascent and complex, they offer a systemic way to align market forces and government policy to achieve landscape-scale conservation.

Tanzania possesses estimated natural gas reserves of roughly 60 TCF, with the potential to generate up to $6 billion in annual revenue. While the country has established formal governance frameworks, including the Petroleum Act and the Tanzania Extractive Industries Transparency and Accountability Act, the paper argues that the actual impact on development depends on the political will to combat 'grand corruption' and the ability of civil society to hold the ruling coalition accountable. The author warns that windfall rents could incentivize elite predation and weaken the state's incentive to maintain a broad tax base, potentially destabilizing the political equilibrium.

The document examines the governance of Africa's extractive sectors, arguing that while the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) provides a valuable multi-stakeholder framework for revenue transparency, it must be complemented by national laws and regional cooperation to ensure true accountability. It highlights the gap between revenue disclosure and social spending, the challenges of beneficial ownership transparency, and the impact of political will on implementation. Case studies of Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zambia illustrate the varied success of institutionalising transparency and the persistent issues of reporting delays and exclusionary governance.

The document serves as a comprehensive manual for Liberian communities to secure benefits from logging operations. It details the legal mandate for Social Agreements (SAs) under the National Forestry Reform Law, outlines the mandatory components of these agreements—such as a code of conduct and financial benefits—and provides a step-by-step process for negotiation. The guide includes a template for SAs and suggested standard clauses to protect traditional practices, water points, and crops, while establishing penalties for company non-compliance. It also incorporates key FDA regulations regarding public participation, land use planning, and benefit sharing.

The study finds that while agricultural leasing is a preferred asset financing method in developed markets, it remains nascent in sub-Saharan Africa due to systemic market failures. Key barriers include high down payment requirements (20-40%), a lack of secondary markets for used equipment, and informational asymmetries that lead financial service providers to perceive agriculture as high-risk. Demand is limited by the predominance of smallholder subsistence farmers and low financial literacy. The report identifies Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia as high-potential markets and recommends targeted technical assistance for banks, awareness campaigns for farmers, and the creation of risk-sharing funds to reduce down payment barriers.

The document analyzes Rwanda's unique position as a global leader in female parliamentary representation, attributing this to post-genocide demographic shifts and the 2003 constitutional quota system. While noting significant progress in education and gender-responsive legislation, the authors argue that the impact of female MPs is limited by an increasingly authoritarian executive branch and persistent cultural barriers. The paper highlights a disconnect between Rwanda's top ranking in gender promotion and its low rankings in general human rights and political participation within Africa.

Global Witness finds that all 13 of Liberia's largest logging contracts are illegal due to beneficial ownership violations, tax evasion, and the employment of wartime loggers. The report warns that these illegalities threaten the credibility of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), the Liberia Forest Sector Project (LFSP), and the Liberian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI). It recommends the cancellation of illegal contracts, the enforcement of beneficial ownership disclosure, and the prevention of FLEGT licenses for illegal timber.

The Reporting for Results-based REDD+ (RRR+) project is a joint initiative by the Coalition for Rainforest Nations (CfRN) and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) running from 2017 to 2019. It aims to help 21 tropical and subtropical forest countries develop the technical and institutional capacity to create accurate greenhouse gas inventories for the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sectors. This capacity is essential for countries to submit reports to the UNFCCC and unlock results-based REDD+ payments. The project provides tailored training based on IPCC methods, supports the submission of National Communications and Biennial Update Reports, and promotes gender equality in natural resource management.

The document analyzes Ethiopia's rapid economic growth and human development progress since 1991, while highlighting persistent gaps in basic service access and agricultural productivity. Using the International Futures (IFs) forecasting system, it compares a 'Current Path' forecast against various intervention scenarios, concluding that an integrated approach across agriculture, education, health, and governance is necessary to reach lower-middle-income status by 2025.