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Ghana is blessed with an abundance of mineral resources. These mineral resources are situated in indigenous communities, but the ownership is vested in the government. Indigenous communities where these resources are located are mostly marginalized. Significant legal reforms have been implemented to ensure the inclusivity of these indigenous communities in allocating mineral rights, yet the problem persists. This research investigates the legal framework that governs the allocation of mineral rights in Ghana and the impact thereof on the empowerment of indigenous communities, bringing attention to the difficulties that indigenous communities must overcome to have access to and benefit from mineral resources. To this end, one hundred and eight (108) documents, including legislations and reports on mineral rights allocation in Ghana, were analyzed using thematic analysis. The study found that the current legal framework is deficient in providing sufficient protection for the rights of indigenous communities. Specifically, the absence of a workable scheme for mineral rights allocation from various stakeholders to these indigenous communities is an identifiable lapse in the current legal framework. The findings of this research are relevant to policymakers, legal practitioners, and other stakeholders to improve the rights and well-being of indigenous communities following the analysis of the legal complexities and implications associated with the allocation of mining rights distribution of ensuing royalties inter alia expounded in this paper.

Background: /Objective: Flooding risk is a global issue, and various approaches have been established to prevent flooding risk around the world. China is one of the heavily flood-affected countries and has been implementing the Sponge City program since 2015 to defend against flooding. Unfortunately, flooding has been common in China in recent years, causing severe health risks to citizens. This research mainly focuses on (a) evaluating the implementation of China's Sponge City program and the associated impacts on human health and (b) exploring the future improvement of the Sponge City program in China. Methods: The Interpretive Document Approach was used to explore an inclusive review of the Sponge City program and its implications on human health. Results: /Findings: The Sponge City program in China is still insufficient to prevent flooding risks effectively. In the past eight years, 24/34 provinces have recorded flooding, which caused a total of 4701 deaths and over 525.5 billion RMB (around 72.9 billion US$) in economic loss. Till now, only 64/654 cities have promulgated local legislation to manage sponge city construction, although the Sponge City was implemented in 2015. Besides, the completed Sponge City program constructions cannot fully prevent flooding risks, the flood prevention capacity is limited. The Sponge City program is not granted priority, lacking national legislation hinders Sponge City program implementation in China. Conclusions: China needs to make national legislation on the Sponge City program and update the Sponge City program technology guidelines. Local governments should implement Sponge City construction according to local geographic environments.