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Inequalities and Poverty

IDS works with global partners to generate new knowledge and evidence to identify the underlying causes of inequalities and poverty in all their dimensions and the progressive policies and practices that can help bring about transformative change.

Eradicating extreme poverty remains one of the world’s most pressing challenges, and addressing it requires the rising economic, social and political inequalities that harm people in rich and poor countries alike to be tackled.

IDS has also played a prominent part in promoting an approach that puts power at the heart of development analysis and contributed to strengthening understanding of the relationship between power, gender, sexual rights and poverty.

We continue to provide new analysis on inequalities and poverty trends, particularly in relation to the expansion of digital technologies and their impact on the lives of the poorest and most marginalised, and the growth of global cities and what this means for both urban and rural livelihoods, social relations and sustainability. Moreover, we work with governments, civil society, businesses and many others to help ensure this analysis shapes policies and programmes such as social protection and cash transfers to reduce poverty and vulnerability and strengthen livelihoods including agriculture.

People

Deepta Chopra

Professorial Research Fellow

Keetie Roelen

IDS Honorary Associate

Jerker Edström

Research Fellow

Melissa Leach

Emeritus Fellow

John Gaventa

Research Fellow and Director, Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA) programme

Danny Burns

Professorial Research Fellow

Sohela Nazneen

Research Fellow

Patricia Justino

Professorial Fellow

Programmes and centres

Projects

Recent work

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Upcoming Event

Pathways to development conference

Pathways to Development (Path2Dev) is a multidisciplinary conference that brings together empirical and historical research by economists, political scientists, sociologists, legal and constitutional scholars, and law and policy reform experts, within and outside Pakistan, to document and...

From 11 September 2025 until 13 September 2025

Upcoming Event

Investing in local social protection workers in protracted crises

This event will explore the opportunities for smarter investment in frontline capacities for social protection in deepening crises, sharing experiences and evidence from aid practitioners and researchers working across the humanitarian-development-peacebuilding nexus in Yemen, Syria and...

21 July 2025

Upcoming Event

Food Equity Centre

Power relationships and aquaculture livelihoods in Vietnam

Join the Food Equity Centre for this seminar that explores different kinds of power relationships that influence people’s access to resources, livelihood options and sustainability outcomes. This seminar looks at a case study of aquaculture production systems in northern Vietnam and the...

15 July 2025

News

Communities to test public restaurants

Two state-subsidised ‘public restaurants’ will be piloted in the UK as part of new research into whether they can help improve public health by providing an affordable alternative to unhealthy convenience food. The pilot restaurants will open in Dundee and Nottingham offering locally...

9 July 2025

Working Paper

Humanitarian and Social Protection Approaches to Inclusion

BASIC Research Working Paper 16

This paper explores how and how far considerations of inclusion are found in the policy and programming space described as the ‘humanitarian-social protection nexus’.

9 July 2025

Opinion

Public restaurants can help address dietary health inequalities

It isn’t charity, it isn’t a treat, it’s universal. A public infrastructure, much like public libraries and public transport, ‘public restaurants’ are state-subsidised eateries which offer universal access to nutritious, appetising and sustainably produced foods. They have enormous...

Anna Chworow, Deputy Director, Nourish Scotland

8 July 2025

Report

Rapid Scoping Review: Anti-Rollback Actors and Strategies

Rapid Scoping Review Report

This report presents the findings of a rapid scoping review of queer and feminist organisations and social movements countering roll back in 14 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, and Türkiye)

Tessa Lewin
Tessa Lewin & 3 others

8 July 2025

Why learn with us.

In an extraordinary time of challenge and change, we use more than 50 years of expertise to transform development approaches that create more equitable and sustainable futures. The work you do with us will help make progressive change towards universal development; to build and connect solidarities for collective action, locally and globally. The University of Sussex has been ranked 1st in the world for Development Studies for the past five years (QS World University Rankings by Subject).

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