Publications

Technological Autonomy or Global Integration: Navigating Vaccine Dependency in LMICs

IDS Working Paper 621

Vaccine hoarding during the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the urgent need for low- and middle-income countries to overcome technological dependency – not only to improve competitiveness and resilience but also to enhance global crisis response. Development scholarship has long emphasised the...

Anabel Marín

Jose Morales

Food Fight: From Plunder and Profit to People and Planet

Stuart Gillespie - a veteran of four decades at the frontline of global food policy - exposes how malnutrition is enmeshed with other crises and what we can all do to turn things around. Food is life but our food system is killing us. Designed in a different century for a different purpose...

Stuart Gillespie

Rapid Scoping Review 2025: Türkiye

Countering Rollback Country Brief

Anti-feminist discourse has long been present among groups across the political spectrum in Türkiye. Erdoğan has explicitly stated that he is against gender equality, that abortion is murder, and that using contraception undermines the nation. This rhetoric influenced the official stance on...

Rapid Scoping Review 2025: South Africa

Countering Rollback Country Brief

South Africa’s Constitution offers protection, and formal recognition as equal citizens, to women and to LGBTQI+ people. It also positions South Africa as an important regional place of refuge for LGBTQI+ Africans, despite the country’s high rates of gender-based violence and xenophobia.

Chandni Sai Ganesh

Rapid Scoping Review 2025: Philippines

Countering Rollback Country Brief

Feminist and LGBT+ movements in the Philippines face mounting challenges that are deeply rooted in cultural, religious, and political dynamics. Machismo culture continues to reinforce strict gender roles and perpetuate male dominance, leaving little room for gender equality.

Chandni Sai Ganesh

Rapid Scoping Review 2025: Pakistan

Countering Rollback Country Brief

Ongoing political and economic turmoil has deepened existing gendered inequities and compounded rollback in Pakistan. Increasing political polarisation has led to greater restrictions on civil and political rights and a crackdown on dissent.

Rapid Scoping Review 2025: Nigeria

Countering Rollback Country Brief

Nigeria’s socio-political and economic environment presents significant challenges for women’s rights and for LGBTQI+ rights. Women also face discriminatory practices, such as in the northern Kano state, where civil service rules penalise women for pregnancy-related training interruptions.

Rapid Scoping Review 2025: Mexico

Countering Rollback Country Brief

In Mexico, significant progress has been made in promoting gender equality but, despite these advances, organisations operate in an environment that remains adverse for women and LGBTQI+ people.

Rapid Scoping Review 2025: Kenya

Countering Rollback Country Brief

Kenya’s socio-political environment presents significant challenges for women’s and LGBTQI+ rights. Conservative social attitudes – deeply influenced by religious beliefs, political leaders, and traditional norms – exacerbate these challenges.

Rapid Scoping Review 2025: Kazakhstan

Countering Rollback Country Brief

In Kazakhstan, social tensions between the Soviet legacy and the country’s identity as an independent nation perpetuate deep-seated homophobia. Despite the decriminalisation of consensual same-sex conduct in 1998, individuals who are LGBT+ continue to face fear and abuse, leading them to...

Rapid Scoping Review 2025: Indonesia

Countering Rollback Country Brief

Indonesia is experiencing significant democratic backsliding, threatening the freedoms and rights of women and of LGBT+ communities. Civil society organisations, which have long been central to advancing democracy and human rights, are facing increasing restrictions under President Prabowo...

Chandni Sai Ganesh

Rapid Scoping Review 2025: India

Countering Rollback Country Brief

Over the past decade, entrenched intersectional inequalities in India have been deepened by the shrinking space for civil society, the criminalisation of dissent and mass-incarceration of activists, state-sponsored violence against marginalised communities, the corporatisation of media, and the...