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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

Indian development at a crossroads – part 2

Join us for this in-person and online event that explores how top-down modes of development are challenged from below. This event follows from an earlier event on the same theme, held on 11 December 2024 (details here). The global expansion of authoritarian rule is witnessing a brand...

3 October 2025

Upcoming Event

Globalisation in retreat: implications for the global South

Join us for a special event to celebrate the contribution that Raphie Kaplinsky has made to development studies. Raphie Kaplinsky worked at the IDS for more than three decades, and is currently an Emeritus Professorial Fellow at the Institute. Beginning in the early 1970s, Raphie’s...

30 September 2025

Upcoming Event

Weathering the storm – making the case for social protection in crises

Join us for a facilitated policy panel to debate how to make the political case for investing in social protection in settings of crises at a time of aid rupture. Wrestling with questions such as: How can existing investments in systems be maintained and adapted during crises? How can...

16 September 2025

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

News

Global coalition launches World EBHC Day campaign

Today an international coalition of organisations dedicated to evidence-informed decision-making launched the World Evidence-Based Healthcare (EBHC) Day 2025 campaign, ‘Collaborative Knowledge Communication’. World EBHC Day is delivered in partnership by JBI, Cochrane, The Campbell...

6 August 2025

Opinion

Brown gold rush – unleashing sanitation’s rich potential

More than half the world’s population live in urban areas. Many growing towns and cities, especially in the Global South, are marked by inadequate sanitation, sewage and drainage facilities. With 3.5 billion people still lacking access to safe sanitation, most national and global sanitation...

Lyla Mehta
Lyla Mehta & 3 others

5 August 2025

News

Essential reading and listening for 2025

IDS staff and students have put together an essential reading and listening list for the year so far. These books and podcasts cover a whole range of topical themes within development studies including: Democracy Gender Digital Technology Economics Food and...

5 August 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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