Impact

Over nearly 60 years, IDS has played a key role in development thinking, policy, and practice around the world.

A girl with long dark hair in a pink long-sleeved top leans over to write on a flip chart .
A girl contributes to a participatory research group in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo credit: CLARISSA

Our research, teaching and action on topics as diverse as social protection, agricultural livelihoods, and pathways to change has influenced generations of development professionals.

Our work is creating impact by:

  • Changing awareness and understanding of complex social, environmental and economic issues, helping to shift attitudes around particular issues.
  • Building and strengthening networks and communities of practice that can enable research to be produced, shared, and connected with policy and practice.
  • Strengthening the capacity of institutions, individuals or systems, empowering communities and creating the conditions under which knowledge can be turned into action.
  • Influencing the creation or implementation of policies or practices which can stimulate more effective development.

Stories of impact

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Showing 73–77 of 77 results

Impact Story

G20 Summit briefings and Think20 Africa membership for CRPD

The Centre for Rising Powers and Global Development (CRPD) at IDS is a well-renowned source of expertise on South– South cooperation for addressing global challenges. Its ongoing contributions to high-level policymaking have led to the centre being asked to join the influential Think20 Africa...

1 August 2018

Impact Story

Strengthening learning and changing behaviour for better rural sanitation

Millions of people in the developing world currently suffer the consequences of inadequate or no sanitation and poor hygiene. It’s a situation targeted by one of the Sustainable Development Goals, and is particularly prevalent in India – making it a focus for IDS’s Community-Led Total...

1 August 2018

Impact Story

Making ‘leave no-one behind’ a reality

Impact Achieved The Participate Initiative has achieved impact both in relation to contributing to policy decision-making and in shaping debates and discussions about what should be included in the SDG framework and how it should be implemented and monitored. Through a targeted influencing...

1 August 2017

Impact Story

A ‘real-time’ and anthropological response to the Ebola crisis

Impact Summary The Ebola epidemic that began in the Guinea-Sierra Leone-Liberia border region in December 2013 spread fast through the villages, cities and trade routes of this highly-peopled, economically unequal region. The initial international response by donor and humanitarian agencies...

1 June 2017

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