We transform the knowledge, action and leadership needed for more equitable and sustainable development globally, through our world-class research, learning and teaching.
Over the last fifty years, we have worked with governments, philanthropic foundations, academic institutions and civil society organisations to transform approaches to progressive social, political and economic change. Here are some of our stories of change:
This past year has seen IDS expand our wide portfolio of long-term research on the private sector through dedicated work for the German development agency GIZ. We provided evidence to assess and shape its programme on enterprise development in East Africa – and in the process, stimulated...
1 September 2020
If the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be meaningful, the knowledge of people in the world’s most marginalised communities must be included and new understandings generated. To that end, we have seen encouraging signs in planning and policy circles in India, following an IDS-led...
30 August 2020
The majority of sanitation workers in Pakistan are from religious minorities, primarily Christian and Hindu. Sanitation work is low-paid and low-status, and street and sewer cleaners work daily to clean hospitals, clinics, streets and sewers without any personal protective equipment (PPE),...
28 August 2020
Integrating social science perspectives into epidemic responses is now an established area of IDS expertise. Our work has helped to shape the Global Task Force on Cholera Control, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) R&D Blueprint process, and UK government and international agencies’...
28 August 2020
Huge numbers of people continue to flee the world’s most intractable conflicts. Many of these refugees are not destined for camps, but are increasingly channeled into urban informal settlements, chiefly in developing countries. With few signs of this abating, IDS has been working to improve...
6 August 2019
Ensuring everyone in the world has access to decent healthcare is the concept behind universal health coverage. This ambition is part of the Global Goals, but has been on international agendas since 1978, when the Alma-Ata Declaration identified primary healthcare as key to attaining health for...
9 July 2019
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the world’s largest infrastructure plan with the potential to accelerate progress towards global sustainability. Whether it can live up to this promise is the subject of intense, often polarised debate. Some point to the BRI’s alignment to the...
9 July 2019
‘Smart cities’ use new technologies to meet their most pressing urban challenges and become more sustainable. IDS researchers have been investigating how inclusive these solutions really are, with a focus on a large-scale smart cities initiative in India. The Indian government’s...
9 July 2019
With more than half of Africa’s workers employed in agriculture, the sector offers a valuable pathway out of poverty for the continent. Agriculture has long been central to IDS’ work, particularly on reducing inequalities, through evidence-based research, policy dialogue, networking and...
4 July 2019
For more than 40 years, IDS has been forging its well-earned reputation for progressive gender research, knowledge sharing and teaching. That work continues apace today with IDS programmes and researchers continuing to deepen understanding of how to strengthen women’s political and economic...
4 July 2019
Amid international responses to conflict, disease or disaster, there is a growing call to pay more heed to local perspectives. Whether this means considering local customs including burial practices during an epidemic such as Ebola or the wellbeing of refugees, the underlying concept is that...
21 June 2019
The STEPS Centre, co-hosted by IDS and the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex, has been awarded another four years of ‘transition funding’ in recognition of the value and impact of its work in helping to shape climate and sustainability policy processes. Read...
1 August 2018
