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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

Upcoming Event

Sustainable agricultural innovation: focus on Ghana

Notions of resource conservation historically gained little attention in Ghanaian agriculture, with the prominent paradigm promoting growth at all costs. This webinar considers how far approaches prioritising productivity and sustainability may overlap in the sector, and the potential role of...

3 September 2025

Upcoming Event

Reframing the accountability of social assistance in Crises

Drawing on a recent global review from BASIC Research, this webinar will bring together a panel of local and global perspectives to discuss current trends in the accountability of social assistance in crises and explore what the evidence and experience view as promising practices going...

3 September 2025

Opinion

Accountability remains a missing link for UNFSS legitimacy

The UN Food Systems Summit stocktake four years on from the original (UNFSS+4) was a sombre affair at times, reflecting on what the sudden and unexpected loss of the great convenor David Nabarro would mean for this global food and nutrition movement. Fifteen years ago, another titan of...

21 August 2025

Brief

Climate Change, Conflict, Food Security and Social Protection in Niger

BASIC Research Research Briefing 5

This Research Briefing introduces the concept of opportunity storylines to explore the impacts of plausible climate futures and identify which social protection systems could be used to reduce hunger and protect livelihoods.

20 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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