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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Showing 1–12 of 15276 results

Upcoming Event

Food Equity

Power relationships and aquaculture livelihoods in Vietnam

Join us for this seminar that explores different kinds of power relationships that influence people’s access to resources, livelihood options and sustainability outcomes. This seminar looks at a case study of aquaculture production systems in northern Vietnam and the power relationships...

15 July 2025

Upcoming Event

The Lancet Commission on Gender and Global Health: IDS launch event

We are delighted to invite you to attend the IDS launch of The Lancet Commission on Gender and Global Health (LCGGH) report. The rollback in gender rights and challenges to global health organisations around the world threatens to reverse decades of progress on global health. This...

14 May 2025

Upcoming Event

Folk seed banks to build resistance to seed capitalism

Join us for this talk by Indian seed sovereignty scholar and activist Dr. Debal Deb. Neolithic farmers created all the cultivated crop species from their wild progenitors. Generations of pre-industrial farmers since the Neolithic era have subsequently developed a legion of crop landraces,...

7 May 2025

Past Event

Development Studies Week 2025

The Institute of Development Studies (IDS), in partnership with the University of Sussex, has been ranked first in the world for Development Studies in the QS World University Rankings for the ninth consecutive year. Together with the University of Sussex, we provide 29 postgraduate degrees...

1 May 2025

Opinion

What does solidarity mean in practice?

I was coming out of a lecture that I was giving to IDS masters’ students on struggles against anti-gender backlash by women’s groups when I saw the news: 15 Palestinian medical workers brutally killed and buried in a mass grave by Israel. My blood boiled, and I wished that I could do...

30 April 2025

News

Podcast – The empathy fix: Why poverty persists and how to change it

A poverty line of $6.85 a day, as used by the World Bank, indicates a substantial level of deprivation, impacting the lives of billions globally. Indeed, nearly half of the World’s population falls into this category. So, if poverty is something we all want to see less of, why does it prove so...

30 April 2025

Past Event

We power our own change: The future of community-led development

Can principles of Community-led Development define the future of our sector? By introducing their recent publication, We Power our Own Change, authors in this seminar will reflect on the practices, insights, and the potential principles of Community-led Development and what it holds for the...

30 April 2025

Past Event

Food Fight: From plunder and profit to people and planet

Join us for the launch of ‘Food Fight’ – a book by food and nutrition expert Stuart Gillespie that shines a light on the evolution of our global food system from its origins in colonial plunder through the last fifty years of neoliberalism, before concluding with a set of actions to put...

29 April 2025

Opinion

What is ‘success’ in Zimbabwe’s land reform areas?

What constitutes ‘success’ if you have land in the A1 land reform areas in Zimbabwe? This is the question we have been asking of local residents across our study sites in Mazowe, Gutu, Masvingo and Matobo districts. We have held 11 workshops in different sites, involving around 208 people...

28 April 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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