How do humanitarian practitioners turn real-world frustrations into research questions? To mark World Humanitarian Day, IDS Research Fellow Philip Proudfoot joined students Romy Massaad and Erry Hakiki for a conversation about humanitarian research, dissertation journeys and what it means to learn from research that is happening right now.
As climate shocks become more frequent across East and Southern Africa, building resilience is critical to reducing poverty and improving wellbeing. Listen to this episode on your favourite podcast provider: Acast | Spotify | Apple | YouTube | Soundcloud In this episode of the...
17 August 2026
IDS has become an official member of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, following widespread engagement by IDS researchers to support the aims of the Alliance since its launch at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 2024. Recent crises have stalled progress to end poverty and...
5 August 2026
The International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD), based at IDS, has officially released its major report, Taxing Smarter: Advancing Reform Through Research and Partnership. This comprehensive publication serves as both a reflection on 15 years of rigorous research, a celebration of...
3 August 2026
IDS staff and students have put together an essential reading and listening list for the year so far. From AI and climate change to colonialism and gender, these books and podcasts tackle the ideas shaping our world today. Thought-provoking and insightful, they explore both historical...
30 July 2026
Long-term poverty reduction in East and Southern Africa can only be achieved through integrated packages of support to help people on the lowest incomes cope with climate crises. This is the finding of the new IDS Bulletin on ‘Climate Resilience and Poverty Reduction’, published...
21 July 2026
The publication of the UK government's FCDO annual report 2025-26 reveals the Official Development Assistance (ODA) and non-ODA support per country per year, up to 2028-29. "Lays bare the scale of UK aid cuts" In response, Professor Anuradha Joshi, Director, Institute of Development...
17 July 2026
During a workshop in Sri Lanka earlier this year, members of the Solidarity Network planted trees of solidarity in the hope that these would eventually grow into a forest. The trees were only planted metaphorically, using words rather than soil, but trees proved to be a powerful image of solidarity as something rooted, living, and sustained through our entanglements with one another. In this blog, Natalie Lovell reflects on the power of metaphor and suggest that, rather than a forest, we look towards a jungle of solidarity as a necessary act of political imagination.
Wadhah Hubaishi is a Chevening Scholar and an IDS alum from the MA Development Studies programme (class of 2019-20). Today, he leads humanitarian response operations across the Middle East for World Central Kitchen, coordinating emergency food responses across Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and beyond....
25 August 2026
Imagine growing up in a country where, all of a sudden, you are told that you can no longer continue to go to school, work, participate in sports, or freely access public spaces. Imagine being told that your voice should be kept quiet so that men outside do not hear you because it is considered...
25 August 2026
Today, COP17 of the UNCCD (UN Convention to Combat Desertification) kicks off in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Top of the agenda is how to manage rangelands that support millions of pastoralists worldwide in sustainable ways. 2026 is the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP), and...
24 August 2026
On 7 July 2025, our research project, DISHED, a UKRI-funded initiative to test the piloting of public restaurants in Nottingham and Dundee, was announced. The following day, the Daily Telegraph published a full-length article headlined "WWII-style restaurants to help feed poor families?" By 12...
20 August 2026
Dans la plupart des pays africains, l'apprentissage informel, est largement répandu. Il est considéré de loin, comme la source de formation professionnelle la plus importante en Afrique de l’Ouest. Il est ancré dans les traditions et la culture locale et obéit à un grand nombre de...
17 August 2026
In most African countries, informal learning is widespread. In West Africa, it is widely regarded as by far the most important source of vocational training. It is rooted in local traditions and culture and is governed by a wide range of informal rules, such as customs and cultural values. Ce...
17 August 2026