Opinion

Nurturing effective science-to-policy pathways for public health

There can be few better illustrations of the need for good science-to-policy pathways than the current pandemic. While many are casting Covid-19 as the warning the world needed to wake up to the threat of animal-to human (zoonotic) disease spillover, researchers had been striking the warning...

Naomi Marks

Sacred spaces, coal and climate change – a view from South Africa

Today, on Earth Day, global leaders are meeting to (hopefully) take decisive and urgent action at US President Biden’s climate change summit. A new short film by Earthlife Africa and the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) explores the important link between...

Kathryn Cheeseman

Heritage beyond monuments: how Syrian artisans adapted to conflict

The theme for last Sunday’s International Day for Monuments and Sites was ‘Complex Pasts: Diverse Futures’, which sought to emphasise the importance of inclusion and diversity within heritage narratives. This is especially important for religious minority communities who may be...

Sofya Shahab

Gender and climate change adaptation responses in Kenya

The links between climate change and gender are widely known. However, little research has been done on how men and women respond differently to climate variability and uncertainties. To help respond to this, my ongoing PhD examines the politics of gender in climate change adaptation in the...

Eunice Wangari

Can the Pfumvudza conservation agriculture programme deliver food security in Zimbabwe?

Ian Scoones

‘We need more solidarity’ – religious gatherings during Covid-19 in Pakistan

In the second of our three part series on the impact of Covid-19 on attitudes towards Hazara Shia minority in Quetta, Pakistan, Marzia Akhlaqi, Sajjad Hussain and Farwa Batool describe how a survey reveals that widespread social media hype (around a ‘Shia virus’) apparently influenced...

Marzia Akhlaqi & 2 others

#Herdingthroughuncertainties – a PASTRES Instagram series

Ian Scoones

Impact of digital technologies on the civic space

Two days before Uganda’s Presidential elections in January 2021, social media networks were blacked out at the government’s order. The action on social media came after the removal of Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s re-election...

Lobbying for Digital Dominance in Africa

The increasing digitisation of the global economy is rapidly transforming industries and societies across the globe, presenting both opportunities and threats. Covid-19 has shined a spotlight on digital development. The stakes are high for African countries where technology, if introduced...

Karishma Banga

Amrita Saha

An evolution of Youth, Social Media and Protest in Angola

Despite severe restrictions implemented by governments in many countries to combat the current Covid-19 pandemic, protest and demonstrations have continued to take place around the world. In Angola, like elsewhere in Africa and beyond, these protests are being led by the youth with many...

Edmilson Ângelo

Red Wednesday: why preserving Yazidi heritage is essential to their survival

With Ramadan starting this week for the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims, another much smaller and more ancient religious group largely based in Iraq is also celebrating an important religious festival. “Red Wednesday” is the Yazidi New Year, and the IDS-led Coalition for Religious Equality and...

Repressive governments play whack-a-mole with Africans’ digital rights

Like so many aspects of life, democratic debate is increasingly moving online. Yet it seems that every time citizens adopt a new digital tool or enter a new digital space to voice opposition, repressive governments respond with a whole arsenal of methods to dampen dissent and deny the right to...

Tony Roberts