Opinion

The Covid-19 recovery: whose evidence will count?

The Covid-19 Pandemic has highlighted the contested nature of research and the politics of knowledge. As we start the journey to recovery, there are important lessons for how we better connect evidence to policy. Coinciding with news of a successful Covid-19 vaccine trial, IDS announced two...

James Georgalakis

Global challenges require multilateral response: insight from the UK China Development Forum

It was with great pleasure that I joined the fifth UK-China Development Forum co-hosted by the FCDO and the Chinese State Council’s Development Research Centre (DRC). The annual event brings together senior government officials and development experts from the UK, China and the wider...

Melissa Leach

Covid-19 and pastoralism: Reflections from three continents

Giulia Simula & 6 others

Covid-19 and reflections for participatory research

Interacting online has not been nearly as bad as many participatory researchers feared. It remains second best to face-to-face practice without question but there have been unexpected benefits and opportunities. As we are all considering how we will build back better post-Covid, for...

Joanna Howard

Tony Roberts

Trump’s Defeat: Celebrate, Recharge and Resist

Chloe Skinner

The uses and abuses of intersectionality: key considerations for policymakers

Intersectionality is the flavour of the month in social sciences and international development, quickly gaining ground in international policy making circles. Noting its popularity in social justice movements aiming to pluralise representation of both voices and issues, I will draw on our study,...

Mariz Tadros

Land and compensation in Zimbabwe: frequently asked questions

Ian Scoones

On World Toilet Day let’s re-imagine ‘shit’ as ‘brown gold’

World Toilet Day, on 19 November, raises awareness of the estimated 4.2 billion people globally living without safe access to sanitation. This year’s focus of World Toilet Day is on sustainable sanitation and climate change. This is an important focus because as outlined in UN Global Goal 6...

Lyla Mehta

Addressing climate risks for sanitation: Building from what we know

Ruhil Iyer

Jeremy Kohlitz

Research roadmaps, collectives and platforms – for the Covid-19 response and beyond

The Covid-19 pandemic is shining a spotlight, bringing into sharp relief a range of fissures, cracks and marginalisations in societies throughout the world. Although often characterised as a health crisis, it is in fact multi-dimensional, as much a social phenomenon as a health crisis. Like many...

Kelly Shephard

Peter Taylor

Covid-19 requires a radical rethink of development and use of evidence

The Covid-19 pandemic has proved capable of bringing countries around the world to their knees, upending every aspect of how we live. When it comes to how we respond and rebuild societies and economies there is a clear need and opportunity for us to re-think development more broadly and address...

Melissa Leach & 2 others

Methodological Mess: Doing Research in Contexts of High Variability

Linda Pappagallo

Greta Semplici