Opinion

Covid vaccine passports – balancing rights vs recovery

The global focus on recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has  shifted attention to vaccines: their availability, roll-out, and take-up. Distribution is complex with this recent IDS article reflecting on the significant inequalities and inequities associated with who actually gets the vaccine,...

Peter Taylor

Remote research and disability inclusion during the pandemic

Covid-19 has brought with it a host of changes for development researchers. In many cases, fieldwork has been replaced with remote research methods, ranging from third party data collection to phone interviews and SMS surveys. Whilst remote methods are improving, there are some clear gaps in the...

Why the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform fellowship matters

There has never been a more important moment to build bridges between social science and humanitarian practice. This principle is the very foundation of SSHAP’s inaugural Fellowship Programme, which will kick off its first round in spring of this year. Our programme aims to link future...

Tabitha Hrynick & 2 others

Visualising the world’s response to Covid-19 through online trackers

More than a year after the first confirmed case of Covid-19, and almost eleven months after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a pandemic, there are few areas of local, regional and global politics, policy and society that have not been impacted by the global health crisis. Peace...

Cocoa Ethics: Questions about Child Labour and Social Sustainability

Over the past twenty years, much work has been dedicated to improving labour standards in cocoa production, with the aim of weeding out child labour. Nevertheless, the latest survey of child labour in cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, comparing data from 2008/09, 2013/14 and 2018/19, shows...

Dorte Thorsen

Roy Maconachie

Medium-scale commercial farming in Zimbabwe: how has it fared since land reform?

Ian Scoones

Covid-19 reveals flaws in development practice: tackling inequality requires transformation

Ahead of World Social Justice Day (20 February), IDS researchers Melissa Leach, Hayley MacGregor, Ian Scoones and Annie Wilkinson review the lessons from Covid-19 for development practices in a new journal article and why political, economic and social transformations are needed to tackle...

The farm bills debate in India: ‘Reforming’ the social contract between the state, science and farmers?

A nation-wide mass mobilisation of farmers and allied rural community is ongoing in India. This mobilisation started with farmers’ protests in Punjab in September against three farm bills introduced in the parliament to institute agricultural reforms. Despite the protests, the bills were...

Poonam Pandey

How much is my farm worth…. from an environmental point of view?

Identifying key youth trends before, during and after the pandemic

Covid-19 has disrupted the lives and education of young people globally. They are seeing their work opportunities diminish. Many young people living in fragile settings are witnessing increased state repression during lockdowns. Research by IDS and partners is helping to identify the key trends...

Marjoke Oosterom

Safeguarding religious sites

The UN General Assembly has voted to adopt a resolution protecting religious sites. Recent conflicts in Iraq and Syria have seen vast swathes of religious heritage (including mosques, churches, shrines and temples) intentionally targeted and destroyed. However, this is not a new phenomenon and...

Sofya Shahab

Strengthening responses to epidemics

The Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP) has played a key role in the global response to epidemics over recent years. A partnership between the Institute of Development Studies, Anthrologica and The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, SSHAP provides vital insights in...