The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) has published its 2021-22 Annual Review, highlighting the Institute’s response to a year marked by conflict, climate change, and Covid-19.
The Review presents our progress over the past year and illustrates how, despite ongoing effects of the pandemic and the challenge of major cuts to UK Government aid funding, IDS has made exciting progress in our vision for a more equitable and sustainable world, where people everywhere can live their lives free from poverty and injustice.
Read the Annual Review 2021-22
Deepak Nayyar, IDS Board Chair, said:
“Our impressive progress despite all the challenges, reflected in an incredibly productive year, is a source of pride. Existing partnerships and new research collaborations have helped us to address some of the world’s most pressing global challenges.”
IDS Director Melissa Leach said:
“This Annual Review shows how IDS is at the forefront of new approaches to research, learning and knowledge exchange which are making a real difference: upholding climate and environmental justice, reducing inequalities, fostering healthy lives and building more inclusive societies. Our work is helping to re-cast development for the new challenges we face.”
Here are five highlights from the past twelve months, but there are many more which you can read about in our 2021-2022 Annual Review.
1. We developed new methods to inform policy for greater accountability
The Governance Diaries methodology, developed by the IDS-led Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA) programme, takes a ‘citizen’s-eye’ view of governance relationships. This methodology built relationships of trust with marginalised households in conflicted-affected parts of Mozambique, Myanmar and Pakistan, documenting experiences of how they expressed grievances and sought accountability.
Use of this innovative approach identified significant mistrust in, and fear of authorities among people living in conflict-affected areas. Awareness of this in public policy and development programming is likely to mean interventions will respond better to the real-life complexities that people in these areas experience when accessing services, negotiating ‘gatekeepers’, and claiming rights.
2. We influenced a rethink of donor policy on microfinance
Microfinance and microenterprise interventions have been a cornerstone of financial development programming for 30 years. These small-scale loans chiefly target women and the poorest people, who are disproportionately affected by socioeconomic inequalities and crises.
Yet, there is scant evidence that microfinance interventions have had a lasting impact on poverty alleviation and wellbeing, as shown by the widest-ever review of evidence on the impact of financial services conducted by IDS and the University of East Anglia (UEA). The findings of the review have fed into a major US Government reappraisal of policy on microfinance and have informed investigations by journalists into the adverse effects of such interventions.
3. We partnered with a major global health funder to make community engagement central to health inequities research
As health systems around the world grapple with providing care within the ‘new normal’ of Covid-19, IDS has collaborated with UK-based National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to make community engagement central to research on health inequities and complex health problems.
IDS has helped to shift the thinking and practice of this key funding body towards more inclusive, decentred and power-aware approaches to knowledge production. NIHR has since made community engagement and involvement (CEI) a strategic priority, has set up a learning clinic for NIHR-funded early career researchers (with the Brighton and Sussex Medical School), and has jointly authored two published journal papers.
4. We strengthened, expanded and extended opportunities for learning
The impacts of Covid-19 on teaching and learning at IDS have been both challenging and radical. Teaching online has helped us to realise new benefits for our students and for IDS and our experiences have made us aware of new innovative possibilities for using technology and methods which can have pedagogical advantages.
Despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic, IDS students reported high levels of satisfaction. Building on our thriving PhD programme, we introduced a new PhD: Development Studies by Published Works. And we have expanded our professional development and learning opportunities for organisations and individuals working at the forefront of social change.
5. Our partnerships for Covid-19 response have exceeded expectations
Rising to the multidimensional challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, IDS partnerships, such as the Covid Collective, have gone above and beyond expectations in pursuing social science research to inform policy and practice.
With 56 projects and 28 partners in 34 countries, the Covid Collective offers rapid social science research to improve decision-making on the most pressing development problems emerging from the pandemic. Coordinated by IDS, the platform draws together the expertise of global partner organisations, and funds and commissions research.
Covid Collective research outputs are shedding light on how pandemic impacts and responses have affected communities from Brazil to the Philippines – and on the inequities that are preventing many people from meeting basic needs, such as adequate health care and vaccines, social protection, decent work and nutritious food.
This is just a snapshot of some of what we achieved through collaboration, knowledge exchange and mutual learning during the past year. To find out more, read our 2021-2022 Annual Review.