Person

Ben O’Donovan-Iland

Ben O’Donovan-Iland

Communications and Impact Officer

Email

b.odonovan-iland@ids.ac.uk

Ben is a Communications and Impact Officer in the Knowledge, Impact and Policy Cluster.

Previously, he has worked for Bond, Seva Mandir, 50by40 and as a freelance editorial designer. He has a Masters’ in Media Practice for Development and Social Change from the University of Sussex, and a Bachelors’ in Film and Media from the University of Sunderland.

Ben is working on a portfolio of projects, and previously led communications for the FCDO-funded Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development Programme (K4D). He is currently leading on the strategic communications for: Knowledge for Development and Diplomacy (K4DD), the second iteration of the K4D programme, Solidarity Network, Towards Brown Gold, Countering Backlash and more.

Academic links

LinkedIn
Ben O'Donovan-Iland's LinkedIn

Research

Project

Solidarity Network

As backlash against gender rights grows across the world, so does the resistance against it. Feminist and queer movements, organisations and activists are engaged in intense and difficult processes of developing and implementing strategies to counter this backlash. The Solidarity Network is a...

Project

Reimagining Preparedness under Climate Extremes (RELIABLE)

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, and heat waves. These events, along with limited historical precedent, are creating significant uncertainties for local communities as well as private and public agencies across the...

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Opinions

Opinion

Is the world prepared for a brown gold rush?

Human waste is rich in water, nutrients and organic compounds, most of which nowadays are just going down the drain. The concept of “brown gold” highlights the sheer scale of the economic benefits if we were able to recover all these hidden resources by reusing the treated...

Andrés Hueso González & 2 others

17 September 2024

Opinion

Five ways funding is crucial for organising and defeating gender backlash

Backlash from conservative, patriarchal, religious and political forces is often seen as ‘the cost of doing business’ by feminist or LGBTQ+ activists. Yet how do philanthropic institutions who support gender justice respond to the scaled-up, well-financed and globally coordinated anti-gender...

Lisa VeneKlasen
Ben O’Donovan-Iland
Ben O’Donovan-Iland

12 March 2024

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Publications

Publication

Cards Against Backlash: Forwards to a Feminist Future

This toolkit is produced by the IDS-hosted Countering Backlash programme. The programme carries out engaged research, generate new debates, and build capacity across networks and strategic partnerships with women’s, LGBTQ+ and other human rights organisations, activists, academics and...

Becky Faith
Becky Faith & 3 others

29 November 2024

Brief

Promoting Sustainable Waste Management in Mekelle, Ethiopia

IDS Policy Briefing 216

Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region in Ethiopia, is plagued by water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) challenges. Rapid population growth, unplanned urbanisation, limitations in WASH services, climate change, and the impacts of war and conflicts are affecting the sanitation conditions of the...

Kifle Woldearegay & 2 others

12 September 2024

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Ben O’Donovan-Iland’s recent work

Past Event

Countering Backlash: Towards a feminist future

The very ideas – let alone the possibilities – of gender and social justice are under attack the world over. These attacks are becoming increasingly acute, multi-layered, and globally resonant, seeking to erase language, movements, legal frameworks, and even entire communities. Watch...

10 March 2025

News

Gender progressives must step up against the ‘anti-gender juggernaut’

Philanthropists must step up their funding for gender and women’s rights activists and organisations, against a well-organised anti-gender movement rolling back rights of women and LGBTQ+ people globally, worth $1bn in the USA alone and growing across Europe, warns a new report. The new...

12 March 2024

Past Event

Counting the cost: funding flows, gender backlash and counter backlash

Major political and social shifts are stifling the possibility of gender justice across the world. Analysing this backlash as operating on global, regional and local scales in this webinar, we ask, where is the money? Watch now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G9dc6EzkM8 While predominant...

12 December 2023

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