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Person

Ben O’Donovan-Iland

Ben O’Donovan-Iland

Senior Communications and Impact Officer

Email

b.odonovan-iland@ids.ac.uk

Ben is a Senior 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

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…

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…

Programme & Centres

Programme and centre

Countering Backlash: Reclaiming Gender Justice

Global progress on gender equality is under threat. We are living in an age where major political and social shifts are resulting in new forces that are visibly pushing back to reverse the many gains made for women’s rights and…

Programme and centre

Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development (K4D)

The Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development (K4D) Programme supports the use of learning and evidence to improve the impact of development policy and programmes. It is funded by UK aid and is designed to assist the Foreign, Commonwealth and…

Recent work

Opinion

Brown gold rush – unleashing sanitation’s rich potential

More than half the world’s population live in urban areas. Many growing towns and cities, especially in the Global South, are marked by inadequate sanitation, sewage and drainage facilities. With 3.5 billion people still lacking access to safe sanitation, most national and global sanitation...

Lyla Mehta
Lyla Mehta & 3 others

5 August 2025

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

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

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

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

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

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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