Our research on governance, power relations, participation and citizen engagement, informs change processes in pursuit of social justice and social change. With power and politics central to our analysis, we support the generation of new evidence that contributes to improved processes for good governance, citizen engagement, empowerment and accountability.
We pioneer new ways of working with governments, communities, activists and academics, to understand the complex relationships and processes that exist across states, markets, and citizens, and between formal and informal institutions, to tackle issues such as digital inequalities, women’s participation and empowerment, decentralisation and local governance, rapid urbanisation, migration, taxation and domestic resource mobilisation, food security and hunger and nutrition. These draw on our extensive expertise in complex approaches to how change happens. Through our research and policy partnerships we are also bringing new insights on the role that rising powers and emerging economies such as China and Brazil have in relation to global governance and tackling development challenges such as sustainability and poverty. Our world-renown participatory research has a particular emphasis on systematic social exclusion facing women, people living in extreme poverty, people with disabilities, slaves bonded labourers, indigenous peoples and others. We advance cutting edge methodological development in action research, participatory visual methods, participatory mapping, participatory statistics, participatory Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) amongst others.
In alignment with the ‘leave no one behind’ framing of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development, the PMA programme is working with groups of people living in poverty and marginalisation to strengthen processes of citizen-led accountability.
The International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) provides research evidence that supports developing countries in raising domestic revenues equitably and sustainably, in a manner that is conducive to pro-poor economic growth and good governance.
Countries in the Western Balkans have engaged in various transitional justice and reconciliation initiatives to address the legacy of the wars of the 1990s and the deep political and societal divisions that persist.
There is growing consensus among scholars and practitioners that in order to...
An insightful conversation on the importance of climate change, and how we think of and measure human development.
Watch the recording
Speakers
Richard Jolly, IDS Research Associate
Ajay Chhibber, IIEP
Adil Najam, Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University
Frances...
How should people address complex problems like climate change, environmental destruction, poverty and injustice? Solutions that at first might seem ‘simple’ and immediate can quickly unravel and, in the longer term, may even do more harm than good. With there always many different...
The spread of Covid-19 in Pakistan was largely blamed on Shia pilgrims returning from Iran, including Hazara Shias, after Iran announced its first Covid-19 deaths in February 2020. Last year, the IDS-led CREID programme published perspectives from the frontline on experiences of the Hazara...
This paper uses administrative data from Value Added Tax (VAT) returns to provide insights on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Rwanda. We show that the lockdown in Rwanda had a severe impact on the domestic economy, despite relatively low case numbers.
However, the economy quickly...
Multinational corporations (MNCs) avoid taxes by shifting their profits from countries where real activity takes place towards tax havens, depriving governments worldwide of billions of tax revenue. Earlier research investigating the scale and distribution of profit shifting has faced...
In response to recent updates on the extent of the cuts to ODA-funded budgets for international research, which will leave UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) facing a £120m shortfall,
Professor Melissa Leach, Director, Institute of Development Studies, said:
“At a time when recovery from...
Of the two billion people worldwide lacking access to at least basic sanitation, seven out of ten live in rural areas. Progress has been made on increasing rural sanitation and access levels are rising, but barriers remain in reaching the ‘last mile’ or some 10 to 20 per cent of the...
This paper explores policy and legislation aimed at preventing, regulating, and abolishing harmful children’s work in Ghana, and the political debates and controversies surrounding these mechanisms. The paper critically interrogates the successes and challenges of previous and current policies...
This report summarises the findings of a desk review on ‘Rural Sanitation in Challenging Contexts’. The study sought to identify the current approaches, experiences and existing guidance in the sector in reaching those at risk of being ‘left behind’ from rural sanitation...
Oliver Jones
Will Tillett
11 March 2021
Why learn with us.
In an extraordinary time of challenge and change, we use more than 50 years of expertise to transform development approaches that create more equitable and sustainable futures. The work you do with us will help make progressive change towards universal development; to build and connect solidarities for collective action, locally and globally. The University of Sussex has been ranked 1st in the world for Development Studies for the past five years (QS World University Rankings by Subject).