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.
Pakistani Christians, who make up about 2% of the population but around 75-80% of sanitation workers, have been on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus. They worked with minimal and inadequate protection, delivering more than their work required (such as providing food) and were kept...
Our shared future in the wake of a global pandemic: Impact on economic, social and environmental divides
Thursday, May 28th 2020 - Time: 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM (PT) / 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM (GMT)
The coronavirus pandemic affects us all. We fully expect it to have a much wider and deeper impact on...
The Peruvian government led by President Martin Vizcarra has been praised for their response to Covid-19. A strict lockdown under martial law was swiftly enacted in March and will continue till the end of June, making it one of the longest enforced quarantine periods globally. Despite these...
We are very pleased to announce that Dr Wilson Prichard is now the CEO of the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD). He takes over the role from Professor Mick Moore, who was the founding CEO of the Centre, and has led its research and growth since 2010.
The two have...
Pastoralism is a way of life for millions of people around the world, farming livestock in wide geographical areas and moving with their herds. However, it can often been a neglected or marginalised subject. The new IDS Bulletin reflects on fifty years of research on pastoralism at IDS, bringing...
This archive IDS Bulletin reflects on 50 years of research on pastoralism at IDS. Much has changed, but there are also important continuities. The ‘end of pastoralism’ was proclaimed widely in the 1970s, yet, as a successful, resilient livelihood adapted to some of the harshest...
On any given day, 300 million people around the world will be menstruating. This normal and natural biological process is a fact of – and fundamental to – life. Everyone who menstruates, including girls, women and non-binary people, has the right to a supportive environment in which to...
This report explores the state of the discussion among those who advocate for the living wage, the living income, and the child labour-free zones, based on the literature published by those organisations. It also reflects on some of the implications for children’s work in African agriculture.
Staff at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) have expressed their solidarity with the two researchers IDS alum Devangana Kalita (MA Gender and Development) and Natasha Narwal, founding members of the movement Pinjra Tod ('break the cage'), who have been arrested in India following their...
K4D is publishing these weekly Conflict and Governance Evidence Summaries to signpost FCDO and other UK government departments to the latest relevant evidence and discourse on COVID-19 to inform and support their response.
The final K4D Conflict and Governance Evidence Summary, No.30, was...
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).