Through multidisciplinary research and policy engagement we bring new understanding and action on critical issues around health and health systems, and how they overlap with other systems such as food, as well as nutrition, sanitation, epidemics and zoonotic diseases. Enhancing understanding of how to ensure healthy lives for all is a vital part of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Agenda 2030) and has been an integral focus of IDS’ work since its inception.
Our research and analysis on innovations in health services and systems – including work on identifying effective strategies to address the challenges of antimicrobial resistance – is accelerating progress towards achieving universal health coverage in Asia and Africa. Our work on nutrition spans the spectrum from dietary transition and globalisation of food systems, through to responding to the ways that marginalisation and inequity drive high child malnutrition rates. We bring vital social knowledge to aid effective preparedness and response on pandemics. We show how direct impacts on the spread of diseases such as Ebola can be achieved by bringing learning from research on social issues and contexts to the right people in the right organisations at the right time. Together with our global partners, we are generating and sharing new knowledge and evidence to identify the underlying causes of poor health and social inequalities, and the progressive policies and practices that can help bring about transformative change.
In early July, six hundred delegates from over 100 countries attended the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion Belief, hosted for the first time this year by the UK. The IDS-led Coalition for Religious Equality and Inclusive Development (CREID) convened over twenty of its...
Over the last four weeks, the blog has explored the changing face of urban agriculture across our sites in Chikombedzi, Triangle/Hippo Valley, Maphisa, Masvingo, Chatsworth and Mvurwi. We have explored the growth of urban agriculture and its different forms (backyard, open space and titled) and...
The CLARISSA Bangladesh team successfully collected and analysed 405 life stories from children in the worst forms of child labour (WFCL). Our key learning from undertaking this first part of a systemic Action Research process in the context of WFCL is as below:
Trust and rapport...
The brutal war that broke out in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, has just entered its twentieth month. It has reportedly killed over 500,000 people and led to the systematic destruction and looting of the region’s vital social and economic infrastructures. The conflict has all but destroyed the...
New research from partners within the Food Equity Centre reveals the surprisingly positive effect Covid-19 had on the UK food aid sector – a development now proving critical as many more face food insecurity in today’s cost-of-living crisis.
When we set out researching food insecurity...
Humanitarian crises have come thick and fast in recent times – notably Ukraine, Afghanistan and situations worsened by Covid-19. While each creates urgent humanitarian needs, each also carries the risk of becoming protracted or recurrent like so many other existing global crises.
The reflex...
The IDS Summer graduation took place in Brighton on the 15 July and included 617 graduates from 42 different countries – and due to the disruptions of Covid-19 this included cohorts from 2020 and 2021 – making it our biggest graduation ceremony ever.
Graduating can be one of life’s most...
The Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated the food insecurity situation of people living in Latin American cities. In Peru, the most vulnerable are facing great difficulties in accessing food, while food market vendors are also struggling to keep their businesses afloat.
Covid-19 Responses for...
An independent evaluation of the UN’s unprecedented humanitarian response in Yemen from 2015 to 2021 says the operation has saved lives, improved food security and reduced malnutrition, but overall it is critical of aid that was of “unacceptably poor quality”.
Since war broke out in Yemen...
Civil society can be broadly defined as the area outside the family, market and state. As such, civil society encompasses a spectrum of actors with a wide range of purposes, constituencies, structures, degrees of organisation, functions, size, resource levels, cultural contexts, ideologies,...
Join the Rejuvenate project for a dialogue on gender and child/youth rights, where we will be asking:
How does gender intersect with child/youth rights and participation?
What kind of gender equality work is being done by/with children and young people?
What are the challenges and...
The fifth Rejuvenate dialogue was held on 19th July 2022. Five panellists working across contexts and themes joined the Rejuvenate team on a discussion on gender in child and youth rights.
We asked speakers and participants to consider the following four questions:
How does gender...
Rejuvenate
19 July 2022
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).