Inequalities and Poverty

IDS works with global partners to generate new knowledge and evidence to identify the underlying causes of inequalities and poverty in all their dimensions and the progressive policies and practices that can help bring about transformative change.

Eradicating extreme poverty remains one of the world’s most pressing challenges, and addressing it requires the rising economic, social and political inequalities that harm people in rich and poor countries alike to be tackled.

IDS has also played a prominent part in promoting an approach that puts power at the heart of development analysis and contributed to strengthening understanding of the relationship between power, gender, sexual rights and poverty.

We continue to provide new analysis on inequalities and poverty trends, particularly in relation to the expansion of digital technologies and their impact on the lives of the poorest and most marginalised, and the growth of global cities and what this means for both urban and rural livelihoods, social relations and sustainability. Moreover, we work with governments, civil society, businesses and many others to help ensure this analysis shapes policies and programmes such as social protection and cash transfers to reduce poverty and vulnerability and strengthen livelihoods including agriculture.

People

Deepta Chopra

Professorial Research Fellow

Keetie Roelen

IDS Honorary Associate

Jerker Edström

Research Fellow

Melissa Leach

Emeritus Fellow

John Gaventa

Research Fellow and Director, Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA) programme

Danny Burns

Professorial Research Fellow

Sohela Nazneen

Research Fellow

Patricia Justino

Professorial Fellow

Programmes and centres

Projects

Recent work

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News

Timely, relevant and actionable sanitation programming essential for SDG 6

With just 10 years to achieve the 2030 target of safely managed sanitation for all, we need to learn rapidly to make real progress. Over the past few years, the Sanitation Learning Hub, in collaboration with, the Government of India, Praxis, WSSCC and WaterAid India, have been developing...

21 September 2020

Report

Rapid Action Learning for Sanitation and Hygiene Programming

Frontiers of Sanitation: Innovations and Insights 15

This issue of Frontiers of Sanitation describes four Rapid Action Learning approaches that have been developed and tested in India by IDS and partners to support the Swachh Bharat Mission – Gramin, and encourages others to use them, to innovate other approaches, and to share their...

Jamie Myers
Jamie Myers & 2 others

21 September 2020

Journal Article

Women Politicians Navigating the ‘Hostile Environment’ in Pakistan

Women in Pakistan operate within highly patriarchal contexts that promote their exclusion from public spaces; but those working in politics, the most public of spaces, defy these prevailing gender norms. This article examines women’s experience of sexual harassment in the political...

21 September 2020

Publication

Accountability with Teeth

Universities worldwide have had policies to combat sexual harassment since the 1980s. Nonetheless, having policies in place does not mean that universities are held accountable for the safety of their students, nor does it guarantee that perpetrators are held accountable for their deeds. While...

21 September 2020

Opinion

Understanding socio-ecological complexity in pastoral Kenya

Ryan Unks

18 September 2020

Publication

Improving Early Childhood Education in Rural Bangladesh

ESRC-DFID Research Impact

Only 40 per cent of children in Bangladesh are enrolled in pre-primary education, with this figure estimated to be much lower in rural areas. Research led by Monash University, Australia, and supported by local partner the Global Development and Research Initiative (GDRI) Foundation, has...

Elizabeth Tofaris
Asadul Islam

18 September 2020

Publication

Outsourcing Primary Education In Liberia Leads To Mixed Results

ESRC-DFID Research Impact

The long-lasting effects of a 14-year civil war, compounded by school closures caused by the 2014 Ebola outbreak, have had a huge impact on Liberia’s education system. In early 2016, the Liberian Ministry of Education announced that it would contract the operation of some government...

Elizabeth Tofaris
Mauricio Romero

18 September 2020

Opinion

“We just want our daughter back”: Saneha’s parents speak out

Saneha Kinza Iqbal is a 16-year-old Christian girl who was abducted last month by a Muslim man nearly twice her age in Pakistan. Below is an exclusive interview with her parents, undertaken by the IDS-led CREID programme. This blog is part of CREID's overall work to shine an international...

18 September 2020

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).