Publications

The disconnects between trade policy and the rhetoric of inclusive trade

International trade has long been promoted as a pathway to development, yet its inclusiveness remains contested. Despite growing recognition of the desirability of linking trade with broader development goals—such as poverty reduction, gender equality, human rights, and disability...

Amrita Saha & 3 others

Shifting the Gaze: Rethinking the Study of Urban Food Market Systems in the Global South

This paper proposes conceptually rethinking the study of urban food market systems in the Global South, offering an approach that better fits the characteristics of these cities. Urban low-income households in the Global South gain access to food, assemble food plates and make substitutions via...

Jodie Thorpe & 4 others

Global Rules, Local Realities: Lessons from the Global South on International Tax Standards

ICTD Working Paper 241

ICTD undertook a project, 'Comparative Perspectives on International Tax from the Global South', to investigate the effectiveness in practice of efforts to apply international tax standards in lower-income countries. Researchers from seven countries studied the status of tax systems in the areas...

Martin Hearson & 2 others

Poverty in Polycrisis

We are living in a period of global volatility in which intersecting crises are combining with devastating impacts for people already living in and near poverty. This book carefully examines the dynamics of these crises and challenges us to find new ways forward for policies and programming that...

Vidya Diwakar

The GRO+ Framework: Assessing Commitments to Gender Equality in Trade Policy

IDS Policy Briefing 226

Strengthening women’s participation in international trade is widely recognised as essential for inclusive economic growth and progress towards gender equality. In recent years, gender considerations have increasingly appeared in trade agreements, national trade strategies, and...

Amrita Saha

Amrita Bahri

Political Capabilities and Systemic Drivers of Innovation

IDS Policy Briefing 224

The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated that rapid vaccine development is possible – but scientific discovery alone does not guarantee delivery. Unprecedented R&D investment and public–private collaboration spurred vaccine development, yet many candidate vaccines never reached the market. Our...

Amrita Saha & 6 others

Accountability Displacement in South Africa’s Digital Welfare System

IDS Policy Briefing 227

The digitalisation of social grants in South Africa has inverted the accountability relationship between citizens and the state. People now answer to opaque digital systems they cannot see into or challenge, while the state evades scrutiny. This is accountability displacement – a structural...

Caroline Khene & 3 others

Urban Community-led Total Sanitation: Opportunities, Barriers and Lessons from Nanded, India

This article focuses on the sanitation challenges of rapidly urbanizing localities in the global South by drawing on the case of Nanded city in Maharashtra, India. Nanded had a short-lived experiment with urban Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) between 2011 and 2012 and is today officially...

Lyla Mehta & 6 others

Emotionally responsive social assistance: towards ‘just’ processes for the poorest and most marginalised people in crises contexts

Marginalised people are disproportionally impacted by protracted crises, which increases their poverty deprivation, and the risks they face, by exacerbating pre-existing inequalities. This has destabilising emotional effects, leading to individual and collective trauma, on top of which are added...

Clean Energy Transitions: A Care Economy Lens

The global transition to clean energy is reshaping not only how communities produce and consume power, but also how households organise care work and manage daily subsistence tasks. Clean energy interventions have the potential to significantly reduce the time and physical burden associated with...

Jessica Meeker & 12 others

Comprendre les obstacles à l’accès équitable aux marchés pour les petits exploitants agricoles au Burundi, au Libéria et au Niger

Programme de recherche sur les systèmes alimentaires pour la sécurité alimentaire (2025) Comprendre les obstacles à l’accès équitable aux marchés pour les petits exploitants agricoles au Burundi, au Libéria et au Niger. Synthèse du rapport de recherche initial du projet FS4FS....

Responsible Business in Practice: Sectoral Pathways and Capabilities

IDS Policy Briefing 225

With vast resources and influence, the private sector is seen as a key partner in addressing urgent global challenges from climate change to poverty and inequality. Yet their activities may be linked to human rights abuses, environmental harm, and at times political instability. This tension has...

Anabel Marín

Evert-Jan Quak