Will 2023 be a year in which we make progress on development, or continue to falter?
Watch now
2022 was a year of immense development challenges. The world slowly emerged from the pandemic that had gripped countries for more than two years, demonstrating the fragility of our ways of living and exacerbating inequities. Conflict was on the rise, not just in Ukraine but also in locations such as Yemen and Ethiopia. Progress to tackle the climate crisis was limited, at best.
For many governments, short term self-interest has taken priority, leading to a failure of leadership on the global stage. At the same time, rights of communities are being eroded, with freedom of speech being curtailed and indigenous groups under attack. The growing concentration of power held by billionaire entrepreneurs raises serious questions about accountability.
The Sustainable Development Goals and other frameworks have set out visions of what a more equitable and sustainable world needs to look like, but progress towards achieving them is highly uneven, and a very large proportion of the world’s population remains “left behind”, a challenge which the SDGs set from the outset as central to their ambition.
And yet, there are grounds for hope. Growing awareness of the challenges of endless economic growth; progress on loss and damage negotiations in COP27; the defeat of a government in Brazil that placed no value on protection of the Amazon – these are all areas of progress.
Can 2023 be a year in which a more radical reimagining of development takes root?
Join a panel of experts to learn more about some of the dilemmas facing the development community and to find out more about the possibilities for genuine, transformative change across a range of key areas.
How to watch
Chair
Melissa Leach, Director, Institute of Development Studies.
Speakers
- Authoritarianism and democracy: Shandana Mohmand, Research Fellow and Cluster Leader, Governance.
- Fostering healthy lives: Hayley MacGregor, Research Fellow.
- Capitalism and market-based solutions: Anabel Marin, Research Fellow and Cluster Leader, Business, Markets and the State.
- Reducing extreme inequities: Vidya Diwakar, Research Fellow and Deputy Director, Chronic Poverty Advisory Network.
- Climate and environmental justice: Shilpi Srivastava, Research Fellow.
Discussant
Peter Taylor, Director of Research.
Read more about development in 2022.
Covid-19 protocol
The wearing of masks is voluntary, and we encourage those who would like to wear masks to do so. Surgical masks are available in many of the meeting rooms and from the reception counter.
If you are planning to attend an event and would like to request that others wear a mask, you can either contact us in advance at [email protected], or speak to an IDS representative on the day.
We also ask that when requested by colleagues or others in a meeting or event to wear a mask, please treat the request with respect and put a mask on.
If you are feeling unwell or have any Covid-19 symptoms, please do not come into the IDS building.
Key contacts
