The IDS International Initiatives are spaces for researchers, governments and civil society from diverse locations to share new perspectives on tackling global challenges. Below is a snapshot of some of the activity that has taken place over the last twelve months.
Brazil
The IDS Brazil Initiative is an ever-growing network of civil society and academic partners. Together the partners are working on a broad range of development issues including social, climate, health and nutritional inequalities whilst also reflecting on Brazil’s place in the world under a second Lula government, and ahead of the country hosting various high level international events.
We participated in a series of workshops on the theme of reimagining development and reinvigorating participatory democratic governance in Brazil. The first was co-convened with Cebrap and delivered in partnership with the Federal University of Pernambuco, ActionAid Brazil and King’s College London, two decades after the kick-off workshop for the influential ‘Olhar Crítico’ project convened by IDS and ActionAid from 2003-5. It took place in the same venue in Pernambuco State and brought together many of the same social movement leaders and academics, alongside new voices from recent Brazilian struggles for democracy and social justice.
Ghana
The Ghana Development Hub is a space where researchers, local and national government, civil society and the private sector join forces to tackle pressing issues of sustainable development in Ghana and West Africa.
Over the past year, early career researchers from five Ghanaian universities met in Tamale in February, and followed up online, to cocreate and plan for a common research agenda on issues including agroforestry, sanitation and pastoralism.
Europe
The IDS European Engagement Initiative engages proactively with European sister organisations and other partners and networks. The Initiative is continuing its collaboration on shared development commitments, increasingly introducing international development learning to the European context and reflecting on the legacies and future of international development research institutes based in former colonial powerhouses.
For example, the German Institute of Development and Sustainability visited IDS and joined colleagues in a two-day exchange on key emerging themes in international development. From the role of China in global development to democratic backsliding and nature-based solutions, the objective was to join forces to understand and address these challenges.
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
The latest Initiative to emerge, the IDS MENA Initiative works with a variety of national and regional partners on challenges such as climate change, protracted displacement, social protection as well as gender and LGBTQ+ backlash.
In the past year, IDS co-convened a series of participatory workshops with a wide variety of Lebanese and regional stakeholders on issues ranging from gender backlash and social protection to the need for just transitions. The aim was to ensure a shared understanding of the needs and the hurdles, identify the knowledge gaps and explore partnerships to address some of these challenges together.
Pakistan
The IDS Pakistan Hub is centred on long-term partnership between universities, think tanks and governmental departments. The Hub focuses on issues ranging from governance, women’s rights and environmental justice, through an engaging programme of research and high-profile events.
In December 2022, IDS was a partner at the Pathways to Development: Equitable and Sustainable Growth in Pakistan conference, hosted by the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), a long-standing collaborator of the IDS Pakistan Hub. This was an opportunity to facilitate interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and collaboration on the theme of equitable growth in Pakistan.