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.
Join us for a launch event for Prof Sabina Faiz Rashid’s book Poverty, Gender and Health in the Slums of Bangladesh: Children of Crows, published by Routledge UK.
Author Prof Sabina Faiz Rashid will read excerpts from her book, which is a compelling ethnographic exploration of the daily...
International collaborative research group, the Food Equity Centre (FEC), will share insights into inequities in food systems in Brazil, South Africa, the UK and globally, particularly in the context of South Africa’s 2024 elections, climate change, and the United Nations Sustainable...
Questions about rigour, validity and credibility are central concerns of all evaluation practice. So too should be how we pay attention to meaningful participation to enable greater equity, especially when embracing complexity and seeking to achieve systems change.
Yet many evaluators and...
Sierra Leone received its first shipment of 550,000 malaria vaccines in December 2023, marking a milestone for public health in a country that sees over two million hospital visits for malaria annually. Over the last 20 years, routine childhood vaccination in Sierra Leone has increased...
Several parts of Asia are currently reeling under the effects of extreme heat. Although heatwaves are a common occurrence in this part of the world, the change in frequency, duration and intensity of extreme heat is creating challenges for preparedness and planning for day-to-day survival for...
This report describes findings of an analysis of capacities to deliver social protection in Nigeria. It focuses specifically on generating findings that will be useful to situations of protracted crisis, such as displacement due to conflict or climate shocks.
On 29 May, South Africans will join voters from more than 60 countries at the polls this year. This is a pivotal moment in South African history, with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party facing defeat for the first time, 30 years since the first democratic election in April 1994...
This chapter examines the important role that can be played by national and regional development banks in the green transformation. Our focus is on the European Investment Bank (EIB), but we argue that EIB’s effective mechanisms to fund the initiatives of the European Green Deal can be...
At the International Global Land Grabbing conference held recently in Bogota, Colombia, we held a ‘dialogue session’ with about 50 academics and activists, asking whether land redistribution had a future. I co-facilitated the session with Morgan Ody, the General Coordinator of La Via...
Gendered disinformation is being used across Africa as a tactic to silence critics and exclude women from online civic discourses, new research shows.
A new book ‘Digital Disinformation in Africa: Hashtag Politics, Power and Propaganda’ explores this further. It is written by Nkem...
Major land sales organised by states and businesses continue to cause problems for rural communities and indigenous groups, a landmark conference in Colombia has found.
Over the past 20 years, more than 30 million hectares of agricultural land has been sold off around the world according...
This seminar delves into Brazil's multifaceted engagement with international development, with specific reference to the hunger agenda.
Watch at 1pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV8ejkRgTOE
It will examine Brazil's evolving strategies, partnerships, and its impact on the global stage....
9 May 2024
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).