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Protecting Women's Family Rights in a Minority Community: Hindu Family Law Reform in Bangladesh
No full textFamily laws in Bangladesh are shaped by religious laws and traditions which have traditionally shown discrimination towards women irrespective of their religious identities. There has been an emphasis on reforming Muslim family laws to abolish discrimination and to ensure equality in conformity with international human rights standards. In recent times, however, civil society actors have attempted a range of reform initiatives on Hindu family laws, particularly in relation to marriage registration and inheritance. They have achieved partial success but have faced resistance from the Bangladeshi state as well as from conservative Hindu religious leaders.This paper explores how backlash manifests in law reforms relating to minority communities. The authors examine the nature of backlash from the state, the Hindu community, and Hindu religious leaders, as well as the strategies taken by pro-reform actors to counter this backlash, and the effectiveness of these strategies.</p
Introduction: Democracy Contested – Unpacking Political Action
No full textThis article draws on original contributions by scholars of democracy from around the world – from the global North and the global South – to unpack contemporary dynamics and processes of autocratisation, resistance, and democratisation, and to centre the political action of citizens as voters and as mobilisers within these. The articles in this issue of the IDS Bulletin cover a diverse range of countries, from some of the most dramatic regressors of recent years, to places that have seen major increases in support for far-right leaders and parties, and regions where citizens are actively pushing back against decades of autocratising rule. This article looks across these to ask whether recent autocratisation patterns are explained in part by the shifting political calculus of voters around the world, and what patterns of resistance are emerging in contemporary political contestation that are pushing back against the backslide.</p
Climate, Peace and Security: Cascading Risks and Conflict Prevention Tools
No full textThis rapid evidence review is the second of two literature reviews scoping issues of state fragility, climate change, peacebuilding and security. The review draws on a mix of academic and grey literature. Where the first review (Rapid Evidence Review 229) explored definitions of fragility, climate security discourses, and introduced institutional approaches to peacebuilding, this review provides an introduction to the literature on cascading climate risks, reviews sample case studies exploring links between local climate change and international geopolitics, and introduces some examples of climate and conflict prevention approaches and tools.</p
Public Support for Wealth and Progressive Taxes in Pakistan
No full textWealth taxes have become increasingly central in global debates about equitable taxation, particularly in the context of growing fiscal pressures, decreasing aid, and rising inequality. However, there is surprisingly little data on the nature and determinants of public support for these taxes in lower income countries, despite the importance of popular support to overcoming elite resistance. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of 7,500 individuals, this brief explores public support for wealth taxation and the factors that shape those attitudes in Pakistan. Three key findings emerge. First, support for wealth taxation is higher than may be commonly assumed, though highly dependent on the type of tax, with especially strong support for proposals to make income taxes more progressive. Second, support is not driven by self-interest: higher income individuals are in fact more supportive of wealth taxes. Instead, it is shaped by trust in the state and perceptions of its legitimacy. Third, wealth tax proposals that are clearly progressive, transparent, and include mechanisms for citizen input and earmarking enjoy significantly greater popular support. These findings offer practical insights into how tax policy can be designed and communicated to build political space for progressive tax reforms in Pakistan and other lower income contexts.</p
IDS Nature Initiative Research, Development and Demonstration Project: Final Report and Slide Deck
No full textThe Nature Initiative Research, Development & Demonstration Project, based at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), carried out a series of rapid response research activities to inform the UK government’s efforts to refine research priorities for existing and future international nature-focused research programmes, with a particular focus on ODA contexts in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia and North Africa, and small island developing states (SIDS). This research was commissioned by the UK cross-government (x-HMG) Environment and Nature Research Working Group representing interests of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and UKRI (UK Research and Innovation). Research councils that were closely involved include the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The research was funded by the ESRC.</p
Preparação para a informação e envolvimento da comunidade na resposta às alterações climáticas na região da África Oriental e Austral. Parte 2: Módulos de perguntas qualitativas para recolha de dados a nível comunitário em locais afetados pela seca
No full textEste recurso reúne perguntas qualitativas relacionadas com fatores sócio comportamentais e resposta à seca. Tem como objetivo facilitar a recolha de dados de qualidade sobre a capacidade, os comportamentos, as práticas e as perceções de uma comunidade em relação à resposta e gestão da seca. Este recurso pode ser utilizado por equipas no terreno e/ou equipas de investigação locais que trabalhem em comunidades que estejam atualmente a passar por uma situação de seca ou que se preveja que venham a passar por uma situação de seca num futuro próximo.</p
The International Tax Regime Complex: Understanding Change in Global Tax Governance
No full textFollowing a landmark vote in the UN General Assembly in December 2023, negotiations are under way to establish a UN Framework Convention on tax. While the UN already plays a role in international tax cooperation, this convention’s scope extends beyond its existing mandate and into policy areas where the OECD has historically held sway. This introduces potential risks, including duplication of effort and competition between institutions, and incoherence in international tax policy. However, it is not certain that these risks will materialise. The ultimate outcome will depend on interactions between states and institutions, and between institutions themselves. We use insights from international relations scholarship to explore the main drivers, enablers and constraints on changes to the status quo.</p
Most Favoured Nation Clauses in Double Taxation Agreements: Identifying Problems and Recommending Policy Solutions for the Global South
No full textDouble Tax Agreements (DTAs) between treaty parties usually ensure the appropriate division of taxing rights and benefits between treaty partners. However, when a DTA is between a capital-exporting nation and a capital-importing country, the negotiations and DTA may be marred by unequal bargaining powers between the countries. Thus, capital-exporting nations often influence the fundamental design of these treaties to favour the entities in their economies that are responsible for the capital outflow.This paper aims to understand the potential detrimental impact of one clause – the most favoured nation (MFN) clause in DTAs – on revenue collection and tax certainty for host/capital-importing nations. The study takes into consideration the recent tax litigation and controversies surrounding MFN clauses in India, South Africa, the Philippines, and Colombia, to assess the impact of negotiated MFN provisions on the Global South. Interestingly, neither the OECD nor the UN Model Tax Convention has a standard MFN provision. Therefore, we explore whether a template for MFN clauses can be framed to help Global South countries to protect their interests against capital-exporting nations.Summary of Working Paper 222.</p
Key considerations: Mpox in the Busia-Malaba border region linking Uganda and Kenya
No full textMpox has spread along the Busia-Malaba border that links eastern Uganda and western Kenya, with risk factors centred on cross-border mobility. Community responses to mpox are shaped by access to information on radio, television and social media as well as local terminologies, understandings of disease aetiology, spiritual and religious beliefs, household structures and cross-border mobility patterns. Despite vaccine allocations from the World Health Organization (WHO), the response has been hindered by resource constraints, mistrust and cross-border challenges. This brief summarises findings on how mpox is perceived and managed in the Busia-Malaba border region. It draws on a rapid review of qualitative data, local media, non-governmental organisation (NGO) and academic reports, and cultural histories based on long-term research in the region.</p
Health Equity and Rights: Research Case Study - Equity, Health and Wellbeing of People Living and Working in Informal Urban Settlements
No full textHealth is broader than disease and health equity begins outside the health sector. It is critical to understand that health is influenced by social factors such as environment, jobs, education, housing, food, water and sanitation. People with different social positions will have varying access to these resources, creating differences in exposure and vulnerability to health-compromising conditions. To address the root causes of health inequities we need to support interdisciplinary approaches which focus on social determinants of health, alongside attention to health services and interventions.p>This K4DD Case Study highlights learnings from research conducted across Kenya, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and India as part of the ARISE consortium, which sought to enhance equity and accountability to improve the health and wellbeing of poor, marginalised people living in informal urban settlements. It focuses on research conducted in slums in Nairobi, Kenya to illustrate the strength in community-led approaches for supporting health equity.Food Equity Centre.</p