Between the Lines

The sudden collapse of USAID in 2025 sent shockwaves through Uganda’s HIV response and the people hardest hit are those the system was already failing.

When Elon Musk bragged on social media that USAID had been put through the woodchipper,” the consequences for millions of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa were immediate - and potentially irreversible.

That is the warning from researchers and community advocates speaking on the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Between the Lines podcast. With an estimated loss in funding of over US$300 million. While a new US$2.3 billion five-year health cooperation agreement was signed in December 2025, the abrupt reductions have severely impacted health services.

In the new podcast episode released today, Chris Stevenson, International Editor at the Independent, Megan Schmidt-Sane, Research Fellow at IDS, and Kyomya Macklean, Executive Director of the Alliance of Women Advocating for Change (AWAC) in Uganda examine what the Impacts have been on community-based HIV services and vulnerable communities.
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As climate shocks become more frequent across East and Southern Africa, building resilience is critical to reducing poverty and improving wellbeing.

In this episode of the IDS Between the Lines podcast, researchers from the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network discuss new evidence on how households can better cope with climate crises and why integrated support is key to achieving lasting escapes from poverty.

Joining the podcast is: Vidya Diwakar, IDS Senior Research Fellow and the Deputy Director of the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network; Brian Mulenga, Executive Director for the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute; Anderson Gondwe, Research Fellow at the MWAPATA Institute, Malawi and Judith Kahamba, Department of Development and Strategic Studies, Sokoine University of Agriculture.

The findings, published in a special issue of the IDS Bulletin: Climate Resilience and Poverty Reduction highlights a growing recognition that climate change and poverty can no longer be treated as separate challenges.

The researchers - drawing on evidence from Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and other countries - found that climate shocks such as droughts, floods, heatwaves and crop diseases disproportionately affect poor households, often pushing already vulnerable communities deeper into poverty. The Experts argue that while poverty reduction can strengthen resilience by helping households build assets and improve livelihoods, resilience-building measures are equally important in preventing families from falling into poverty when climate shocks occur.
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African countries must work more closely together at regional and continental levels if they are to overcome barriers to innovation and drive sustainable development, experts have warned.

In this episode of the IDS Between the Lines podcast, IDS Senior MEL Specialist Jo Carpenter interviews Emmeline Skinner, Social Development Adviser, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Brando Okolo and Barbara Glover, both from the African Union Development Agency (Nepad).

In the podcast, they highlight how fragmented national systems are slowing innovation across the continent.
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Social protection is seen as a solution to many problems of development, including poverty, food insecurity and access to services. But we also know that social protection has its limitations. So how do we justify getting Governments to invest in social protection programmes rather than investing in infrastructure or job creation or other services like health and education?

In this episode of the IDS Between the Lines podcast, IDS Research Fellows, Kate Pruce, Stephen Devereux and IDS Director of Research Nick Nisbett talk about their new report titled: Social Protection for Food Security and Nutrition: a Business Case published by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and World Food Programme (WFP).

The discussants argue that while social protection - especially cash transfers - clearly reduces hunger and food insecurity, it does not automatically improve nutrition, which is more complex and requires coordinated action across sectors. Therefore, they put forward a business case for investing in food security - and nutrition‑sensitive social protection.



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IDS was recently honoured to welcome the Hon. Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Dr Harini Amarasuriya to mark the 60th anniversary of IDS. She shared her journey from her career as an academic and an activist before entering politics and being elected as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 2024.

In this special episode of the IDS Between the Lines podcast we present the Prime Ministers speech and her discussion with IDS Director Anuradha Joshi.

We will also hear from two respondents, IDS Alum, Dr. Sepali Kottegoda and current master’s student Renushi Ubeyratna who will comment on what the Prime Minister said.

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