IDRC believes that research and innovation hold the keys to progress in developing countries. Our programs respond to evolving priorities in a fast-changing world by fostering science and innovation, strengthening health systems, boosting agricultural production and food security, and promoting equitable growth.
Working with some of the brightest minds in Canada and the developing world, we focus on achieving results.
Here you will find results of recent projects and activities.
To view results of earlier research, visit our Digital Library.
And you can read about recent and current research in articles on the Publications page.
|
|
All Results
Program
Region
While sub-Saharan Africa struggles to improve the health of its women and children, there are great differences within and among countries. The EQUINET research network promotes and monitors progress toward health equity in East and Southern Africa...
The voices and experience of developing country researchers are too often missing when international donors and decision-makers gather to address global health issues. Strengthening capacity and creating space for Southern expertise is one of IDRC’s...
Despite recent progress, as a region, sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of maternal, infant, and child mortality in the world. From 2009 to 2012, researchers led by Niger’s Laboratoire d'études et de recherches sur les dynamiques sociales et...
In India’s Karnataka state, girls and women face many barriers stemming from their low social status that are exacerbated by poverty and caste. Researchers with the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore are exploring how power dynamics within...
Despite its middle-income status, Guatemala has some of the worst health outcomes in Latin America with more than half of its population living in poverty. Indigenous populations in rural areas, who suffered the most during 36 years of civil war...
In building a culture of evidence-based planning, NEHSI has integrated information and communication technologies (ICTs) to help improve service delivery, build local capacity for primary health care, and address the challenges of rural isolation...
In 2010, some 40,000 Nigerian women died in childbirth — 14% of the world’s total maternal deaths. In many rural areas, women and girls marry young and put in long hours of grueling domestic labour — grinding meal, fetching firewood and water...
Asian researchers have developed new environmental and community approaches to reduce the number of mosquitoes carrying dengue, the fastest-growing mosquito-borne viral disease. Dengue is a significant economic and social burden in many countries...
In the field of migration, diverse realities and disciplinary entry points have meant that the knowledge gained is fragmented. Policy research that focuses on migration and women’s rights has brought gender inequalities to the fore, but the research...
Climate change poses a serious threat to poor communities in Africa that are already vulnerable to vector-borne diseases.The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its report of the consultation, “Adaptation to Social, Environmental and...
|
|
 |
IDRC-supported research into health hazards on smallholder dairy farms in a poor urban area in Kenya found that eating vegetables contaminated with animal manure or human waste was more dangerous than handling cattle or drinking milk. |
 |
From 2006-2012, 212 organizations participated in research supported by the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) program. Despite the lack of African institutions working on climate change issues prior to the CCAA program, some 89% of these organizations are based in Africa, and now represent one of CCAA's key results: a strong base of African expertise to conduct and communicate research on adaptation to climate change. |
 |
The Instituto Geofísico del Perú (Peruvian Geophysics Institute), in the Ministry of Environment, has assessed the vulnerability of rural and urban settlements in the valley. Through several multidisciplinary studies, the Institute identified the level of risk that extreme weather events pose to the valley's population and public infrastructure. |
 |
Public-private partnerships in agriculture are rapidly gaining in importance. To understand this emerging trend, IDRC has been working with the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) to investigate how these partnerships work, and how effective they can be in achieving development goals. IDRC and the SFSA co-hosted a conference, “Implementing Public-Private Partnerships in Agriculture,” that brought together invited representatives from the private and public sectors and civil society. |
 |
Wastewater treatment is a serious issue in Mexico City due to its large population, heavy water use, and inadequate wastewater infrastructure. Researchers supported by IDRC have published a paper where they compare the social and environmental impacts of the technology used in wastewater treatment plants in Mexico City. |
 |
Trabajadoras por la ciudad. Aporte de las mujeres a la gestión ambiental de los residuos sólidos en América Latina (Women workers for the city. Women contribution to solid waste management in Latina America) presents the scope of the research and describes the reality of recyclable waste management in Lima (Peru), Montevideo (Uruguay), Sao Paulo (Brazil), and Cochabamba (Bolivia). |
 |
A new study comparing the garment-export industries in Honduras and Nicaragua challenges the conventional wisdom that competing on the basis of cheap labour is the only option for poor garment-producing countries. |
 |
In Uganda, statistics show that 20% of the country’s population has some form of physical disability. Despite these numbers, little research has been conducted to provide a window into the lives of people with disabilities. Without formal research and concrete data, a knowledge gap exists that hinders disabled peoples’ organizations in Uganda from effectively advocating on behalf of and providing the appropriate services and supports. |
 |
Violence against women and female homicides or femicide, is escalating across Central America. And despite the efforts of women’s organizations, human rights groups, regional governments, and civil society to stem these crimes, incidents of violence against women remain vastly underreported. Under many legal systems in the region, official records often do not distinguish such crimes as gender-based violence or femicide. |
 |
For peacebuilding processes to be sustainable, post-war security transitions must be carefully planned and participatory. These transitions often involve a reconfiguration of the entire security architecture, and include reintegrating former combatants and restructuring the military and police. |
|
|