Rural India faces increasing threats from rising temperatures. The increased frequency and severity of heat waves have highlighted the urgent need for implementing heat-resilient strategies. This study aims to discuss extreme heat management through traditional and indigenous knowledge and practices. In six structured focus group discussions in Wardha district of Maharashtra (India), 86 participants expressed their views. Three broad categories emerged from the discussion groups: (a) home, housing and building-infrastructure related, (b) daily practices during work and livelihood activities and (c) home remedies for heat-related symptoms. The study highlights a need to integrate indigenous knowledge and community-based practices within the framework of India’s Heat Action Plans to combat heat-related illness and to develop individual and community resilience.
This article details a case study that examines why feelings of social isolation can hardly be reduced in some interventions and offers suggestions for dealing with both loneliness and social isolation. The results show that feelings of social isolation can easily arise if interventions focus only on social gathering activities, because some people may choose not to participate. Implementing outreach activities can help identify untapped targets; however, older adults’ hobbies and social roles, and their surrounding supporters, should be considered further to ensure more sustainable solutions to loneliness and social isolation. The findings have implications for other countries facing similar ageing-related issues.
This institutional ethnographic study aims to examine the implementation of integrated mental health programmes in Bihar from the standpoint of health workers. It explores the interconnection between institutional processes and their effect on mental health service delivery. Data collection methods included interviews, observations, official documents and programme records. The analysis suggested the gaps in the local service delivery mechanism because of poor communication, inadequate programme guidelines and lack of administrative support to health workers. Health workers used their own understanding and working knowledge to deliver mental health services and support the organisational goal of delivering services, even when they lacked resources and administrative support. This can have a harmful impact on patients. The study concludes that there is an urgent need to study the assumptions of the integrated approach in mental health service delivery. It calls for immediate support to health workers to strengthen mental health service delivery.
This article examines diasporic challenges, domestic abuse and patriarchal ideologies that constitute unique diasporic lives of first-generation migrant married Pakistani women (MPW) in Australia. For this qualitative study, 21 MPW residing in Australia were recruited for semi-structured in-depth interviews. Results from the interpretative phenomenological analysis of data revealed the diasporic encounters MPW face in Australia and the influence of patriarchal ideology on their lives in navigating those encounters. MPW’s responses to patriarchal norms in their married lives fell on a spectrum, which include conformation to the norms of patriarchal familial structures on the one side and resistance and bargaining against these structures on the other. On either side of the spectrum, whether to conform or to resist, women make decisions that they consider to be sensible. Implications of these findings for social policy and social development suggest culturally informed practices, awareness among the community about the prevalence of abuse and multi-perpetration, and the structural challenges that deskill immigrant women’s skills and qualifications.
Despite India’s reservation policy mandating social inclusion in central universities (CUs), systemic barriers persist, limiting access for students and faculty from underprivileged groups, for example, Scheduled Castes and Tribes and Other Backward Classes. This article critically examines the gap between policy and practice, assessing how effectively reservations have been implemented and their impact on higher education spaces (HES). To measure compliance, we develop a Reservation Implementation Index, combining fieldwork data with secondary sources. Case studies of Delhi University and the University of Hyderabad illustrate the stark consequences of non-implementation of this policy. Whereas the findings reveal the high potential of reservation policy in making HES more inclusive and diverse; they also highlight the poor implementation of reservation policies in most CU campuses, especially at the faculty level. The findings are useful in addressing debates and perceptions about reservation and to have a few policy recommendations for successfully implementing the reservation policies for making the HES more inclusive and dynamic.
This article sheds light on the dualistic case of electricity supply in Andung Biru, rural Indonesia, managed by the state and the community. This research uses a case study method and interviews with 30 informants; the findings reveal that this contestation is unavoidable. It features the State Electricity Company (PLN) as a state business entity and the Tirta Pijar Group as a community group. This disparity leads to economic dualism in electricity supply, with the public choosing their preferred provider in line with customer preferences. Based on the innovation of electricity management by the Tirta Pijar Group, the analysis shows how economic dualism in unequal actors creates a resilient strategy for informal economic activities. The findings demonstrate that community-based economic power grows organically and can be resilient against superior state actors. Additionally, this study has implications for rethinking the resource management concept based on the strength of community empowerment.
The soaring demand for sand driven by rapid urbanisation, population growth and increased global investment in infrastructure has intensified sand mining activities worldwide, with current extraction rates exceeding natural replenishment. The Government of India has strengthened legislation by amending existing laws and formulating new guidelines to govern sand mining operations. However, sand mining activities, both legal and illegal, have continued unabated, leading to various consequences across the country. The prevailing laws in India appear to be stringent but have failed in effective implementation at the grassroots level. Therefore, illegal and irregular sand extraction operations have continued to occur at an accelerated pace. The observations indicate that regulatory authorities are merely symbolic and ineffective in controlling and monitoring sand mining operations effectively at the community level. Further, the inefficiency of authorities has facilitated indiscriminate and illicit sand mining operations, resulting in significant social, economic and ecological repercussions. Considering these aspects, the present study advocates the use of social work methods, such as community organisation, social work research and social action, to address the issue effectively. Furthermore, it urges local authorities and policymakers to take action by setting up vigilance committees in every community, so that people themselves can monitor sand mining and protect their surroundings more effectively.
This article compares the existing legislative, policy and practice supports for young people transitioning from out-of-home care (known as care leavers) aged 18–25 years in three jurisdictions: Sweden, Norway and Australia. Attention is drawn to the impact of the different welfare regimes in these countries (i.e., social democratic vs liberal), the inconsistencies across different states and regions, and the eligibility and adequacy of existing support programmes. We also examine the respective factors that have influenced policy and practice reform to date, such as scholarly research evidence both domestic and global unveiling gaps in existing structures, advocacy by non-governmental organisations and youth with lived experience shaping improvements in programmes, and media coverage highlighting systemic failures and successes. The juxtaposition of these factors across the three nations provides insights into the disparate yet converging paths in supporting care leavers. Concluding with targeted recommendations, this study underscores the importance of cross-national learning, advocating for adaptive policies that are informed by global best practices while being locally relevant. The article calls for a heightened focus on collaborative efforts to optimise support for young care leavers, ensuring a smoother transition into adulthood.
This study aims to determine the extent to which water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) coverage is established in rural schools, and the barriers to accessing WASH services in the Dehiovita educational zone of the Kegalle District in Sri Lanka. Random sampling was used to collect data from 500 students in grades 7–13 from 15 schools using a semi-structured questionnaire. The analysis shows that 43% of children use unsafe plastic bottles, 62% reported broken taps as a major barrier to safe access to water, and 54% reported receiving inadequately treated water. The majority of respondents (88%) mentioned that they do not use soap after using the toilet. In terms of menstrual hygiene management, 26% of female students do not use the sanitation facilities due to issues such as poor quality or safety concerns in the sanitary services provided, and this may prevent the achievement of gender justice in WASH coverage. These findings highlight the urgent need to raise awareness in schools about safe water consumption, sanitation, hygiene practices and spread of water-borne diseases.
The concept of ‘climate-sensitive’ social protection programmes has gained traction in recent years. This article provides insights for community and social development practitioners, scholars and development agencies in the redesign of social protection programmes to meet the challenges posed by climate change. Through semi-structured interviews with community members in Shuna al-Shamaliya and Azraq Town, coupled with an overview of social protection and vulnerability in Jordan, this article discusses the nature of existing programmes and makes recommendations for how the social protection ecosystem could be adjusted in the context of the climate crisis. Crucially, it recommends balancing the ongoing development of shock-responsive programmes with adaptive programmes designed to reduce long-term vulnerability to climatic shocks.
This article examines how music operates as both a mirror of societal values and a catalyst for political transformation. The analysis centres on the intentional and accidental ways musicians engage with activism, while the poker metaphor is retained as a secondary lens for understanding strategy and risk. Drawing on artists such as Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé—as well as contemporary movements across the USA and globally—the article explores how songs reflect, resist and reshape dominant narratives. It investigates the tension between artistic intent and public reception, and highlights the role of music in current human rights protests around immigration, LGBTQ+ rights and rising authoritarianism. This interdisciplinary study underscores music’s enduring political power and invites renewed attention to the ways artists, communities and listeners co-create meaning in times of cultural upheaval.
The Second World Summit for Social Development (SWSSD) will be held in Doha, Qatar, 4–6 November 2025, to spark further action for social development by reinforcing humanity’s faith in global solidarity, so that, without leaving anyone behind, everyone bounces forward. By referring to the two draft declarations developed for the SWSSD, this editorial of the special issue succinctly discusses the social, economic and political circumstances that have compelled the call for the SWSSD to reaffirm the commitments of the first Summit for Social Development held in 1995 and to accelerate progress relating to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It then introduces articles relating to social development, poverty eradication, social protection, employment and decent work, social integration, climate crisis, digital divide, financing for social development and the SDGs. These articles broadly identify the gaps and suggest strategies/policies to address them. In addition, it introduces policy briefs developed by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development and the World Bank, and reviews of the two UN reports.
Recent global data reveal a significant milestone in social protection coverage, with over half the world’s population now having some form of social protection. However, this progress is unevenly distributed, with high-income countries approaching universal coverage, while low-income countries lag far behind, at just 9.7% coverage. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of comprehensive social protection systems, particularly in healthcare and income security. Despite global commitments to universal social security, nearly half of the world’s population remains vulnerable to economic shocks and climate-related hazards. This article presents four key arguments for universal social security: its status as a fundamental human right, the ineffectiveness of poverty-targeted programmes, the affordability and feasibility of universal systems and their potential to strengthen the social contract and reduce inequalities. Universal social security is not only a moral imperative but also a practical and achievable goal that can foster more resilient, equitable and sustainable societies.
