News and Blog

The construction industry in Wales delivers more than just buildings and infrastructure; it also provides training and employment opportunities for people facing barriers to achieving their full potential. I am Jemma, a researcher based at WISERD at Cardiff University, and my research examines how the construction industry in Wales creates social value. In 2023, Wales…

When voters in Caerphilly in south Wales go to the polls later this month, it will be about far more than one seat in the Senedd, Wales’s devolved parliament. Caerphilly, a postindustrial town just north of Cardiff, has long been considered safe Labour territory. But in recent years, economic upheaval and social change have made…

Over recent years, successive parliamentary committees have recommended expansion of the devolved benefits system in Wales. In 2024, the Welsh Government confirmed that its goal was: ‘A person-centred, compassionate, and consistent approach to the design and delivery of Welsh benefits, underpinned by the Welsh Benefits Charter principles’ – including compassion, equality and human rights. There…

The narrative around science education in the UK and globally is often framed around a “leaky pipeline”. While every pupil is required to study science until age 16, many step away from it beyond this point. Reasons for disengagement are multifactored: gender differences, socioeconomic barriers, subject popularity (maths and biology dominate over physics), and now,…

Refugees and asylum seekers in the UK In March this year, over 100,000 people were seeking asylum in the UK. 30% of these people were living in hotels, and all were banned from working and received £7 a day to cover basic needs. The UK has seen over 3,000 applications from unaccompanied children over the…

Our new research examines the contemporary human rights situation of indigenous peoples (IP) in Nepal. By way of context, Nepal has around 26.5 million IP, comprising at least 35 per cent of the total population. Alternatively known as Adivasi, some organisations claim the actual proportion would be closer to 50 per cent if some presently…

The care home sector is experiencing pressures arising from the fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of Brexit on staff shortages, especially impacting on the registered nursing workforce. This is compounded by longer-term financial pressures and on-going staff recruitment concerns, particularly following the latest proposed changes to immigration policy.  The introduction of a…

My new research explores civil society and state perspectives on the human rights status of persons with albinism (PWA), a rare genetic condition characterised by reduced or absent pigmentation (melanin) of the hair, skin, and eyes. Albinism has a worldwide incidence of one in 20,000 births. However, rates as high as one in 1,000 births…

Our new research examines the contemporary human rights situation of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh. The team recently undertook corpus analysis of civil society submissions to the latest Universal Periodic Review, the five yearly human rights monitoring exercise conducted by the United Nations. By way of context, Bangladesh has an estimated five million indigenous people (IP)…

Over the past few years, support for Welsh independence has grown in ways not seen before. A recent poll commissioned by YesCymru, a pro-independence campaign group, found that 41% of people who’ve made up their minds on the issue would now vote in favour of independence. The striking finding is that the number jumps to…