Voices

10 April 2025

Africa’s urgent mental health crisis: we need a paradigm shift to break the stigma and improve access to care

Marieme Gueye, an MPP student and a Mastercard Foundation Scholar under the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx) who runs a social enterprise dedicated to improving mental health across Africa, explores the challenges and opportunities for addressing the continent’s mental health crisis. This forms part of her research presented at the Oxbridge African Scholars Summit.

Marieme Gueye

Featured

Blog

08 April 2025

Afghan women and the ICC: A test of international justice

Axana Soltan, an Afghan-American international lawyer and MPP student, argues that without enforcement, the ICC Prosecutor’s request to pursue gender persecution charges against Taliban officials risks becoming symbolic–making accountability for the Taliban’s oppression of women a crucial test for international justice.

Axana Soltan

Law

Afghanistan

Blog

01 April 2025

A window into Syria’s caretaker government

Fareed Fakhoury, an alumnus from the Master of Public Policy course and researcher on Syrian affairs, provides a data-driven analysis of the demographics and capacity of those currently holding power in the interim government. His assessments were first published by Karam Shaar Advisory, a consultancy specialising in the political economy of Syria.

Fareed Fakhoury

Democracy and politics

Syria

Strings of numbers and letters in green against a black background

Blog

24 February 2025

Government AI adoption: formal-relational contracting can unlock responsible progress

Governments worldwide are quickly ramping up efforts to adopt artificial intelligence, but concerns about risk, bias, and accountability loom large. Felix-Anselm van Lier, Research and Policy Fellow at the Government Outcomes Lab and Co-Director of the Leading Cross-Sector Partnerships Programme, argues that a flexible, collaborative contracting model can unlock progress.

Felix-Anselm van Lier

Public sector

Digital, Cyber and AI

...

Government Outcomes Lab

United Kingdom (UK)

Latest articles

João Pedro Caleiro speaks at a CONASS panel

Blog

23 September 2024

“Value for money and value for many”: a push for better G20 health systems in a post-pandemic world

João Pedro Caleiro, writer-researcher at the Lemann Foundation Programme and former MPP student, explains how ideas about “value” can help us create stronger, more resilient health systems.

João Pedro Caleiro

Health

COVID-19

...

Lemann Foundation Programme at Oxford

Brazil

Photo of the Mexican flag blowing in the wind against a blue sky

Blog

08 August 2024

Mexico's reform of the judiciary: A threat to democracy and regional stability

Mariana De Lucio, a Mexican lawyer specialising in human rights and an MPP student, argues that there is a crisis of democracy unfolding in Mexico, setting a "dangerous precedent" for the region.

Mariana De Lucio Perez

Democracy and politics

Law

...

Mexico

Blog

06 August 2024

Reflecting on the Executive Public Leaders Programme

How does our Executive Public Leaders Programme enhances leadership skills, decision-making, and ethical standards? Ambassador Eglantina Gjermeni, Permanent Representative of Albania to the International Organisations in Vienna and 2024 participant, shares her reflections.

Eglantina Gjermeni

The School

Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London

Blog

26 July 2024

Accountability, transparency and smart cross-sector partnerships can steer Starmer through challenges ahead

In the wake of a series of National Audit Office reports about the state of public services, Jess Reedy argues that to build the trust of the electorate, a Labour government should focus on improving accountability, transparency and building cross-sector partnerships.

Jessica Reedy

Public sector

Government Outcomes Lab

...

United Kingdom (UK)

Blog

25 July 2024

Boosting public service delivery and forging global partnerships

MPP student Chinagorom Ajike reflects on his summer project at SAPSSI in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Blog

Spotlight on the programmes team

Students are the priority for the programmes team, who oversee the running of three degree programmes – the DPhil, MSc in Public Policy Research and the Master of Public Policy (MPP).

The School

Focus on: AI governance

Blog

07 June 2024

Navigating the cyber frontier: trends and challenges

Brian Kot, an MPhil in International Relations, highlights four broad themes critical for policymakers as they navigate the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Brian Kot

Digital, Cyber and AI

Blog

06 November 2023

Optimists, doomers and securo-pragmatists: Reflections on the UK’s AI safety summit

For all the carping, the Prime Minister’s Bletchley Park jamboree moved the world forward on AI safety.

Ciaran Martin

Digital, Cyber and AI

Neural network AI Artificial Intelligence illustration

Blog

04 October 2023

Charting the path to global AI governance: potential and ethics

Paola Galvez Callirgos (MPP 2022) sets out her vision for the effective global governance of Artificial Intelligence.

Paola Galvez Callirgos

Digital, Cyber and AI

Law

Blog

31 May 2023

How should government and business manage risks emerging from AI systems?

MPP student Bálint Pataki sets out the strategies needed to manage risks from artificial intelligence.

Bálint Árpád Pataki

Focus on: Climate crisis

Towards COP29: unpacking the key issues for a sustainable future

Ashima Gulati, a current MPP student with a law and policy background, reflects on the key issues for COP29 this year, which comes in the wake of extreme weather events across the world and a changing geopolitical landscape with a new US President.

Ashima Gulati

Climate and environment

Blog

04 September 2023

How Africa can leverage trade and investment for a just transition

Kennedy Mbeva and Cherono Sego take us through how Africa could become a major hub for climate action.

Kennedy Mbeva

Cherono Sego

Climate and environment

Trade

...

Africa

Blog

24 January 2023

Climate and legitimacy: Who is right in the Anthropocene?

Following the arrest of Greta Thunberg at a climate protest in Germany, MPP student Baudouin De Hemptinne asks if the climate crisis is forcing us to reimagine the legitimacy of actions by both state actors and protestors.

Baudouin de Hemptinne

Climate and environment

Europe

Blog

01 July 2022

More mining cooperation, not less, would be needed in the run up to carbon neutrality

Though phasing down the role of global mining industries may seem like a logical step in the journey to carbon neutrality, MPP alumnus Yanzhu Zhang argues that more mining cooperation will be needed in the first instance to produce the technology and capacity required for the clean energy transition.

Yanzhu Zhang

Global cooperation

Climate and environment