Executive Education Programme 2025

The MPI as a public policy tool in Latin America and the Caribbean

This special programme is co-organised with the UNDP Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is a robust tool to guide public policies for reducing multidimensional poverty and promoting human development. Its implementation also contributes to strengthening governance and coordination between ministries and departments, informing social programmes, and promoting accountability and transparency. Furthermore, the pandemic highlighted how the MPI is also a high-impact tool to coordinate evidence-based rapid response strategies and recovery from shocks. It is essential that both leaders and decision-makers use the MPI as a comprehensive public policy tool. As such, they must be familiar with its potential uses and learn from the experiences of global leaders who have guided efforts and strategies to reduce multidimensional poverty in their national contexts.

Purpose
The aim of this special programme for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean is to provide political leaders and decision-makers with practical knowledge to enable them to use the MPI as a public policy tool aimed at reducing poverty in all its dimensions, addressing both contextual and structural challenges specific to each country.

By the end of the programme, participants will be able to:

• Interpret and effectively communicate what an MPI is, along with its uses and outcomes.
• Establish objectives and guiding strategies for poverty reduction, based on their institutional architecture.
• Coordinate multisectoral teams in the use of the MPI as a tool to:
  • Plan, target, and budget
  • Develop new and innovative public policies without increasing the national budget
  • Strengthen governance
  • Report on SDG target 1.2 and other national/international goals
  • Respond to contextual challenges or potential crises
  • Align technical and political efforts that accelerate poverty reduction

Facilitators:

• Sabina Alkire, Professor of Poverty and Human Development and Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford.
• Ricardo Nogales, Senior Researcher, OPHI, University of Oxford.
• Mónica Pinilla-Roncancio, Senior Researcher, OPHI, University of Oxford.
• Gonzalo Hernández Licona, Former Executive Director of CONEVAL, and Director of the Multidimensional Poverty Network (MPPN).
• Ana María Marín, Global Engagement and Events Manager, OPHI, University of Oxford.

Conversations with Leaders:

• Luis Guillermo Solís, Former President of Costa Rica and MPI Ambassador.
• Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría, Former Vice President of Costa Rica and Senior Policy Advisor, OPHI, University of Oxford.