Category: Latin America & Caribbean

Exploring Labor Market Challenges in Bogotá, Colombia

Team photo

Guest blog by Soraya Mohideen, Shunta Takino, Michaela Tobin, Akinobu Toyoda, Andres Valenciano Writing a team constitution seemed like a tedious step, but it was vital and something that we recognized as beneficial in other contexts. The process of developing a constitution got every team member to think about what a well-functioning and effective team…Continue Reading Exploring Labor Market Challenges in Bogotá, Colombia

Tackling Traffic Congestion in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Traffic congestion at night

Guest blog by Romeo Ramlakhan, IPP ’22 “Good luck with that!” Those where the exact same words an elected official in City Hall told me in the early days of my tenure as Chief of Staff in the City of Santo Domingo in 2020, as we were discussing municipal policy agenda-setting for the coming years….Continue Reading Tackling Traffic Congestion in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Using PDIA to Implement Health Priorities for the Presidential Election in Argentina

A prescription bottle with pills spilling out

Guest blog by Adolfo Rubinstein, IPP ’22 Having been minister of health of my country during the previous administration (2017-2019), I felt fairly confident in my own policy-making abilities but, at the same time, I realized that policymaking is not an abstraction. It should get to policy implementation and hopefully policy impact. However, as we…Continue Reading Using PDIA to Implement Health Priorities for the Presidential Election in Argentina

Learnings from LEG & Exploring Growth Challenges in El Salvador

Guest Blog by Abdi Aguirre, LEG ’22 When I enrolled in the Leading Economic Growth Program of the Harvard Kennedy School, I thought that I was clear about the economic challenge I wanted to address along the course. As part of the admission process, they ask you to write some lines about it, so I believed…Continue Reading Learnings from LEG & Exploring Growth Challenges in El Salvador

Tackling corrupt taxation practices in Trinidad & Tobago through PDIA

Guest blog by Amrita Deonarine, IPP 2021 I came across this methodology of Problem-driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) in 2020 at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic when global energy prices plummeted, triggering supply shocks, demand shocks, and a health crisis all at the same time. The consequences of this triple whammy almost severed the revenue…Continue Reading Tackling corrupt taxation practices in Trinidad & Tobago through PDIA

Driving Financial Inclusion in Peru using PDIA Approach

Guest blog by Jennifer A. Infantas, IPP 2021 When we think about designing public policies, we need to understand the needs that we are trying to solve and who will be our target beneficiaries. But what about having the responsibility to implement those policies? Probably it might be as hard or even more complicated, challenging,…Continue Reading Driving Financial Inclusion in Peru using PDIA Approach

Using PDIA to Tackle Educational Inequities in Brazil

Students learning

Guest blog by Cesar Nunes, IPP 2021 It was a joy to know that the new edition of the Implementing Public Policy (IPP) course would be offered in 2021. I knew about the Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) approach and was already following the Building State Capabilities website and YouTube channel. I had already read…Continue Reading Using PDIA to Tackle Educational Inequities in Brazil

Using Inquiry as a Strategy in PDIA to transform Barbados Education System

Guest blog by Doreen King, IPP 2021 Coming into the program, I had a pretty good sense of what to expect, given that I’d already taken 2 Harvard Kennedy School courses with Matt Andrews, which covered some of the material. What I wasn’t prepared for, was the group dynamic of working on a weekly group…Continue Reading Using Inquiry as a Strategy in PDIA to transform Barbados Education System

PDIA — or for me, Please Do It Atypically

Guest blog written by Leticia Born, IPP 2021 It took me some time to really understand what PDIA (Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation) is all about. By the end of the IPP Online I was able to expand my thinking beyond having access to useful tools that will support me in identifying realistic ways of thinking about…Continue Reading PDIA — or for me, Please Do It Atypically

PDIA to accelerate energy transitions and net zero economies in LAC

Image of a Dam

Guest blog written by Alfonso Blanco Bonilla I have the honor of leading the Latin American Energy Organization since 2017. OLADE is the international organization formed by 27 LAC countries, represented by their governments, to act in support of the development of the energy sector in the Latin American and Caribbean región (LAC). During my…Continue Reading PDIA to accelerate energy transitions and net zero economies in LAC