The COVID-19 pandemic has required societal behavioral change in order to slow the spread of the virus. Making people keep proper distance when in public and wear face masks have become a priority for governments around the world. Following previous literature on the effects of behaviorally informed text messages on promoting healthy behavior, São Paulo’s innovation in government lab implemented a text message (SMS)-based intervention informed by behavioral insights aimed at encouraging people to stay at home, wear face masks, and maintain 2 meters distance from others.

Technology has comprehensively transformed societies. We work, interact, buy, and travel differently from what we did in the past decade. The speed with which changes will continue to alter our reality will only increase, so it is necessary if we want professionals trained for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and a solid business fabric that those of us in education face the current and future challenges head-on.

GDLab, the Gender and Diversity Knowledge Initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), promotes, leads, and finances high-impact research aimed at a more inclusive and equitable society in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Learn more about this initiative and how to contribute in this publication.

The COVID-19 pandemic has required societal behavioral change in order to slow the spread of the virus. Making people keep proper distance when in public and wear face masks have become a priority for governments around the world. Following previous literature on the effects of behaviorally informed text messages on promoting healthy behavior, Sao Paulo's innovation in government lab implemented a text message (SMS)-based intervention informed by behavioral insights aimed at encouraging people to stay at home, wear face masks, and maintain 2 meters distance from others.

In the context of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the loss of work income, this note briefly discusses the international experience with regard to early access to pension funds, analyzing its advantages and disadvantages. Three are the main messages. First, in normal situations, allowing a degree of liquidity for pension funds presents a policy dilemma between building a pension and providing the individual with liquidity in the face of income shocks. It is up to each country to weigh this dilemma.

Who are people with disabilities? For far too long the answer to this question has been to focus on the health conditions of a person, but what if a new conceptual framework facilitated inclusion? In this interactive note, you will learn the social model of disability; why inclusion is a legal, moral and economic imperative; as well as concrete practices of what inclusion means in education, health, social protection, work, and the prevention of violence for women and girls with disabilities.

This Manual accompanies the PLAC Network pension indicators and is intended to help users of the indicators database to understand the definitions as well as the sources of information for each pension indicator. The PLAC Network pension indicators are available for the nineteen member countries of the PLAC Network and are divided into five main categories: environment, performance, sustainability, society preparedness for aging and reform, and pension system design. Each one of these categories are divided into a few subcategories as well.

Through a survey of 62,837 caregivers of young children in four Latin American countries, households were asked about their experiences with emergency distance education and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings suggest that the crisis will perpetuate and may even worsen existing inequalities in learning. Moreover, caregivers of children newborns to age seven report substantial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their own mental health.

The lack of motivation and sense of community within schools have proven to be the two most relevant factors behind the decision to drop out. Despite the notable progress made in school access in countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, dropping out of school has still been a problem. This paper explores Scholas Occurrentes pedagogical approach to address these dropouts. Scholas focuses on the voice of students. It seeks to act positively on their motivation by listening to them, creating spaces for discussion, and strengthening soft skills and civic engagement.