This two-week "core course" aims to provide participants with an in-depth understanding of the conceptual and practical issues involved in the design and implementation of pension and social security programs and linkages to Social Protection systems.

Participants will have the opportunity to learn about, present and discuss challenging issues concerning pensions and social security in their own country, and work toward solutions with other participants and experts.

The course is taught by experts from the World Bank and other agencies and uses a mix of learning methods, including presentations, hands-on exercises and group projects.  It includes:

• Instructional presentations on the key approaches to the design and reform of public and private pension systems and institutional development challenges;
• Presentations and applied cases using a diagnostic methodology and modeling techniques;
• Presentations from select case studies illustrating the challenges and lessons learned from different reform measures employed; and
• Hands-on participatory workshop sessions in which course participants will work in groups to design reform programs for country cases which apply the instructional content.