We are in a period of great uncertainty.

Today, Latin America is the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic. On various fronts, we are facing a situation for which we have no precedents to draw on when seeking explanations or devising possible solutions. Indicators of all kinds, be it health, economic, social or cultural ones, are reaching levels that we could not have anticipated just a few months ago.

COVID-19 has brought to the world economic and health challenges not seen for almost a hundred years; yet this crisis has also highlighted the innovation and creativity of countries in the use and adaptation of their own multidimensional poverty indicators, as well as other measurement tools to better meet this huge challenge. In this note we would like to highlight some innovative techniques that the participants of the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network (MPPN) are implementing in response to the global pandemic.

One of the core functions of the MPPN is the exchange of measurement knowledge and experience. The knowledge generated in one country can serve or inspire other countries in their measurements. At a time when global collaboration is required, we will continue our efforts to facilitate knowledge exchange amongst MPPN countries.

The 2030 Agenda for sustainable development is one of the broadest agreements that countries have proposed in recent decades. The agenda encompasses goals associated with inequality, violence, the environment, and deaths caused by noncommunicable diseases, among other topics of great importance to global development. It also seeks to meet goals to guarantee access to clean water sources, adequate sanitation, electricity and the internet. For the first time, a global agreement was proposed to reduce poverty in all of its dimensions, thus providing an opportunity to employ a multidimensional perspective in the measurement and analysis of the situation of people experiencing poverty.

Good ideas rarely spring from the minds of those who have had little contact with others.

The symbolic apple that fell from the tree in front of Newton, sparking his idea of universal gravity, is really just a symbol of an exceptional mind. In order for his ideas to develop, Newton read, discussed, and exchanged ideas with others.

Analysing multidimensional poverty is all the more relevant in the complex context in which we are currently living due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Maya Evans and Fanni Kovesdi point out in the first article of this issue, this new coronavirus will affect the poorest of the poor most dramatically. We join the authors in inviting you to share ideas and projects to address this new scenario. Also in this issue, a group of researchers, led by Sabina Alkire, show us where those most vulnerable to the pandemic are and how the MPI can help deliver a more targeted response.