A series of short training programs have been organized from time to time in the World Bank to strengthen the capacities of its HNP staff in dealing with poverty. These programs included sessions on topics such as benefit- and outcome- incidence analyses, beneficiary assessments, and targeting procedures. 

Some of these training programs have been adapted for distance learning use. The objective is to make the material more readily available to HNP professionals in the Bank’s field offices and outside the Bank. One such distance learning course available currently is titled as “The Poor and HNP Programs: Targeting The Inputs To The Poor.” 

The course has been developed under the close collaboration of HNP and Poverty Thematic and four other thematic groups of the Health Nutrition and Population family in the World Bank.