Dr Límberg Chero
Interinstitutional Coordination, Programa GFP Subnacional
Dr Límberg Chero currently leads the Interinstitutional Coordination of the Programme for Strengthening Subnational Public Financial Management in Peru (Programa GFP Subnacional), implemented by the Basel Institute on Governance’s office in Peru. In this role, he focuses on ensuring the sustainability of reforms and strengthening collaboration between subnational and national institutions. He has been involved in the Programme since 2013, working closely with key Peruvian institutions, including CEPLAN, MEF, OSCE, CGR, SERVIR and PCM.
Límberg has a degree in Economics and Finance, a Masters in Research and a PhD in Management. From 2010 to 2015, he worked on Public Financial Management and macroeconomics with an emphasis on the public sector and financial markets mainly for the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the International Development Bank .
As an international consultant, he has had experience in several Latin American countries on governance issues (2006-2010), as a country representative of the Andrés Bello Chair and as responsible for Peru for international research networks on Governance, Social Responsibility and Economic Integration issues (2006-2008). He has also had experience teaching economics at university (2001-2006).
He was also a member of the Study Group of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Peru, a group in charge of supporting public financial management reform undertaken at the central government level with the support of international cooperation. In addition, he led the organisation of the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessments in six sub-national governments of Peru between 2011 and 2013 and was also part of the international cooperation coordination committee of PEFA Peru 2015. He participated in the preparation/updating of action plans to improve public financial management in five sub-national governments and the central government between 2013 and 2015.
News and blog
A career with purpose in public finance management: Límberg Chero
Our colleague Límberg Chero has played an important role in establishing the Basel Institute’s strong presence in Peru. From the early years – even before a formal office existed in Lima – to his current work with the Subnational Public Finance Management Programme Programa GFP Subnacional , his journey reflects a great passion for fighting corruption. It began far from the capital, in an ancient town in northern Peru, and was strengthened through rigorous academic training and years of public service. This article is part of a series on careers in fighting financial crime and opportunities to learn and study with the Basel Institute. The take-off in Peru My journey at the Basel Institute on Governance began even before the Lima office existed. In 2014, together with colleagues from the Basel Institute – including our dearly missed Managing Director of two decades, Gretta Fenner, and my colleague Óscar Solórzano – we launched a public finance management project funded by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland SECO . Although centred on macroeconomics and fiscal policy, its essential goal was to make the public budget tangible and meaningful for citizens. To do this, we moved beyond traditional approaches and integrated innovative tools, like the use of behavioural science to prevent corruption and foster integrity in the management of public finances. This comprehensive perspective – a novelty in Peru at the time – was key to the project proposal’s success. Since then, the Subnational Public Finance Management Programme for regional and municipal governments in Peru has retained SECO’s trust for more than 10 years. The secret behind this success lies not only in improved processes and fiscal discipline, but in the continuous work with people committed to change. Internally, the Basel Institute’s team is multidisciplinary, open to change and committed to bridging practice and academic insight. Bridging differences for sustainability Working at the Basel Institute on Governance is truly a privilege. Our Lima office has gained remarkable regional recognition thanks to a distinctive approach: practical, rigorous and focused on building strong relationships with key actors in the fight against corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing. I currently lead the Subnational PFM Programme’s Interinstitutional Coordination, ensuring the programme’s effectiveness and, above all, the sustainability of reforms at subnational levels, in alignment with national efforts. This work requires the continuous reconciliation of the different “languages”, worldviews and objectives of people across Peru’s diverse regions. Our aim is to craft strategies and messages that resonate equally to ministries, regional governments and municipalities – aligning technical agendas with political ones, and engaging civil society and academia along the way. This challenge becomes more manageable because of my background: I come from an ancient town in northern Peru, Monsefú. Being perceived as someone close yet trained in competitive academic and professional environments fosters trust and legitimacy. From economics to a global mission As a child, leaving my town felt impossible. Universities were located in other regions and the educational options available largely led to local career paths tied to a modest economy with little real opportunities. At that time, the country had not yet experienced the trade openness or business development it has today. Through hard work and the trust of people who believed in me, however, I earned scholarships that allowed me to study in highly competitive environments in Peru’s capital, Lima, more than 1,000 kilometres away from my hometown. My foundations were solid: I completed my undergraduate studies in economics and later specialised through the Central Bank’s Economics Programme, which admits only 30 candidates out of thousands of applicants, as well as through an internship at the World Bank in Korea. I worked as an economist at institutions such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Central Reserve Bank of Peru, the Andean Community CAN and the Inter-American Development Bank IDB . At that time, my professional life felt complete: it combined specialised technical work with teaching and active participation in international networks. These included the Andrés Bello Agreement Network, which brought together university researchers from multiple countries to reflect on and advance regional integration in Ibero-America, as well as the Puentes Network, which focused on promoting transparency in investment by Latin American companies. But everything changed when I fully grasped the scope of the challenges posed by global corruption. I never imagined my economics degree would only be the starting point of a much bigger journey. From that moment on, my purpose became clear: to dedicate all my experience to strengthening this fight against forces that hinder global prosperity. Innovating with little budget In Latin America, the Basel Institute is known for results-oriented innovation. I have witnessed firsthand how every new skill quickly finds a practical application and how we can make significant contributions without the need for additional funding. For example, I could draw on my Master’s degrees in Process Innovation and Government Control, and in Public Management and Education Andragogy to enrich various initiatives we pursued, such as: supporting regional governments in implementing structural reforms in significantly shorter timeframes; strengthening Peru’s Public Finance Management Experts Network, which was recognised during Peru’s National Innovation Week; and reducing dropout rates and increasing course completion in our Internal Control and Integrity courses through, among other things, the introduction of “virtual coffee breaks”. During the pandemic, we leveraged my background in education to enhance our online learning and training approach and results. For example, we started to deliver courses and training across the country via Facebook, a platform that at the time did not charge for mobile data usage and allowed public officials to participate even using low-end mobile phones. These courses have since been integrated into Basel LEARN – the Basel Institute’s online training and learning hub. Together, these efforts enabled us to develop courses that reached more than 6,000 participants in five years – all without additional funding. It’s all about people My work has focused on ensuring the sustainability of tangible improvements to public finance management that the PFM Programme’s experts helped implement in areas as varied as: distribution of vaccines and educational materials for children; property tax collection in major cities; restitution of confiscated funds; and the fight against “green corruption”. In this context, the most valuable asset is our network. I have more than 20,000 contacts on my business phone – all professionals who directly or indirectly contribute to the Programme’s goals, and above all, friends committed to building a better Peru. This network generates mutual benefits: it enables the rapid dissemination of good practices, drastically reduces event preparation costs we secure many venues at zero cost and ensures massive impact. Colleagues across the Basel Institute are a vital part of this network. Our close collaboration has led me to take part in a wide range of diverse and fascinating projects – from serving as a director and writer for several programme-produced videos, to moderating international events on asset recovery, and exchanging methodologies used in public finance management that can be applied to asset recovery and repatriation. The foundation that inspires and sustains hope The Peruvian context presents unique challenges. There is high political volatility, evidenced by the fact that there have been eight presidents in the past 10 years despite only two presidential elections in that period. This means that “VUCA” volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity and the notion of “chaos” are part of daily life. Yet, beneath this instability lies a “subsoil” of ethically committed public officials and technical professionals who allow progress to continue. They are my daily source of inspiration. As I often say: There are more good people than bad – they just make less noise. This reflects a reality: the visible efforts of honest Peruvians provide a stronger foundation than the corruption cases that shake us, even if public perception sometimes suggests otherwise. In sum, I am deeply grateful for the privilege of engaging with my country and its challenges through work that strengthens public integrity and the fight against corruption. Thank you, Basel Institute – and its magnificent team around the globe – for allowing me to continue serving the world, and especially my country. Inspired? Take a look at the learning opportunities we offer at the Basel Institute for individuals who are equally passionate about fighting corruption and financial crime: Basel LEARN – our online training and learning hub with free eLearning courses and lots more Basel STUDY – our postgraduate programmes on anti-corruption and asset recovery with the University of Basel
How to design a virtual training course that works in your context – experiences from Peru
In early April, more than 770 public officials across Peru took our latest virtual training course on public financial management PFM . This free seven-week course is part of a programme financed by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO to strengthen standards of PFM in 11 subnational governments. In all senses, it has been a huge success. Some people have been surprised at this, given the disruption caused by the pandemic and the technical issues of computer and internet availability in Peru. My colleagues Carlos Vargas Director of the PFM programme , Romina Cruz Communications Officer and I Component Leader for Sustainability take this opportunity to explain how, why and for whom we developed this course and how we managed to maintain such high levels of engagement. We hope our experiences are useful for others developing virtual training courses. Multi-platform for maximum flexibility The course is seriously "multi-platform": as well as a course web page, we have content on YouTube, Google Drive, Google Classroom, Vimeo, Facebook and Padlet. We have 23 regional WhatsApp discussion groups and a Telegram channel. Why so many different platforms? For two reasons: To guarantee availability and access to all learners To minimise internet usage and costs Delivering an online course on a single learning management system has advantages, but it isn’t practical in places with weak, unreliable or expensive internet services, like in many Peruvian provinces. Our students – public officials in subnational governments – tell us that they like the flexibility of multiple platforms. It helps them to reduce their internet costs. For example, they can take advantage of mobile internet deals like free use of WhatsApp or Facebook’s pilot “Discover” app, which provides users with 10 MB of data every day. The strict coronavirus lockdown in Peru has made this flexible multi-platform approach even more valuable. Most public officials are working from home and have to share their computer if they have one and internet connection with their partners and children attending school online. In addition, the government wishes to reserve internet capacity for essential services, particularly during the day. In a survey we ran, most officials said they had use of a computer, but a large proportion also access the course on mobile phones and tablets. Flexibility and responsive web platforms are key. “Social” media for professional purposes People often ask why we use personal social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp for professional course content and communication. Again, it is because it works in our context. We know from experience that Facebook and WhatsApp are good ways to communicate with our students – and more importantly to allow them to communicate with each other. For example, we have 7,230 followers on Facebook, all highly specialised and engaged. Just in the last week, we had more than 5,000 interactions with our posts. When they share our posts with their own networks, it amplifies our reach. These channels have been hugely important in creating and sustaining our Public Finance Management Experts Network, for example. This is an initiative of graduates of the diploma programme that we ran in conjunction with Universidad ESAN. Thanks in large part to social media, this new network already has more than 200 members across six regions. It proves the power of using "social" media for professional purposes. We've had a similarly positive experience using social media for training purposes. Support networks and sustainability Our use of social media has another big benefit: sustainability. Sustainable capacity building is not just about teaching new skills to individuals. The support networks that students create with each other help to increase their collective knowledge and sustain it over long periods. In a university or classroom, students naturally get together and become friends. We are using social media to recreate these same support networks in the virtual space – and in fact to expand their potential. We see students helping each other with questions and ideas from across the country, at all times of day and night. WhatsApp groups can include up to 250 people, so they work well for connecting people within cities or regions. With Telegram you can have 200,000 people in a group, so this is a good choice for cross-regional communication. Creating a critical mass for real culture change Linking people to people in this way is visibly helping to change the culture in Peru. Thanks to our onsite and virtual training courses over the last four years – and thanks to the support networks that have grown up – we are creating a critical mass of people in Peru who understand the importance and the details of strong and transparent public financial management. Many of the new employees we have hired recently to support our wider programme have completed our training courses. Some are part of the Experts Network. This critical mass has three effects. Mitigating issues of staff rotation and skills gaps in subnational governments. Proper public financial management is part of the culture and processes of a government department, not just dependent on individuals. Real impact at the national level. Many of the officials we train go on to obtain jobs in the central government. They take their skills, attitudes and support networks with them. International cross-fertilisation. Students from other Latin American countries have enrolled on this course, although it focuses on Peruvian law. Why? Because, they tell us, they wish to be at the forefront when their countries adopt similar laws. Some are even using their new knowledge of Peruvian policies on public financial management to help advocate for improvements in their own countries’ laws. Interaction, feedback and mutual support With 770+ students signing up for this course, and limited in-house resources, we knew we couldn’t provide individual support to every single student. Our system is simple. Students can send queries by email and we share the answers with everyone. They can also use a chat room on Facebook or request help in their WhatsApp groups. The students have been amazing. They immediately started thoughtfully answering each other’s questions and sharing ideas. And in the process of supporting others, they acknowledge that they learn better themselves. It helps that some students as well as ourselves, the course leaders are or have been academics in universities. But access to information via the internet is the really critical factor that has transformed the learning process. In the past, teachers used to think they were the source of all knowledge, pouring it down onto students from the top during lectures. Now, many students know – or can find out – more than their teachers about specific topics and share it directly with their peers. Teachers need to understand that they are facilitators and supporters of learning. That is how we see ourselves. We are also keen to get feedback ourselves in order to continuously improve the course. We send out surveys after each module asking for feedback and we also hold an optional Zoom call in the evening after each exam to discuss the questions. The feedback has been both encouraging and valuable. Reflection, not just rote learning In response to feedback, we recorded two extra videos applying the theory that the students are learning to the very real situation of covid-19 and its impact on public financial management. These kinds of “extras” are what students tell us they really value, as they encourage reflection and not just rote learning. “Reflection” is the key word in our approach to testing as well. After each module, there is a test. The purpose is not to check whether students can regurgitate what they learned last week word for word. The aim is to encourage students to reflect on what they have learned and apply it to real situations. This helps move the knowledge from short-term memory to long-term understanding. The testing is part of the learning process. “Using the fruit to make marmalade for everyone” Virtual training has clear benefits in normal times, not just during a pandemic. Our programme directly supports 11 subnational governments, but with virtual training we can reach the whole of Peru at no extra cost. For example, our virtual course in open government in 2019 reached more than 3,350 officials and citizens across Peru. This wider diffusion of knowledge is important for long-term sustainability and culture change. Getting the widest benefit for the lowest cost is vital in our country. That is another reason for our use of social media and networks of engaged individuals: it’s free. Saving on marketing costs means we can put more funds into the course development and support for students. Three tips for designing virtual courses Here are three important things we recommend to consider when developing virtual courses. Understand your students and adapt to their needs. Speak to them and listen carefully to what they want and need. Tailor your content appropriately and be prepared to adapt quickly in response to feedback. It’s not about the tool, but what you do with it. Choose your technologies to meet the needs of the students, not just yours – and be open to non-traditional platforms like social media if that will work best in your context. Learning is about the heart, not just the head. The personal touch is still important, even if the course is virtual. The chance to interact with others through chat rooms and social media is hugely valuable. It is what turns a one-off training course for individuals into a sustainable, knowledgeable and engaged network that can really achieve change.
Back
Go back to the team overview