Boosting public policy evaluation in Latin America

The meeting, entitled “Evaluation and innovation in the area of public intervention: the Latin American experience”, held in Montevideo, was attended by institutions from the partner countries of the EVALÚA project (Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Uruguay, Peru and Paraguay) and institutions from the guest countries (Chile, Mexico and Brazil). 

This annual meeting served to provide updates on many of the aspects on which work has been carried out so far by the project and to inform other countries about EVALÚA’s work. It also helped to foster closer links between the institutions taking part so as to provide a broader regional programme including budget cycles, planning and evaluation. 

The most recent experiences and the latest advances in the evaluation of public policy at the regional level were shared at the meeting, in addition to the actions implemented by the EVALÚA group. 

In addition, the workgroups emphasized the importance of evaluation as a tool for promoting efficient public spending. It focused on the fact that the improvements made bring us closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). 

The meeting was attended by Andrea Vignolo, director of the Uruguayan Cooperation Agency (AUCI) and Clelia de la Fuente, cooperation manager with the European Union Delegation to Uruguay; in addition to social institutions and collaborators, including DNP Colombia, MIDEPLAN Costa Rica, Senplades Ecuador, the Paraguayan Ministry of Finance, Peruvian Ministry of Economy and Finance, Uruguayan Office of Planning and Budget, DIPRES Chile and CONEVAL Mexico.