Strengthening the National Evaluation Systems of Costa Rica and Ecuador

Within the framework of the Fifth Meeting of the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development, organised by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and held in Costa Rica on 7-9 March 2022, Jairon Merchán Haz, the Ecuadorian National Secretary of Planning, and Pilar Garrido Gonzalo, the Costa Rican Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy, met to exchange information on the strengthening of National Evaluation Systems in both countries, with the aim of sharing good practice and establishing points of interest regarding inclusive governance for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The meeting addressed key issues intended to enhance the function of evaluation, such as the development of normative frameworks that enable its institutionalisation, the implementation of instruments for selecting strategic evaluations within the National Development Plans, the role of international cooperation (Focelac+), the building of partnerships to strengthen national priorities and the need for a decisive political impetus to expand accountability mechanisms and increase the transparency of government management.

The two parties agreed to continue with learning exchanges and the exploration of shared work themes, for example, the development of SDG evaluations. They also agreed to begin institutional arrangements for the signing of a Letter of Understanding that declares the shared interest of both institutions to advance together in terms of evaluation and areas connected to planning.

The meeting also benefited from the participation of the Ecuadorian Ambassador to Costa Rica, Bolívar Torres Cevallos; the Second Secretary of the Ecuadorian Embassy in Costa Rica, Ana Victoria Rosero; the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation for the Costa Rican Ministry of Planning and Economic Policy (Mideplan), Florita Azofeifa Monge; and the Head of the Evaluation Unit at Mideplan, Eddy García Serrano.

Prior to this significant event, technical precision was ensured through a series of preparatory meetings which were held between the Mideplan evaluation department, the Ecuadorian Undersecretariat of Evaluation, and Focelac+, the German cooperation project to develop evaluation capacity.