OECD Report: Costa Rica excels with its national evaluation system
Evaluation capacity development supported by DEval project.
In a new OECD report on improving governance through policy evaluation, the activities of a DEval project have been highlighted as best practice examples. The FOCEVAL project aimed to support evaluation capacity development in Costa Rica and other selected Latin American countries. Together with the Costa Rican Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy, DEval designed a national evaluation agenda, developed evaluation standards and conducted a meta-evaluation. The project systematically promoted the practical experience of young and aspiring evaluators, as well as civil society participation in evaluations. To underpin sustainability, the progress made was institutionalised such that it will remain firmly in place even after a possible change of government.
The OECD identified several of these activities as key success factors for evaluation capacity in Costa Rica. Of all the countries studied, Costa Rica was singled out for its sound legal framework for evaluation. The country has achieved the same status as Switzerland, Germany, France and Mexico.
DEval is currently implementing the follow-on project to FOCEVAL. The new project – FOCELAC – builds on the success stories and findings from FOCEVAL. It will support actors in selected Latin American countries in strengthening the role of evaluation in the context of the 2030 Agenda.