Demand and Supply of Monitoring & Evaluation Services in Latin America: the case for impact evaluation

PABLO RODRÍGUEZ BILELLA

Paris

Conferencia; 5th NONIE Meeting; 2011

NONIE -Network of Networks of Impact Evaluation

The Latin American and the Caribbean Network of Evaluation (ReLAC) conducted in 2010 -commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)- the study "Analysis of the demand and supply of Monitoring & Evaluation Services in Latin America ". Its aim was to characterize the situation of these services in the public sector in the region in order to help to design a strategy for strengthening the institutional capacities. Conducted in sixteen countries of the region, the study was based on interviews with 175 informants: qualified staff of national systems of evaluation and monitoring of public institutions as well as academic experts, consultants and members of international organizations. This presentation will introduce some of the results of this study, where impact evaluation was identified as one of the most important topics linked with the demand of Monitoring and Evaluation services, while there is an important difficulty in having technical assistance or expert personnel for its development. The perception of public officials about the quality of Technical Assistance, Training, and Expert Staff is also presented, and the most relevant technical and methodological problems in the monitoring and evaluation processes in the region are identified. Finally, the offer of academic training in impact evaluation and the best products identified by the informants for strengthening the national systems of monitoring and evaluation are presented.