CLEAR-LAB Marks 10 Years with Seminar and New Publications on Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Policies

The Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Lusophone Africa and Brazil (CLEAR-LAB), an implementing partner of the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI), celebrated its tenth anniversary in May with a full-day seminar and the launch of a new series of publications on monitoring and evaluation (M&E). 

The event brought together more than 30 panelists, as well as CLEAR-LAB representatives, faculty from the Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) Institute and researchers. It drew 293 registrations and welcomed around 180 participants in person. Attendees included M&E specialists, public managers, civil society representatives, researchers, and students. 

A highlight of the anniversary seminar was the launch of the CLEAR Guide to Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Policies (Guia CLEAR de Monitoramento e Avaliação de Políticas Públicas), published in Portuguese. Authored by CLEAR-LAB co-founders and professors at the Escola de Economia de São Paulo da Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV/EESP), Lycia Lima and André Portela, the guide is the first title in the “Evaluation in Practice” series, created to strengthen evaluative capacities in Brazil and Lusophone Africa. 

In addition to the launch, the seminar featured a series of panel discussions that addressed key issues in the field. Topics included evaluation and spending reviews, the institutionalization of monitoring and evaluation (M&E), local implementation experiences, and the role of evidence in supporting democracy in Latin America. 

“By combining academic rigor with practical applicability, this guide reflects CLEAR-LAB’s mission: to bridge the gap between research and public management. We want decision makers to feel that evaluation is not a distant or bureaucratic requirement, but a concrete tool to design better policies and improve people’s lives,” said André Portela, director of CLEAR-LAB. 

“Our goal is for this guide to reach all state and municipal governments, as well as civil society organizations, so that the agenda of evidence use in public policy advances as quickly as possible — improving the quality of policies and programs in our country,” said Lycia Lima, a researcher at CLEAR-LAB, at the launch.  

In addition to the guide, the “Evaluation in Practice” series already features other free technical publications, including: 

• Impact Evaluation (Avaliação de Impacto) 
• Impact Evaluation: Difference-in-Differences Method (Avaliação de Impacto: Método de Diferença-em-Diferenças) 
• Ex-Ante Impact Assessment: Microsimulation Modeling (Avaliação de Impacto Ex-Ante: Modelagem de Microssimulação) 
• Cost-Benefit Analysis (Análise de Custo-Benefício) 
• Statistical Power Calculation (Cálculo de Poder Estatístico) 

All publications are available free of charge on CLEAR-LAB’s website. The initiative reinforces CLEAR-LAB’s commitment to expanding access to applied M&E knowledge and promoting the qualified use of evidence in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of public policies.