CLEAR-LAC Facilitates Exchange Between Ecuador and Chile on Monitoring and Evaluation Systems

The Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Latin America and the Caribbean (CLEAR-LAC), a key implementing partner of the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI), recently facilitated a bilateral exchange between government officials from Ecuador and Chile focused on strengthening national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems. 

The exchange took place alongside the Forum of Latin American and Caribbean Countries on Sustainable Development 2025, held in Santiago, Chile, and organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). 

As part of its broader efforts to strengthen regional M&E systems, CLEAR-LAC convened a meeting between Ecuador’s Vice Minister of Planning (acting), Emilia Ruiz—former Undersecretary of Monitoring—and representatives from the Budget Office (DIPRES) of Chile’s Ministry of Finance, and the Undersecretariat of Social Evaluation within the Ministry of Social Development and Family (MDSF), the two entities that oversee Chile’s M&E system. 

Participants shared country-level experiences in monitoring and evaluating social programs and public investment projects, and explored the use of evaluation findings in decision-making processes. The discussion highlighted both shared challenges and opportunities for cross-country learning. 

“In these conversations, you realize that many of the challenges we face are shared—and the solutions are often closer than we think,” said Rodrigo Díaz, Head of the Department of Evaluation, Transparency, and Fiscal Productivity at DIPRES. “These meetings allow us to share what we’re doing and learn from each other. In my case, I was able to show how we approach these issues at DIPRES and in the broader Chilean public sector.” 

Tamara Van Hemelryck, Head of the Social Policy Division, and Rodrigo Henríquez, Head of the Social Investment Evaluation Division, also participated in the meeting. Henríquez emphasized the added value of fostering cooperation between M&E systems in the region: “These cooperation spaces go beyond sharing experiences and challenges—they also improve communication between systems,” said Rodrigo Henríquez. “That’s valuable for decision-makers and technical teams, who gain a lot from these exchanges. It strengthens how we manage public investment and social or otherwise programs.” 

Ecuador is one of CLEAR-LAC’s priority countries. Through the EvalConnect project, the organization works closely with the National Planning Secretariat and the German Evaluation Institute for Development Cooperation (DEval) to strengthen the country’s M&E system. 

Reflecting on the exchange, Vice Minister Ruiz recognized the importance of Chile’s leadership in the region. “Chile serves as a benchmark in evaluation, particularly in evaluating projects and social programs. As Ecuador advances in this area, learning from Chile helps us better integrate evaluation into the design and prioritization stages of projects and post-implementation assessments to identify improvements,” she said. “I will share what I’ve learned here with my team at the National Planning Secretariat so we can implement it in our processes.” 

CLEAR-LAC has trained approximately 30 M&E professionals in Ecuador. In partnership with DEval and EvalConnect, it is also supporting the National Planning Secretariat in updating job profiles to identify skill gaps and inform a targeted capacity-building strategy for internal teams. 

“Facilitating knowledge exchange is an important activity for CLEAR-LAC,” said Cristian Crespo, Executive Director of CLEAR-LAC. “We have realized the challenges LAC national M&E systems face are similar. By facilitating these spaces for open and deep dialogue between governments, we contribute to peer learning and strengthening national M&E systems.”