Costa Rica Strengthens Evaluation Capacity Through Inclusive Governance 

In 2025, the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Policy (MIDEPLAN) of Costa Rica, in partnership with the EvalConnect project led by the German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval), published The Costa Rican National Evaluation System report. The study analyses the country’s progress in consolidating a robust, participatory, and evidence-driven evaluation system that supports good governance and public sector effectiveness. It presents results from the 2022 and 2024 applications of the National Evaluation Capacities Index (INCE), which show Costa Rica’s position as a mature evaluation system in Latin America. 

The report highlights three factors that distinguish Costa Rica’s system: the participatory governance embodied in the National Evaluation Platform—which brings together around 35 institutions from government, academia, congress, international organizations, judiciary, and civil society. 

Second, Costa Rica benefits from a solid institutional and regulatory framework that has ensured continuity across administrations and levels. This framework includes the Constitution, laws, executive decrees, and a set of technical manuals and guidelines. 

Third, the system has been strengthened through sustained international cooperation, particularly with Germany. This includes the Fomento de Capacidades en Evaluación (FOCEVAL) program and subsequent regional efforts, including FOCELAC and FOCELAC+ and EvalConnect. 

These elements have fostered institutional learning and technical independence, leading to high-quality evaluations aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. 

“Collaboration between different national actors and international partners has created a genuine culture of evaluation, which values evidence as the cornerstone for continuous improvement in public management,” said Eddy García, Head of MIDEPLAN’s Evaluation and Monitoring Division. 

This growing culture of evaluation is also reflected in how Costa Rica has designed and implemented its national evaluation system. 

The findings of the report can serve as a key input for the next steps in the National Evaluation Policy and its Action Plan (2025-2030), as well as for the development of the National Evaluation Agenda 2027–2030. These efforts aim to strategically strengthen evaluation practices across the public sector—both tactically and operationally—by refining instruments and processes for greater institutional coherence. 

“This document reaffirms that planning instruments such as the National Evaluation Policy, and multi-stakeholder spaces such as the National Evaluation Platform, make it possible to continue strengthening the evaluation culture within the Costa Rican public administration”, said Mario González, Head of MIDEPLAN’s evaluation unit. 

“Costa Rica’s experience shows how strong institutions, openness to dialogue, and long-term partnerships can turn evaluation into a bridge between evidence and decision-making,” said Sarah Klier, Team Leader for Evaluation Capacity Development at DEval. 

The full report is available here.