Ecuador promotes impact assessment as a public management tool

On November 28-30, the first edition of Ecuador SEMIDE was held in Cuenca, a theoretical-practical training and advisory workshop for Ecuadorian officials, which included successful techniques and practices on the use of impact assessment as a public management tool.

The meeting, organized by CAF -development bank of Latin America- and the National Secretariat of Planning and Development (SENPLADES), was attended by recognized academic and public sector figures. Core issues were discussed in this meeting, such as institutional capacity and the importance of evidence in the public sector.

Bernardo Requena, CAF representative in Ecuador, underscored the role of the Institution in promoting and strengthening public institutions in Latin America, and the importance of these types of assessments to learn useful lessons for public policy management, and for establishing a learning culture that promotes continuous improvement in institutions.

For his part, Daniel Ortega, Director of Impact Assessment and Policy Learning at CAF, said that Latin America needs public institutions to learn from their actions and implement quality impact assessments. In this regard, he added that it is necessary to prioritize the need for knowledge of policy makers, leverage academic and financial resources, and fully involve authorities to achieve detailed policy and institutional learning.

Successful case presentations on impact assessment institutionalization were also a highlight at the event such as Nicolás Oliva’s, Research and Studies Coordinator of the Department for Fiscal Studies of Ecuador Internal Revenue Service, who referred to impact assessments in the tax revenue area.

In addition, the event was attended by distinguished Latin American officials, who presented specific cases of study on impact assessment in their institutions. On the one hand, Doris Jerí, former Director of Basic Education for Students with High and Outstanding Performance (DEBEDSAR) presented the "High Performance Schools" case, an impact assessment on education issues in Peru. Likewise, Ilvia Cárdenas, Criminal and Juvenile Liability Director of the District Secretariat for Security, Coexistence and Justice in Bogotá, presented the "Count to Ten" case, a cognitive-behavioral therapy program for juvenile offenders in the criminal system.

All these examples helped attendees understand how it is possible to transform experience into knowledge through policy learning.