Promoting impact assessment of projects and public housing policies

(La Paz, October 22, 2010).- To support authorities in areas such as ex-post project evaluation and planning of housing policies, CAF organized four workshops in the city of La Paz for officials from the autonomous municipal governments of La Paz, El Alto, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz; the departmental governments of La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz; the state electricity and road companies, and two vice ministries of State. The workshops were given by executives and consultants from the Latin American development bank.

Three of the workshops developed the theme "Formulation of Projects for Promoting Evaluability." The objective was to optimize the use of funds allocated by public entities for execution of development and technical cooperation projects in order to increase their effectiveness. A methodology was proposed for formulating projects based not only on impact but also on the starting situation or the problem to be solved.

This methodology offers an ex post evaluation which goes beyond measuring results based on performance indicators, which does not assess the degree of satisfaction of the population. Impact assessments are made to check if, besides complying with the plan, citizens feel that their needs in a particular area have been covered.

The workshops established that the use of this methodology in project formulation generates an aggregate value reflected in the degree of contribution of the project to public policy, certainty in generation of the desired effects, an objective view of management performance, support for accountability and facilitation of systematization of best practices and lessons which are an input for replicability of projects.

The workshop on "Planning for the Housing Sector" – with the participation of Public Works Minister Walter Delgadillo – opened a discussion on the directives and guidelines (possible resources and legal instruments) required for formulation of a National Housing Policy, and presented the experiences of some Latin America countries in this area.

The workshops also helped officials from the Housing vice ministry to structure a document requesting non-reimbursable technical cooperation for a preinvestment study on housing and urban development, which includes aspects of technological innovation, due to the importance of applying this factor in home building to reduce costs and improve the effectiveness of the use of State resources.

CAF support in this area was in response to a request from the Housing Vice Ministry to define a policy based on existing inputs and structure a document which can be executable. The workshop established that housing policy involves not only home building but also other components such as land reclamation, access to basic services (water, sewerage and electricity), improvement of urban areas and municipal management.

Participants in the workshops included officials from La Paz, El Alto, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz municipalities, Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (ENDE), Administradora Boliviana de Carreteras (ABC), the vice ministries of Public Investment and External Financing (VIPFE), and Housing, and the ministries of Environment and Water, Economy and Finance, Defense and Public Works.