How the SDGs change evaluation practice: The case of Costa Rica

Karsten Weitzenegger is contracted by German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval) to carry out a meta-analysis of poverty-related reports done in Costa Rica recently. The meta-analysis will serve to systematize achievements, favorable and unfavorable factors and recommendations in relation to the objective of the fight against poverty.

During the period 2015-2017, Costa Rica has made important articulation efforts under a multidimensional approach to the implementation of the SDGs; however, despite the progress made, the country faces challenges in terms of establishing long-term strategies to face international and domestic challenges.

FOCEVAL (Fomento de Capacidades en Evaluación en Costa Rica y países seleccionados de América Latina), different elements have been developed that can be used for evaluation in the context of the 2030 Agenda: participatory evaluation, multi-actor platform, meta-evaluation, etc.

The meta-analysis will include the evaluations carried out in Costa Rica to date that are relevant to the SDGs related to the priority item “Fight against poverty” (SDG 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10 , 16). A part of these evaluations were carried out within the framework of the National Evaluation Agenda, others as pilot evaluations during the first phase of FOCEVAL, others by DESAF, the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund (MDG-F) and organizations of the United Nations. A set of 25 relevant and available evaluation reports is considered.

Within the framework of FOCEVAL, different elements have been developed that can be used for evaluation in the context of the 2030 Agenda: participatory evaluation, multi-actor platform, meta-evaluation, etc.

Additional information

Secretaría Técnica de los ODS ubicada en MIDEPLAN https://www.mideplan.go.cr

FOCEVAL (Fomento de Capacidades en Evaluación en Costa Rica y países seleccionados de América Latina) http://foceval.org

DEval – Deutsches Evaluierungsinstitut der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit gGmbH https://www.deval.org