CLEAR-LAB Delivers Rapid Evaluation Training in the Amazon
In June, the Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Lusophone Africa and Brazil (CLEAR-LAB) delivered a course on rapid evaluation. The training took place in Belém, one of the largest cities in the Brazilian Amazon region, during the 11th Seminar of the Brazilian Monitoring and Evaluation Network.
Since 2009, this seminar has been a gathering place for individuals in the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) ecosystem to exchange experiences and develop evaluation practices. This year, it attracted about 260 participants and addressed different areas of public policy evaluation, such as gender, climate change, and the institutionalization of M&E systems.
A rapid evaluation, as the name suggests, is quick and agile, and takes up to six months to complete. This kind of evaluation relies upon previously collected, accessible data. It is a faster form of analysis for public policies or social programs compared to other types of evaluation, such as an impact evaluation. An additional advantage of rapid evaluations is that interventions are evaluated throughout the whole public policy cycle, providing robust, comprehensive information for effective decision-making.
Almost 30 M&E professionals attended CLEAR-LAB's course, entitled "Executive Evaluation: Evidence for Agile Decision-Making." The participants commented on how rapid evaluations can benefit different sectors of society, including companies and non-governmental organizations, because of their agility and the valuable outcomes for internal and external development.
"It is a very interesting approach for people like me, who work in business and need agility in evaluations,” said Sandra Macedo, an economist at Petrobras, the biggest Brazilian oil company. For Vander Finotti, partnership coordinator of a non-profit organization, the rapid evaluation method contributes to the internal and external development of his organization. "Rapid evaluation is a tool for us to follow action, but it also gives us outcomes, being a resource for us to present to the donor, to the partner and show the work," he said.
When the training concluded, participants expressed interest in learning more about executive evaluation. "I believe that this space needs to be more publicized so that other organizations can become aware of this possibility,” Mr. Finotti suggested. "I was very curious to know more, because just one day is very little to explore this methodology,” Ms. Macedo added.
CLEAR-LAB offered its second rapid evaluation training session, following the first session that took place during gLOCAL Evaluation Week 2024. In total, during the first semester, CLEAR-LAB introduced five new courses, attracting over 2,300 participants. These include an online course on impact evaluation conducted in Portuguese, and another course developed in partnership with the World Bank’s Geo-Enabling Initiative for Monitoring and Supervision (GEMS).