National Planning Department, Colombia
The Colombian government’s commitment to monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is written into its constitution. SINERGIA, the government’s M&E unit, is located within the Department of National Planning and is managed by the Director of the Public Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Office. SINERGIA works with Ministers and programme implementers to develop and implement government-supported evaluations, in an effort to assist policymakers in making evidenced-informed decisions and to improve the level of information available for stakeholders throughout the country. SINERGIA undertakes a range of evaluations, including impact evaluations, and also evaluates institutional arrangements, processes within policies or programmes, and results from a policy, when its impact is not quantifiable. SINERGIA’s evaluations are typically conducted by research organisations in Colombia or consulting firms. Since 2010, SINERGIA has had a standardized and participatory process for the design, development and dissemination of evaluations included in the National Evaluation Agenda.