Foreword
Pursuing sustainable development requires a whole-of-society effort, where government engages with the private sector, civil society organisations and citizens. It is with this goal in mind that the Nuevo León government created, in 2014, the Council for Strategic Planning, a consultative multi-stakeholder body mandated to provide advice in key areas for sustainable development and to elaborate the Strategic Plan of the State of Nuevo León 2015-2030. Five years after the elaboration of the Strategic Plan, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented challenge to governments’ capacities to deliver on their policy objectives. In this context, close monitoring and credible evaluation remain as relevant as ever to sustaining the implementation of long-term objectives and the delivery of results.
This report draws on the OECD’s expertise on public governance, including its work on centres of government and insights on monitoring and evaluation, as a critical tool to achieve results. It contributes to the OECD‘s programme of work on evidence informed policy and on the strategic functions of the centre of government.
This review provides an assessment of Nuevo León’s monitoring and evaluation system for the Strategic Plan 2015-2030, as well as of the general role of the council in providing policy advice. The report identifies some structural limitations in the current institutional set up and recommends clarifying the respective responsibilities of the council and of the state public administration with regards to monitoring and evaluation. To that end, this Review recommends strengthening the advisory function of the council, by focusing its mandate on the evaluation of the Strategic Plan and on providing the government with credible evidence. The report also suggests strengthening of the capacities of the government to monitor the implementation of the Strategic Plan.
The analysis of the report draws on a wealth of comparative international experiences to promote sustainable development through long-term planning, as well as monitoring and evaluation of policy priorities through inclusive and participatory processes involving citizens and businesses. It also provides a concrete plan of action to help Nuevo León address the methodological, institutional, and systemic issues identified in this report. The recommendations of this report seek to promote an evidence informed approach to public governance, and, ultimately, help Nuevo León deliver better results for citizens and promote trust in government, paving the way for an inclusive recovery.