A new OECD series on Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) is key to sound policy decision making and ongoing learning and improvement of policies and programmes. M&E systems provides detailed information about how well governments are achieving their objectives, which in turn promotes public confidence in government decision making among all relevant stakeholders.

The OECD is contributing to this expanding body of knowledge through a new series of reports on M&E:

• Guidance for an M&E for case management in Lithuania
• Implementation of the M&E framework for Spain's Youth Guarantee Plus Plan 2021-2027
• Guidance for an M&E framework for Italy’s Universal Civil Service
• Guidance for an M&E framework for Ireland’s child and youth policies (forthcoming)
• Guidance for an M&E framework for community participatory processes in health and social services in the Basque country, Spain (forthcoming)

 

Technical support for Spain

The OECD and the European Commission are supporting the Spanish State Public Employment Service (Servicio de Empleo Público Estatal, SEPE) with the design and implementation of a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework for their Youth Guarantee Plus (YG+) Plan 2021-2027.

The YG+ Plan has as main objectives for the upcoming seven years: i) recover the quality of youth employment; ii) fight the youth employment gender gap; and iii) reduce youth unemployment. To achieve those objectives, the plan includes 69 measures grouped into six separate work streams, namely: i) orientation; ii) training; iii) employment opportunities; iv) equal access to employment opportunities; v) entrepreneurship; and vi) improvement of the institutional framework.

As part of a technical support programme financed by the European Commission, a mid-term evaluation of the YG+ Plan will be undertaken by the OECD between 2023 and 2025, measuring the degree of implementation of the programme and any preliminary changes observed in the outcomes of interest across the Spanish regions.

 

Outputs and activities Phase I - Design of a Monitoring and Evaluation framework
Development and validation of the Theory of Change	Development of the Monitoring Framework	Proposal of a Monitoring and Evaluation approach
Programme’s documentation review and Key Informant Interviews with YG+ management team Delivery of a series of in-country, participatory Theory of Change workshops with regional representatives in charge of the implementation of YG+ Plan	Design of a comprehensive set of indicators (both quantitative and qualitative) for the monitoring of outputs, intermediate outcomes, and outcomes detailed in the Theory of Change  Key Informant Interviews with data managers and IT staff of the YG+ team	Proposal of a Monitoring and Evaluation approach for the YG+ Plan Delivery of a workshop to present the proposal of a Monitoring and Evaluation approach and discuss next steps
Phase II -  Design and Implementation of a mid-term evaluation
Development and validation of the mid-term evaluation framework	Implementation of the mid-term evaluation	Proposal of recommendations and Action Plan
Desk-based research Workshop with SEPE, regional PES and other social actors to collect feedback on the proposed mid-term evaluation framework	Design and implementation of quantitative and qualitative data collection Systematic mixed-methods analysis of the evidence gathered	Proposal of recommendations to improve the implementation of the YG+ Plan Development of an Action Plan, detailing ways in which SEPE and other stakeholders could respond to the challenges identified and build on the successes achieved
Relevance for other countries This type of support could be relevant for other countries wishing to develop and implement a M&E framework for their youth policies. For instance, the OECD is currently working with the European Commission (DG-Reform) and the Irish and Italian authorities to collect evidence on the impact of youth policies and assess and improve their monitoring system for youth policies and outcomes. This project is part of a broader effort by the OECD to help countries improve their youth policies.
Related work - OECD work on Youth employment and social policies - Impact Evaluations Framework for the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Economy and the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations - Digital tool for PES counsellors in Spain - Modernisation of the management of statistical and analytical information at the Spanish Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security
Contact: Social.Contact@oecd.org