This week, we focus on a critical topic for the Western Balkans: strengthening the region’s policy evaluation systems to support evidence-based decision-making.
Why This Matters: The Western Balkans are undergoing significant challenges, with growing pressure to align with EU standards and climate goals. A robust policy evaluation system is key to improving governance, enhancing transparency, and ensuring the effective use of public resources.
Key Challenges:
- Lack of systematic evaluations and inconsistent practices across the region
- Insufficient budget and capacity for comprehensive evaluations
- Gaps in transparency and public accessibility of evaluation reports
Why It’s Urgent: As the region works toward EU accession, adopting structured national evaluation policies and enhancing data quality will help ensure more accountable governance. The EU’s push for evidence-based policymaking makes this reform even more critical.
Solutions We Can Take:
- Strengthening evaluation systems and fostering a culture of transparency
- Investing in capacity building for better policy assessments
- Promoting the regular use of ex-post evaluations to improve long-term outcomes
Dive into the policy brief for a deeper look at actionable recommendations and strategies for the region.