An innovation lab for impact-based social policies in Guatemala

Guatemala is one of the countries in Latin America with inequality that is well above average: 55% of the population lives in poverty, 18% in extreme poverty, and 46% of children under the age of five are chronically malnourished. 57.68% of Guatemalans are included on the Multidimensional Poverty Index, with levels much higher (76.3%) in rural and indigenous areas.

Despite a national strategy like Mano a Mano targeting 1.8 million families in extreme poverty, social programs by the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES), such as Beca Artesano (a program which pays people if they train in artisan skills) and Bono Emergencia (emergency aid to deal with climate or economic shocks), are affected by unequal cover, unclear targeting and lack of thorough assessments. Many are 12 years old and need to be modernized to be included in interministerial data and behavioral and gender-based approaches.

The SDI-Lab takes inspiration from institutional innovation laboratories developed in Chile, Peru or Brazil. It is being set up in the Department of Design and Regulation in the Vice-Ministry of Policy, Planning and Evaluation, guaranteeing its institutional anchoring from the outset. The SDI-Lab has a three-part approach:

• Steering and monitoring-evaluation: The Beca Artesano and Bono Emergencia social programs will be assessed and revised to include behavioral and gender-sensitive elements to boost women's economic autonomy in particular.
• Boosting capacities: J-PAL LAC and UVG teams will spend at least three days a week within the ministry. All departments involved will be made aware of assessment culture through training sessions, communities of practice and a learning platform.
• Institutionalization of governance: A ministerial agreement will formalize a governance and operations manual, meaning the innovation procedures, impact assessment protocols and data management standards will be firmly established in normal operation in MIDES.

With a general election coming up in 2027, a transition plan will ensure that the SDI-Lab remains beyond the current mandate.

By giving MIDES practical tools to design, test and adjust its programs, the SDI-LAB aims to lastingly transform the way social policies are drawn up in Guatemala. The initiative will ultimately allow better targeting of the most vulnerable communities, cost-effectiveness improvement of an annual budget that exceeds 280 million euros, and provide solid evidence before any large-scale roll-out.

Looking beyond the two managed programs, the SDI-Lab wants to ensure that robust assessment becomes standard in the ministry: positions responsible for self-assessment and data management will be included in the organization chart, and recurring budget items will be included in annual financial planning. The model is designed to be copied, meaning it could be applied by other Guatemalan ministries, or even other countries in the region undertaking similar approaches to evidence-based transformation of public policy.