Government of Brazil and UNICEF launch Executive Course for Evaluation Leaders

October 24, 2025, Brasília – Government and civil society leaders gathered last week at the National School of Public Administration (ENAP) for a training session aimed at strengthening Brazil’s culture of evaluation and expanding the impact of public policies on people’s lives.

The Executive Course for Evaluation Leaders (ExCEL) in Brazil is the result of a strategic partnership between UNICEF and ENAP, formalized earlier this year through a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two institutions, in collaboration with the National University of Singapore, an academic reference for this training. This edition also received support from the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Institute for Applied Economic Research.

ExCEL aims to train leaders committed to the strategic use of evaluation to enhance public policy. UNICEF has implemented the course in 10 previous editions across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean in English, French, and Spanish. In partnership with ENAP, this marks the first national adaptation of ExCEL and the first time it has been delivered in Portuguese.

“The implementation of this course marks an important step in building evaluation leadership at the federal level. Our goal is also to expand this experience to state and municipal levels, strengthening institutional capacities across the country – just as we do with the UNICEF Seal. We want evaluation to increasingly become a tool for management, learning, and informed decision-making in every corner of Brazil,” said Layla Saad, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Brazil, during her opening remarks.

In her opening speech, Betânia Lemos, President of ENAP, emphasized: “It is an honor for ENAP to host this first national edition of ExCEL, an initiative that reinforces our commitment to excellence in the training of public leaders. May this experience inspire new practices, strengthen collaboration networks, and consolidate a culture of evaluation that helps us build fairer, more effective, and transformative public policies, with equity and diversity.”

In total, 42 participants are taking part in the training. On the government side, participants include representatives from the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship, Ministry of Racial Equality, Ministry of Women, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Planning and Budget, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Regional Integration, Ministry of Social Development, Family and the Fight Against Hunger, Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sports, the Federal Court of Accounts, the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research (INEP/MEC), IPEA, the Office of the Comptroller General (CGU), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, and the National Council of State Planning Secretaries in addition to ENAP itself.

Civil society was represented by members of the Brazilian Network for Monitoring and Evaluation, EvalYouth Brazil, and the Unibanco Institute.