Evaluation dilemmas: Lessons learned in improving intervention outcomes and sustainability in Latin American communities

A significant number of studies on program evaluations in Latin America have limited, if any, information on procedures, impact, and sustainability. Scholarly work emphasizes how evaluation designs must be deeply cognizant of socioeconomic, ecological, and resource contexts to be effective. The purpose of this article is to bring together research findings from three types of knowledge centered on evaluation processes and practices for working within Latin American countries. A scan of the empirical literature, expert interviews, and a case study are triangulated to assess the barriers and impacts of program evaluations in economically disadvantaged Latin American countries. We conclude by describing long‐standing principles and guidelines for evaluation procedures to promote community engagement and human capital development in all evaluation collaborations. Lessons learned reinforce the tenets of culturally responsive evaluation (CRE) procedures as critical to reproduce interventions that improve the lives of communities. Equity, contextual knowledge, and equal partnership are driving forces in centering social problems and developing human capital and the betterment of community conditions in our partnering countries.