Evaluation Matters
WHO Evaluation News: Issue 13, December 2024
Evaluation as a transformative tool
As 2024 draws to a close, this issue reflects on how evaluation is shaping global health strategies and strengthening organizational practices. Highlights include recommendations for transforming evaluation into a strategic tool for learning and accountability, drawn from several completed evaluations along with insights from the joint evaluation of the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All, offering valuable lessons on fostering inter-agency collaboration to achieve health-related SDG targets. Explore findings from recent evaluations of the Member State mechanism on substandard and falsified medical products, WHO’s disability policy, and a preview of upcoming evaluations, including WHO’s contribution to WASH and health, and the mid-term evaluation of the Global Task Force on Cholera Control. In 2025, we will expand our country programme evaluations in Bhutan, Jordan, Mongolia, and Somalia, and launch a new strategic first independent evaluation of the Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) mechanism and approach.
We wish you a restful holiday and a New Year filled with purpose and achievement.
In the spotlight
Unlock the potential of evaluation: From obligation to opportunity
In this article Moving Organisations from 'Having to' to 'Wanting to' Evaluate published by Better Evaluation, WHO Evaluation examines how organizations can shift evaluation from being a compliance-driven obligation to a strategic tool for learning, accountability and decision-making. Drawing on extensive experience, it provides five actionable recommendations to strengthen systems and foster a culture of evidence-based practice.
To read the article, click here.
Trust the process: Evaluation drives strategic, evidence-based progress
WHO's Lead for the Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) Strategy Secretariat explores the role of evaluation as a strategic tool in advancing the global effort to eliminate yellow fever epidemics. The article highlights how the mid-term evaluation of the Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) Strategy has influenced its progress and provides valuable insights for programme managers on using evaluations to drive evidence-based improvements and achieve long-term objectives.
To read the article, click here.
Djibouti: Strengthening WHO's role through collaborative evaluation
In October 2024, a high-level evaluation workshop was held to assess WHO's contributions in Djibouti from 2019 to 2023. The workshop was attended by WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), regional and country leadership teams, technical teams, representatives from Djibouti's Ministry of Health, the UN Resident Coordinator, UN agencies, donors and other partners. It provided an opportunity for stakeholders to review key findings and recommendations from the recent country programme evaluation. The success of this workshop demonstrating the use of the evaluation led to attracting new donors at the Country Office level.
The independent evaluation highlighted successes in maternal and child health, tuberculosis control, and the COVID-19 response. It also identified gaps in health system coherence and sustainability. The recommendations focused on the implementation of a Country Cooperation Strategy, strengthening primary health care, enhancing multi-sectoral collaboration and ensuring sustainable health financing. WHO reaffirmed its commitment to addressing these recommendations in collaboration with its partners.
The workshop aimed to formulate actionable strategies that will help build resilient health systems and improve health outcomes across Djibouti, with the active participation of all stakeholders.
To read the evaluation report, click here.
Importance of joint evaluation in global health initiatives
Joint evaluations with UN/multilateral organizations play a critical role in advancing global health initiatives like the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All (SDG3 GAP). These evaluations foster shared accountability, collective learning and strategic recalibration to improve the effectiveness of inter-agency collaboration.
The SDG3 GAP’s independent evaluation (2019–2024) assessed efforts to align agency actions, strengthen country-level engagement and accelerate progress towards the health-related SDG targets. The evaluation provides actionable insights for refining strategies and better meeting local health priorities.
A participatory and utilization-focused approach was employed throughout the process, from planning to dissemination. This approach ensured ownership and fostered active learning and accountability among the 13 signatory agencies. These agencies not only funded the joint evaluation but also played key roles in its governance. While the WHO Evaluation Office took the lead in steering the process from inception to completion, the signatory agencies contributed as members of the management group, ensuring the rigour of the approach, methods, implementation and quality assurance. Additionally, they participated in the reference group, ensuring that the recommendations were practical and directly informed decision-making.
To read the evaluation report, click here.
Overview of recent evaluations
Reports and management responses are published on our website here.
Member State Mechanism on Substandard and Falsified Medical Products
The recently completed independent evaluation of the Member State Mechanism on Substandard and Falsified Medical Products (MSMech) provides a crucial roadmap for enhancing global efforts to safeguard public health. This unique evaluation reviewed a subsidiary body of the WHO’s governing bodies.
Requested by the Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly, the evaluation assessed the progress of the mechanism since its last review in 2017, covering activities through the end of 2023. Guided by the terms of reference developed by the MSMech’s Steering Committee, it focused on how effectively the mechanism has achieved its goals.
The evaluation offers valuable insights and strategic recommendations to guide the mechanism's future, ensuring its continued effectiveness against the growing threat of substandard and falsified medical products. During the Thirteenth MSMech Plenary Meeting in November, the draft management response was reviewed, and options for next steps and follow-up actions were explored. The summary of the evaluation will be considered at the 156th session of the Executive Board in February 2025.
To read the evaluation report, click here.
WHO's Policy on Disability
The evaluation of the WHO Policy on Disability assessed its implementation from 2019 to 2024 across WHO operations, focusing on both programmatic and operational aspects. It identifies strengths such as strong alignment with the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS) at the headquarters level and increased awareness of disability inclusion across the organization.
The evaluation emphasizes the need for clearer roles, enhanced training, improved data collection, and more robust partnerships with organizations of persons with disabilities to ensure long-term sustainability. Key recommendations include refining the policy to reflect WHO's decentralized structure, improving the integration of disability inclusion, and enhancing resource allocation to support inclusive practices globally.
To read the evaluation report, click here.
WHO’s contribution to Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH) and Health
The evaluation of WHO’s contribution to Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH) and Health focuses on the impact of the WHO Global WASH Strategy (2018-2025). The strategy aims to improve global health by promoting access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene in alignment with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 and the human right to water and sanitation. This evaluation examined the strategy's overall effectiveness, including its relevance to global health priorities, its ability to address emerging challenges, and the extent to which it has influenced health systems globally.
Ongoing evaluations
An overview of evaluations in progress.
Global Health Days (2019-2023)
The evaluation seeks to assess the effectiveness and impact of WHO's Global Health Days, ensuring alignment with global health priorities and improving campaign execution. It will provide recommendations to enhance future campaigns.
Global Task Force on Cholera Control (2017-2030)
The evaluation examines the relevance, effectiveness, and sustainability of the Global Task Force on Cholera Control and its roadmap strategy midway through implementation. It aims to inform future strategic decisions and operational adjustments, considering evolving global and local cholera dynamics.
WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases
The evaluation of the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (GCM/NCD) will assess its effectiveness, added value and relevance in supporting the implementation of the Global NCD Action Plan. The evaluation will review the results achieved by the GCM/NCD from 2014 to 2020, examine its progress in fostering multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder engagement and consider lessons learned. It also seeks to assess the uptake of previous recommendations and determine the mechanism’s continued role in helping countries meet the 2025 global NCD targets. The findings will inform the future direction of the GCM/NCD.
UN Interagency Taskforce on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases
The taskforce, established in 2013 through the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resolution (E/RES/2013/12), comprises over 40 UN agencies and intergovernmental organizations. Its secretariat is hosted by WHO. The evaluation aims to assess the taskforce's key achievements in relation to its stated objectives, document critical lessons learned and provide recommendations for future actions. The findings from this evaluation are expected to inform the development of the next strategic plan, set for 2026.
Upcoming evaluations
Country Programmes in Bhutan, Jordan, Mongolia and Somalia
Country-level evaluations of WHO’s contributions are integral to assessing the organization's performance in alignment with national priorities and needs. These evaluations, part of the biennial organization-wide work plan, examine the impact of WHO’s support on public health outcomes, identifying achievements, gaps, and lessons learned. Evaluations of WHO country office programmes are key to informing the development of the next Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) by assessing progress against key health strategies, and providing strategic insights for future alignment with WHO’s 14th General Programme of Work, as well as to engender trust with Member States and donors necessary to attract additional resources.
Global Health Cluster
In September 2024, WHO commissioned an independent formative evaluation of the Global Health Cluster. WHO has been the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) designated Cluster Lead Agency (CLA) for Health since 2005. WHO implements its CLA mandate through the Global Health Cluster (GHC) unit, hosted within the Humanitarian Department of the WHO Emergencies Programme. The GHC programme of work and its support to country health clusters is guided by the GHC Strategy 2020-2025 and annual workplans. At the country office level, WHO Heads of Country Offices (HWCO) are responsible and accountable for the activities of the Health Cluster when WHO is designated as CLA in a specific country.
The overall purpose of the evaluation is to assess the extent to which the Global Health Cluster is fit for purpose, with a view to making recommendations that feed into the preparation of the Cluster’s next Strategic Plan. To this end, the evaluation will prioritize learning but will also support the accountability of WHO’s cluster leadership responsibilities; therefore, it will have both formative and summative components. The latter will focus on progress achieved, particularly GHC Strategic Plan Strategic Priorities and core functions of country-level clusters. The formative component will focus on learning to underpin forward-looking recommendations.
At the country level, the evaluation will seek to understand the key priorities of WHO in its CLA role and those of its partners, recognizing the ongoing importance of locally-driven humanitarian assistance, accountability to affected populations, preparedness and the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) nexus. The countries selected for in-country data collection will include Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad and Colombia, while remote data collection will include Sudan, Myanmar and Yemen.
Country Coordination Strategy Mechanism (CCM)
This first independent evaluation of the Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) mechanism and approach will be very strategic in providing systemic learning and insights into the end-to-end process of the CCS as a key planning tool for Country Offices. The CCS serves as a medium-term strategic framework to guide WHO's support for member states, aligning global health priorities with country-specific needs. This evaluation coincides with significant WHO reforms aimed at strengthening country-level impact under the Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13), the upcoming Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW14), as well as the corporate evaluation of results-based management (RBM) and the PAHO/AMRO RBM evaluation.
Recent evaluations revealed gaps in WHO’s RBM approach, results-oriented planning, alignment with national priorities, duplications in three-level planning and results reporting systems, and in maximizing the CCS framework’s integration into WHO’s global and regional strategies. This evaluation seeks to address these challenges by enhancing the CCS's effectiveness, coherence, and adaptability to evolving health needs.
The evaluation, covering the period from 2020 to 2024 (including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on WHO), will assess the CCS framework’s relevance, coherence, and alignment with national and global priorities/strategies; its effectiveness as a strategic tool for planning, resource allocation, and results delivery, and integration with broader WHO systems. It will also examine the sustainability of its health impacts and outcomes; CCS contributions to addressing health needs in fragile and conflict-affected settings and identify how the CCS integrates cross-cutting principles like gender, equity, human rights, and disability inclusion.
Regional and Country Focus
News and updates from WHO regional and country offices.
Egypt: Building an evaluation culture to strengthen country-level impact
During a recent visit by the WHO evaluation team from headquarters to the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean in Cairo, discussions emphasized the importance of establishing a comprehensive evaluation framework to drive meaningful results across the region. Meetings with senior WHO representatives highlighted key lessons from recent evaluations conducted in Djibouti, Iraq and Tunisia. Participants also explored opportunities to expand the use of decentralized evaluations and strengthen the impact of health interventions through evidence-based approaches. Ongoing evaluations of WHO’s work in Jordan and Somalia were reviewed as part of these discussions.
The overarching goal is to institutionalize evaluation processes to more effectively inform regional health strategies. WHO also examined the potential for collaboration with regional UN agencies to refine evaluation practices and create a robust network aimed at enhancing the efficiency and impact of health programmes throughout the region.
Events
Staff share and exchange expertise at global conferences and events.
UN Evaluation Group Sessions: Evaluation Practice Exchange Seminars
How to Integrate the Humanitarian Principles into Evaluations of Humanitarian Action, 14 October 2024
This global webinar was hosted by the Humanitarian Evaluation Working Group to launch the newly published guidance on the integration of humanitarian principles in humanitarian action evaluations. WHO Evaluation contributed to the guidance, which offers valuable tools for ensuring the effective incorporation of humanitarian principles into evaluations in complex settings.
Crafting actionable recommendations, 26 November 2024
WHO Evaluation gave a presentation on the critical role of co-creation in driving the use of evaluations by fostering stakeholder ownership and building alignment with their priorities. These approaches enhance the relevance, transparency, and practical application of evaluation findings, ultimately strengthening their impact.
ALNAP: COVID-19…a catalyst for change or retreat to the familiar?
The WHO Director of the Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases Department participated in this ALNAP event on 17 October. The event focused on the lessons emerging from the pandemic and their application to future humanitarian responses, including the current outbreak of mpox. WHO Evaluation peer-reviewed ALNAP’s evaluation synthesis: The Humanitarian Response to COVID-19: Lessons for Future Pandemics and Global Crises.
The report is available via the link here.
