Programmatic evaluations

Mid-term Evaluation of the Global Task Force on Cholera Control

The Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC), established by WHO in 1992, brings together 48 partner institutions to coordinate global efforts to end cholera. Its 2017 strategy, the Global Roadmap to 2030, aims to reduce cholera deaths by 90% and eliminate the disease in 20 countries by 2030. The GTFCC Steering Committee and Secretariat commissioned an independent mid-term evaluation in 2024 to assess progress, identify challenges and guide future direction.

This evaluation had a dual purpose of accountability and learning. It assessed progress in the delivery of the Global Roadmap, drawing lessons and making recommendations for the direction of travel of the GTFCC to 2030. The scope of the evaluation covered progress on the Global Roadmap implementation since 2017 with a particular focus on coordination and programmatic delivery at the global, regional, and country levels by the GTFCC and partners. 

Mid-term Evaluation of the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (GCM/NCD)  

The Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (GCM/NCD) operates at the global level to support regional and national stakeholders to address the complex environment of multistakeholder and multisectoral action on NCDs. The object of this mid-term evaluation, as requested by Member States through decision WHA74, was to assess the GCM/NCD's new operating model launched in 2022 under the 2022–2025 workplan. It further builds upon the 2020 final evaluation of the GCM, covering the period 2014–2020, and the earlier 2018 preliminary evaluation of the GCM/NCD. The evaluation focuses on progress, achievements, challenges and recommendations for enhancing GCM/NCD’s role in advancing multisectoral and multistakeholder engagement for the prevention and control of NCDs.

This mid-term evaluation covers the period from 2022 to 2024.

Evaluation of WHO's contribution to Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH) and Health: the WHO Global WASH Strategy 2018 – 2025

The WHO WASH Strategy aims to improve health through the safe management of water, sanitation and hygiene services. To implement this strategy, WHO works through partnerships, notably with UNICEF, to promote equitable access to WASH services, support universal health coverage (UHC) and meet critical health and environmental goals, despite human and financial resource constraints.

The evaluation of WHO's contribution to Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH) and Health had a dual purpose of accountability and learning, identifying good practices and opportunities for improvement. It assessed the effectiveness and added value of WHO’s WASH Strategy for health and its interventions. Its findings and recommendations will inform the development of the new WHO strategy.

Evaluation of the WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care

The WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care (SP-PHC) was created in January 2020 to support better integration of WHO’s work on the primary health care (PHC) approach across all levels of the Organization. The present evaluation of the SP-PHC was primarily designed for learning and planning purposes. It had two main objectives: 1. To assess how the SP-PHC, through its three main functions, workstreams and activities is supporting better integration of efforts towards WHO’s PHC objectives at global, regional and country level; and 2. To make recommendations for the future of the SP-PHC in fulfilling its mandate for sustained progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Mid-term evaluation of the Global Strategy to Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) 2017 - 2026

The mid-term evaluation was included as a milestone in the EYE strategy and in the WHO evaluation workplan 2022–2023, and was approved by the WHO Executive Board at its 150th session in January 2022. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the strategy implementation to date and to review inclusion of gender, equity and human rights considerations. This included programme delivery aspects as well as strategy management and governance aspects.

Mid-term evaluation of the implementation of the Strategic Action Plan on Polio Transition (2018–2023)

The mandate to conduct a mid-term evaluation of the implementation of the Strategic Action Plan on Polio Transition (2018–2023) derives from the polio transition roadmap that was prepared to support implementation of the Strategic Action Plan. The objective of this formative evaluation was to assess the status of implementation of the Strategic Action Plan and to propose any modifications needed to adapt to the changing context. The evaluation focused on progress across the 20 polio transition priority countries and further investigated progress at the regional and global levels. It: (a) documented key achievements, best practices, challenges, gaps, and areas for improvement in the design and implementation of the Strategic Action Plan; (b) identified the key contextual factors and changes in the global public health realm that have affected the development and implementation of the Strategic Action Plan and the roadmap developed in 2018; and (c) made recommendations as appropriate on the way forward to enable the successful implementation of the plan. The Executive Summary of this evaluation report will be presented to the Seventy-fifth World Health Assembly in May 2022.

Comprehensive review of the WHO Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (2021)

The mandate to conduct a comprehensive review of the WHO Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance derives from resolution WHA72.5 (2019). The overall purpose of this comprehensive review was to enhance current work on AMR. Based on the five primary objectives of the GAP AMR, the review documents successes, challenges and best practices, and provides lessons learned and recommendations for use by WHO and other GAP AMR stakeholders to guide future implementation of the GAP AMR and to inform decision-making on AMR.

Mid-point evaluation of the implementation of the WHO global action plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases 2013-2020 (NCD-GAP) (2020)

The mandate to conduct a mid-point evaluation of the progress achieved in the implementation of the NCD-GAP derives from paragraph 1(1) of resolution WHA66.10 (2013) which endorsed the NCD-GAP. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the accomplishments of the six objectives of the NCD-GAP as well as the lessons learned through implementation of the NCD-GAP in Member States, by international partners and non-State actors, and at the three levels of WHO. The evaluation report documents successes, challenges and gaps in the implementation of the NCD-GAP since 2013; provides lessons learned and recommendations to improve the implementation of the NCD-GAP until 2030; and provides inputs for the next WHO global status report on noncommunicable diseases, as well as other reports, including on contributions to reducing premature mortality from NCDs by promoting mental health, reducing air pollution and strengthening health systems. The executive summary of the evaluation report was presented to the 148th session of the Executive Board in January 2021. 

Final evaluation of the WHO global coordination mechanism on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (2020)

The terms of reference of the GCM/NCD included a provision for both a preliminary and a final evaluation. Building on the 2017 preliminary evaluation of the GCM/NCD, the objective of the final evaluation was to assess the effectiveness of the GCM/NCD, its added value and its continued relevance to the achievement of the 2025 voluntary global targets, including its possible extension. The scope of the final evaluation involved an assessment of the results derived from the implementation of the workplan covering the period 2018–2019, which reportedly took into account the recommendations of the preliminary evaluation, as well as the workplan for 2020. It also considered the lessons learned and the extent to which the recommendations of the preliminary evaluation were actioned, and to what effect. The executive summary of the evaluation report was presented to the 148th session of the Executive Board in January 2021.

Evaluation of the Global strategy and action plan on ageing and health (2016-2020) (2020)

The purpose of this evaluation was to draw lessons learned from implementation of the Global strategy and action plan in order to inform the WHO Secretariat’s work on the Decade of Healthy Ageing (2020–2030). 

Evaluation of the WHO Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme (2019)

The Evaluation of the WHO Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme, with a special focus on the current neglected tropical diseases road map for implementation, documented the Programme’s successes, challenges and gaps during the period 2014-2017 and provided lessons learned and strategic recommendations for the design and operationalization of the next steps, addressing the remaining toll of neglected tropical diseases in the context of the Thirteenth General Programme of Work, 2019-2023.

Summative evaluation of the WHO Rapid Access Expansion Programme (2018)

Preliminary evaluation of the WHO global coordination mechanism on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (2017)

Review of the Member State mechanism on substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit medical products (2017)

Comprehensive Evaluation of the Implementation of the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (2016)