The response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Americas was a historical challenge to PAHO. This evaluation, published in June 2023, assesses PAHO's performance and offers a roadmap to ensure that the Organization can more effectively address and mitigate the impact of future public health emergencies. The report offers a range of actionable and practical evidence-based recommendations that have been translated into an Action Plan, equipping PAHO with the tools and knowledge to respond more effectively to emerging health crises. To implement the recommendations, an organization-wide management response plan was developed with the engagement of all responsible entities across PAHO.
“This first external evaluation of the COVID-19 response among all World Health Organization (WHO) regions symbolizes a significant milestone for PAHO and the global public health community. The endeavor reflects PAHO’s steadfast dedication to learning from major public health emergency responses, with a view to better prepare the Organization for the future.”
In August 2023, the final report of the Evaluation of PAHO's technical cooperation in noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention and control was made public, with annexes that complement the main document. This evaluation provides an independent assessment of the Organization's performance and of its ability to achieve desired outcomes in this pervasive public health issue, with focus on the implementation of the Regional Plan of Action for the Prevention and Control of NCDs in the Americas for the period 2013 to 2019.
This Evaluation assessed the implementation of PAHO’s RBM framework across the main criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, and of coordination. The primary objective of this evaluation was to determine whether RBM is fulfilling its intended purpose within PAHO's operations and whether RBM adds substantial value to the Organization's work. The final report publication and the dissemination and follow-up phases are expected to take place during the first half of 2024.
This evaluation intends to examine PAHO's role in promoting gender equality within the health sector. The goal is to gauge the extent to which PAHO's efforts align with its stated objectives in advancing gender equality in health outcomes, providing insights into the Organization's contributions in this area of crucial importance. The evaluation design and planning started in 2023, with the establishment of the Evaluation Reference Group, the preparation of the evaluation Terms of Reference, and launch of a bid for the competitive procurement of an external firm. The selected firm is currently conducting the evaluation, which will extend throughout 2024.
In May 2023, PAHO completed an initial assessment of the implementation of the Plan of Action on Human Resources for Health considering data until December 2021. A full evaluation of technical cooperation in human resources for health will be conducted in the 2024-2025 biennium.
Besides managing PAHO corporate evaluations and supporting decentralized ones, a large part of the work performed by PAHO’s evaluation function includes the support to and participation in corporate evaluations conducted by WHO. As the Regional Office for the Americas, PAHO channels the collection, sharing and management of information from its Member States to WHO headquarters when required during an evaluation process at global level. In 2023, PAHO completed or initiated support to eight WHO evaluations approved by its Director.