PAHO’s Evaluation function is a core pillar of organizational accountability, transparency, and continuous learning. Building on the momentum of PAHO Forward 2.0 and advancing toward PAHO Forward 3.0, evaluation has evolved from a compliance-driven function into a strategic instrument that informs decision-making, strengthens results-based management, and supports health equity across the Americas.
Revised PAHO Evaluation Policy (2025)
PAHO’s Evaluation Policy, first adopted in 2021, was revised and approved in 2025 to reflect emerging good practices, lessons learned, and evolving organizational needs. The revised policy strengthens:
- Utility and use of evaluations, by formalizing Executive Management’s role in following up on recommendations;
- Transparency, by mandating the publication of all external evaluation reports;
- Ethics, independence, and quality, in alignment with UNEG and UN system standards;
This revision reinforces PAHO’s commitment to evaluations as strategic learning tools that inform policies, strategies, and programmatic adjustments.
Evaluation Handbook and operational guidance
To operationalize the policy, PAHO continues to implement its Evaluation Handbook (2022), complemented by Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for evaluation management, dissemination, and follow-up. The Handbook and key guidance materials are available in English and Spanish, ensuring broad accessibility for Headquarters, Country Offices, and Member States.
Additional e-learning materials, visual guidelines, and job aids, derived from the Handbook, support the consistent design, conduct, and use of both corporate and decentralized evaluations.
Evaluation evidence is systematically integrated into PAHO’s governance and strategic dialogue with Member States. Recent engagements include:
- 62nd Directing Council (September 2025): presentation of independent evaluative evidence, including the Evaluation of Gender Equality in PAHO’s Technical Cooperation in Health in the Americas (2005 – 2023) and the Mid-term Review of the Sustainable Health Agenda for the Americas 2018–2030 (SHAA2030), to inform deliberations and the transition toward the Strategic Plan 2026–2031;
- 18th Session of the Subcommittee on Program, Budget, and Administration (SPBA) and Executive Management briefings: updates on key evaluation findings and the status of implementation of recommendations;
- Strategic Dialogues led by the Director: use of evaluation results, particularly from the Evaluation of the Results-Based Management (RBM) framework, to strengthen a shared results-and-learning culture.
These engagements ensure that evaluation findings are not only reported, but actively used to guide institutional priorities, budget policies, and strategic reforms.
Embedding evaluation in planning and learning cycles
Evaluation is fully embedded across PAHO’s planning, monitoring, and learning architecture. During the consolidation of the Biennial Work Plan (BWP) 2026–2027, the Evaluation team reviewed inputs from all entities and Country Offices to:
- ensure planned corporate and decentralized evaluations are aligned with strategic priorities;
- confirm the systematic integration of evaluation recommendations into planning instruments;
- map projected evaluation activities for the biennium, creating a clear evaluation roadmap.
This integration strengthens coherence between planning, implementation, evaluation, and learning, reinforcing PAHO’s results-based management framework.
PAHO Evaluation provides continuous technical support to Country Offices and technical entities in designing, managing, and using decentralized evaluations. In 2024–2025, support included:
- methodological guidance aligned with the Evaluation Handbook;
- participation in Evaluation Reference Groups (ERGs);
- targeted backstopping to Country Offices managing complex or donor-funded evaluations;
- quality assurance of evaluation outputs, including ToRs, inception, and final reports.
This support strengthens country-level evaluation capacity and enhances the relevance and impact of PAHO’s technical cooperation.