In March 2021, PAHO launched its new Evaluation Policy. The policy allows the publication of evaluation summaries that will help demonstrate the Organization’s transparency and accountability in alignment with the Organization's guidelines and the best international practices and standards. PAHO also developed, in 2022 an Evaluation Handbook to implement the Evaluation Policy and equip PAHO's evaluation practitioners with comprehensive guidance and good practices. ln September 2023, the Evaluation Handbook was also launched in Spanish to increased accessibility by a broader audience of Spanish-speaking users. ln 2023, other evaluation materials, such as reports, manuals, and briefs, were also translated into Spanish in a continuous efforts to resource PAHO staff with the necessary tools for the conduct, management and implementation of sound and impactful evaluations.
PAHO’s governing bodies’ events in 2023 included special sessions that were aimed at reporting to and raising awareness among Member States, of the Organization’s efforts through evaluations. During the 172nd session of PAHO’s Executive Committee on 28 June, PAHO held a Briefing Session to present the Evaluation of PAHO’s Response to COVID-19 (EPRC). The session provided an overview of the evaluation process, methodology, findings and recommendations, and an initial report on the implementation of the evaluations’ recommendations. On 25 September, PAHO hosted the Applying COVID-19 Lessons on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response side event to PAHO's 60th Directing Council, to update on status of implementation of EPRC recommendations.
"Building an evaluation culture at PAHO is pivotal in guiding our new
approaches and has set a benchmark for excellence."
PAHO Evaluation's support extends to different endeavors across the Organization. It has had an active role in assessing the methodology employed for the review of Country Cooperation Strategies (CCS), and their alignment with evaluation principles and practices. Moreover, PAHO Evaluation provides guidance to Country Offices and members of PAHO's Program Management Network on initiatives to enhance organizational learning and overall performance.
PAHO's past evaluations and comparable exercises conducted since 2009 are being reviewed and documented. More than 120 documents have been collected, including assessments, reviews, and other reports. These documents will be stored in PAHO's Evaluation Platform in an effort to preserve the Organization's internal historical memory and add value to past exercises that contain useful lessons for PAHO. It also leverages past investments made in such exercises and promotes better opportunities for the Organization to learn from its past, further fostering a culture of evaluation, organizational learning, and continuous improvement.
ln 2023, the human resources dedicated to evaluation in PAHO Headquarters have increased and it is now supported by an Evaluation and Research Specialist in addition to the continued support by consultants. The function also regularly runs internship programs and has already successfully integrated and trained four international interns. Considering the importance of the evaluation work in PAHO, and the growing participation in WHO evaluations, additional increases are expected for the following biennium.
Also, PAHO constantly updates and expands its rosters of evaluation firms and individual consultants, which now include about 80 providers. With this, PAHO has access to readily available resources to be deployed when needed for evaluations or for the procurement of external firms.