Independent evaluation of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF)

In April 2024, the GFF commissioned EHG in consortium with Waci Health to conduct an external, independent evaluation of its model, operations and results.

The GFF, launched in 2015, strives to advance the health, rights and opportunities of women, children and adolescents to accelerate progress towards Universal Health Care, close equity gaps, and promote gender equality. Despite progress, over 60 countries, are lagging in meeting global goals for reducing maternal, newborn, and stillborn mortality, exacerbated by external challenges such as climate change and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a World Bank analysis, over 40 governments are projected to decrease their health spending between now and 2027 compared to pre-COVID-19 levels, placing additional strain on the health financing of global health initiatives.

In light of these developments, GFF commissioned the evaluation, which will be carried out by a team of external consultants together with in-house EHG and Waci Health staff, in the period May to November 2024. While focussing on the most recent strategic period 2021-2025, the evaluation will cover the full lifetime of the GFF since 2015.

The evaluation has two main objectives:

• To generate evidence, strengthen accountability, and enable learning on the GFF model (such as the country engagement model, operational structure, and related support modalities) and 2021-2025 strategy.
• To inform course corrections and strengthening actions for the remainder of the current strategy period as well as informing the development of the next GFF strategy (2026 onwards).

The evaluation team has gathered evidence from document reviews and interviews with key stakeholders in the GFF Secretariat, the Steering Committee, international development partners, CSOs, as well as national stakeholders in 10 of the 36 GFF-supported countries. Further, two online surveys have been conducted; one global-level and one country-level, covering all GFF-supported countries.

The primary audiences for this evaluation are the GFF Trust Fund Committee (TFC), the Investors Group, GFF partner countries, and the GFF Secretariat; and findings and recommendations of the evaluation will inform the development of the next GFF strategy covering 2026-2030.