The Global Action Plan for healthy lives and well-being for all (GAP) initiative, launched in 2018, seeks to enhance interagency collaboration and accelerate progress towards the health-related targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UNFPA, along with 12 other agencies— Gavi, GFF, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, ILO, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, UNITAID, UN Women, WFP, WHO, and the World Bank—are signatories to this initiative. 

In 2024, WHO Evaluation Office led a joint evaluation of the GAP initiative. The UNFPA Independent Evaluation Office participated in the Evaluation Management Group, alongside evaluation offices from GEF, Global Fund, ILO, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, UNITAID, UN Women, WFP, and the World Bank. Covering 67 countries where the GAP approach was applied, the evaluation assesses the coherence, effectiveness, and sustainability of collaborative efforts from 2019 to 2024 at the country, regional, and global levels. The evaluation results are informing discussions among agency principals on the future of the GAP.

The evaluation concludes that, globally, the GAP aligns well with current and past international health initiatives, demonstrating continuity and opportunities to build on previous work. However, despite initial support from agency principals, achieving interagency coherence and country engagement has been challenging. While there is insufficient evidence to definitively conclude that the GAP has met, or will meet, its objectives of accelerating progress towards SDG 3 targets, it has not hindered progress. Importantly, the sustainability of the GAP and its outcomes must be considered within the broader context of global health and individual country contexts, where few are on track to achieve SDG 3 targets.

Based on the evaluation results, two potential paths forward were proposed. The first path suggests closing out the current GAP within six to twelve months, contingent upon the agencies reaching a consensus on whether closure serves their collective best interest. Alternatively, the second path recommends developing a new framework that retains select GAP elements. This evaluation equips signatory agencies with the necessary information—including evidence, benefits, trade-offs, and risks—to inform their decision-making regarding the future of the GAP. The management response accepts the first option and commits to preparing a 6-9 month sunsetting and close-out action plan with key milestones.
 

UNFPA has a bold vision: a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled. The UNFPA Strategic Plan 2022-2025 is a crucial stepping stone towards this vision, focusing on three transformative results: ending preventable maternal deaths, ending unmet need for family planning, and ending gender-based violence and harmful practices. This plan is the second in a series of three strategic plans until 2030, each building on the last to accelerate progress towards the three transformative results.

This independent evaluation assesses the organizational readiness and strategic positioning of UNFPA to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the three transformative results, and provides evidence and insights for the development of the next UNFPA Strategic Plan 2026-2029. In particular, the evaluation examines two key innovations: six accelerators designed to drive faster results, and twelve strategic shifts that represent UNFPA's commitment to adapt and evolve its approach, to support the implementation of the strategic plan.

The evaluation concludes that while successive strategic plans aiming for the three transformative results provide continuity and focus, they require adaptability, with acceleration remaining relevant yet potentially insufficient for countries facing setbacks. The evaluation recommends to focus the next strategic plan on further acceleration - rather than unfinished business - and ensuring that efforts to protect the ICPD agenda are fully integrated into the approach.

While the three transformative results effectively focused UNFPA resources on key priorities, they do not fully encompass all stakeholder needs or the organization’s broader contributions to the ICPD Programme of Action and the Sustainable Development Goals. The next strategic plan should clarify the UNFPA strategic positioning in population dynamics and other key areas of work (such as HIV, gender equality, youth and adolescence and ageing) and the direct contribution of these areas to the SDGs and ICPD Programme of Action.

The shifts in the Strategic Plan 2022-2025 demanded substantial organizational effort, with clearer guidance, and needed to consider internal capacity constraints, especially in smaller country offices. The evaluation recommends operationalizing acceleration by clarifying and strengthening linkages between concepts and programming approaches well in advance of the launch of the new strategic plan.

A clearer approach to acceleration in the next strategic plan, and the country programmes, is needed in order to enhance coherence across UNFPA initiatives, align modes of engagement and guide human resource priorities at the country level. The evaluation recommends strengthening capacities to undertake the critical measures that will support acceleration, especially in normative work, funding to finance, knowledge management and strategic communications.

Finally, UNFPA has improved its humanitarian response capacity but needs clearer guidance and strategic integration to coordinate and implement resilience, humanitarian, development and peace efforts within resource constraints. The evaluation recommends better integration of humanitarian, development and peace-responsive interventions while taking into account the different and changing contexts within which UNFPA works.
 

The evaluation aims to demonstrate accountability for the performance of the fifth-country programme of UNFPA Kazakhstan. It also aims to support evidence-based decision-making to inform the development of the next country programme. The evaluation focused on UNFPA contribution to changing discriminatory social norms in Kazakhstan to accelerate the reduction in the unmet need for family planning and the reduction of gender-based violence.

This evaluation provides an independent assessment of the 9th programme cycle of UNFPA Ethiopia. The evaluation assesses the geographic and demographic coverage of UNFPA humanitarian assistance and draws key conclusions from past and current cooperation to provide a set of clear, forward-looking and actionable recommendations for the next programme cycle.

Les objectifs généraux assignés à cette évaluation consistaient d’une part, à fournir une appréciation indépendante du 5ème CPD au Bureau de Pays de l’UNFPA, au Gouvernement de la RDC, aux partenaires de mise en oeuvre du Bureau de Pays au niveau national et provincial, aux détenteurs de droits impliqués dans les interventions et les organisations qui les représentent, à l’UNCT, au Bureau régional UNFPA ESARO, aux bailleurs de fonds., au Siège de l’UNFPA, ainsi qu'au public en général ; et d’autre part, à élargir la base de données factuelles pour la conception du prochain cycle de programme. De manière spécifique, cette évaluation devait permettre : (i) d’apprécier de façon indépendante la conception, la pertinence, l’efficacité, l’efficience, la durabilité et la coordination des appuis de l’UNFPA ; (ii) d’apprécier le rôle joué par le bureau UNFPA RDC concernant les mécanismes de coordination de l’UNCT en vue d’améliorer la contribution collective des Nations-Unies aux résultats du développement ; et (iii) de tirer des conclusions sur la coopération passée et actuelle, et fournir un ensemble de recommandations claires, stratégiques et concrètes pour le prochain cycle de programme.

This evaluation independently assesses the UNFPA Angola 8th country programme, offering evidence-based insights to inform the design of the next programme cycle. The evaluation also assesses the geographic and demographic coverage of the UNFPA humanitarian assistance, and the organization's ability to integrate immediate, life-saving support with long-term development goals.

At the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, progress on SDG 5 on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls has stalled. Recognizing this challenge, the independent evaluation offices of UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP collaborated to conduct an inter-agency synthesis of United Nations system evaluations related to SDG 5.

The dataset of SDG 5 evaluations included 619 evaluation reports from 33 United Nations entities. Of these, nearly half of the evaluations were chosen for further analysis. The analysis synthesised evidence on what helps and hinders progress, what approaches work and do not work, and key lessons and evidence gaps across the nine targets of SDG 5.

The report identifies several factors that contribute to progress towards SDG 5. These include the critical role of the United Nations towards advancing gender-responsive legislation, and the effectiveness of integrated and holistic programming. The report further highlights the use of knowledge, data and research to support advocacy efforts, technical support and capacity strengthening, and the essential role of civil society partners in driving progress towards SDG 5. 

However, operationalizing the principle of ‘leaving no one behind’ remains a challenge. Prioritising gender in humanitarian situations must be more sustained and comprehensive. Stronger and innovative monitoring and evaluation approaches are needed to assess contribution more rigorously towards gender equality outcomes. Harmful social norms and inadequate financing for gender equality initiatives remain significant barriers. Government commitment and institutional readiness are critical enabling factors for the development and implementation of legislation, policies and services. Evaluations also highlight the detrimental impact of COVID-19 on gender equality outcomes and programming across the targets. 

These findings can catalyse action by providing policymakers, programme implementers, donors and United Nations agencies with evidence and lessons learned to speed up collective efforts to accelerate progress on SDG 5. 

Getting there together: A synthesis of inter-agency programme evaluations on SDG 5: A companion to ‘Are we getting there? A synthesis of UN system evaluations of SDG 5’

With a growing emphasis on United Nations inter-agency collaboration, this companion report analyses 68 inter-agency evaluations, including those that were excluded from the main synthesis report due to their 2023 completion date. This analysis provides unique insights into joint United Nations programming for SDG 5, examining its strategic significance, effectiveness, coherence, enabling factors, barriers, recommendations, evidence gaps, and lessons learned. Specifically, this report explores the role of inter-agency work in achieving SDG 5 targets, successful collaborative practices, areas for improved coordination, and existing knowledge gaps.