Burkina Faso Evaluates COVID-19 Response, with GEI Support

In March 2024, the Government of Burkina Faso launched an evaluation of the socioeconomic impact on households and businesses of the COVID-19 response in the West African nation. 

The General Directorate of Economy and Planning, Ministry of Economy, Finance and Foresight will manage the evaluation—with support from the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI), the Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Francophone Africa (CLEAR-FA), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 

The evaluation is part of the COVID-19 Global Evaluation Coalition, an independent collaborative project made up of the development evaluation units of countries, United Nations organizations, and multilateral institutions. 

"The evaluation should enable us to look at aspects such as governance, implementation and communication," said Dr. Larba Issa Kobiagda, Vice-President of Burkina Faso's National Evaluation Commission. "And to see whether or not we have achieved the expected results. Based on the limitations that the evaluation will bring to light, it will enable the government to improve its approach and have a more effective system to deal with future crises." 

A qualitative survey will be carried out among those involved in implementing the government's pandemic response plan, monitoring, technical and financial partners and beneficiaries' umbrella organizations. The evaluation will also examine the extent to which international development and humanitarian aid provided to the country aligned with national strategic priorities and supported the national response plan. 

GEI, in collaboration with the OECD-DAC Secretariat, has been providing technical assistance to country-led evaluations of national COVID-19 policy responses in Malawi, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. The Coalition partnered with GEI to support governments interested in evaluating their national responses to COVID-19, including the extent to which humanitarian and development cooperation effectively supported those responses. Evaluations look at individual interventions (such as cash transfers) or provide a high-level assessment of the overall response at the country level.  

The evaluation is expected to end in October 2024.