This report presents the findings and lessons from an evaluation of the Gavi Gender Policy. The evaluation was conducted in 2012 by ICF Macro, Inc.
Download the report
This report presents the findings and lessons from an evaluation of the Gavi Gender Policy. The evaluation was conducted in 2012 by ICF Macro, Inc.
Download the reportGavi, the Vaccine Alliance adopted a Gender Policy in 2008. The goal of this policy is “to promote increased coverage, effectiveness and efficiency of immunisation and related health services by ensuring that all girls and boys, women and men, receive equal access to these services.” In addition, the Policy seeks to contribute to efforts to scale up gender mainstreaming and promote gender equality.
The Gender Policy’s guiding principles are to (1) apply a gender perspective to all its work, (2) complement partners’ efforts to promote gender equality in health, (3) promote country ownership and alignment with regard to gender issues, and (4) exercise strong leadership and demonstrate political will.
In 2012, ICF International conducted an evaluation of the Gavi Gender Policy.
This evaluation focused on the Gender Policy’s rationale, design, implementation, and results from January 2009 to August 2012 and assessed the extent to which planned activities were implemented, outputs delivered, and outcomes attained. The intent is that this evaluation will help inform the Gender Policy’s revision.
The ICF Evaluation Team evaluated the Gender Policy by focusing on several key questions.
First, the Team sought to clarify the intent of the Gender Policy, and second, it explored the Policy’s current relevance. Third, the barriers, successes, and challenges at headquarters level, and to a lesser extent, at the programme level were explored.
The extent to which the Gender Policy fulfilled Gavi’s commitments to the Millennium Development Goals and to what extent it is aligned to the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness was also assessed.
Finally, the Team determined whether activities and deliverables in the Implementation Plan were successfully completed in the target timeframe.
The evaluation methodology was largely qualitative, although it did include the use of findings generated by quantitative Gavi data. In order to strengthen their analysis, the evaluators triangulated the data in three ways, 1) data triangulation, 2) investigator triangulation, and 3) theory triangulation.
The evaluation relied heavily on the following methods:
The evaluation found that the Gavi Gender Policy remains relevant to issues of health equity. The policy is generally well-supported among Gavi donors and is in keeping with, and supported by, international commitments.
At the output level, Gavi has seen important positive achievements in terms of generating and reporting new evidence on immunisation and gender; establishing and funding gender-sensitive strategies for its own organisation; advocating with partners (and countries) for gender equality to improve immunisation coverage and access to health services; and achieving culture change by incorporating gender considerations into its own management structures, including the Board. Many of the Policy’s achievements, as identified and measured against the stated criteria, have primarily benefitted Gavi staff and influenced Gavi’s own governance structure, while significant impacts of the Policy at the country level have yet to be fully realised.
The findings and recommendations of this evaluation will be used as an important input into the review of the Gender Policy being conducted in 2013.
The Secretariat’s responses to key recommendations are outlined in the Management Action Plan.
Gavi has committed to increasing immunisation coverage by supporting countries to overcome gender-related barriers to accessing immunisation services and promoting equity of access for all genders to immunisation and related health services that respond to their different needs.