Praia, Cabo Verde.
Throughout September, an independent team is hearing more than thirty national institutions and partners to assess what the Country Cooperation Strategy 2024–2028 has delivered so far and to adjust what remains to be done.
Praia, September 2026 — The mid-term evaluation of the World Health Organization's Country Cooperation Strategy with Cabo Verde 2024–2028 is under way, covering the period from January 2024 to June 2026. Conducted by an independent team, the evaluation is being carried out in close coordination with the Ministry of Health and involves national institutions, United Nations agencies, development partners, academia, civil society, and the private sector.
The team is composed of Michele Gross, team leader, and Dr Gisseila Garcia, national evaluation expert based in Praia. Following a series of preparatory remote interviews, the country mission began on 18 September with a working session with His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr Lúcio Miranda Fernandes, and the National Directorate of Health, accompanied by the WHO Representative in Cabo Verde. Fieldwork continues from 21 to 25 September.
Two purposes: accountability and learning.
The evaluation has a twofold purpose. On accountability, it assesses the extent to which WHO has delivered on its strategic, normative and programmatic commitments in Cabo Verde — examining the coherence of its work across programmatic areas and partners, the effectiveness of its contribution to national health results, and the sustainability of the capacities built in the country.
On learning, it seeks to generate evidence to support adaptive management: to identify the strategic adjustments needed for the remaining implementation period, from 2026 to 2028, and to strengthen the Organization's positioning and added value in the national context and within United Nations cooperation in Cabo Verde.
Added value for the country.
For Cabo Verde, the exercise goes beyond a stock take. The findings will make it possible to identify challenges and highlight the potential of the cooperation, so that the partnership between the Ministry of Health and WHO brings greater benefits to the Cabo Verdean population in the years ahead.
The breadth of the consultation is part of the value. The central and technical services of the Ministry of Health will be heard — the National Directorate of Health, the Directorate-General for Planning, Budget and Management, the National Institute of Public Health, the Office for Health Technology, Information and Communication, the Independent Health Regulatory Authority, and the Coordination Commission on Alcohol and Other Drugs — as well as the Ministries of Finance, of Education, and of Environment, Climate Action and Energy. The consultation extends to the National Institute of Statistics, INPHARMA and EMPROFAC, the University of Cabo Verde, the NGO Platform, the National Association of Municipalities, patient associations and rights-based organizations, and the development partners present in the country.
The team will also visit health facilities on the island of Santiago — a hospital and a health center — and will hear, virtually, professionals from a health center on another island, so that the perspective of those delivering care on the ground informs the analysis alongside the institutional view.
A process that also teaches.
The evaluation is being conducted as an opportunity for shared learning. Questions are sent to each interlocutor in advance, allowing institutions to organize their own reflection ahead of the interview. A session dedicated to the theory of change of the Country Cooperation Strategy brought the WHO Cabo Verde team together around the logic linking activities, outputs and health results — a planning instrument that is rarely revisited collectively.
The presence of a national expert on the team ensures that the evaluation methodology stays in the country, and not only the report. And the fact that the Ministry of Health's Directorate for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation is both an interlocutor and a recipient of the findings reinforces what the exercise seeks to demonstrate in practice: that evaluation is not an administrative requirement at the end of a cycle, but a management instrument that informs decisions while there is still time to act on them.
"A partnership only grows stronger if it is able to look at itself honestly. This evaluation is not about confirming what we think we know: it is about listening to those who work with us every day and understanding where we can be most useful to Cabo Verde over the next two years."
— Dr Ann Lindstrand, WHO Representative in Cabo Verde.
Next steps.
Fieldwork closes with an exit briefing with the WHO Cabo Verde team on 24 September. Interviews that cannot be held in person will take place virtually during the week of 28 September. The conclusions will guide adjustments to the Country Cooperation Strategy for the 2026–2028 period and will feed into the dialogue with the Ministry of Health on the priorities of the next planning cycle.
