End evaluation of the Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD) Programme to Advance SRHR in East and Southern Africa (2018-2022)
The evaluation object is HEARD’s SRHR programme. From 1998 to 2017, HEARD was a recipient of core institutional funding from Sida and programme support for the latest period. In 2021, Sida decided on a one-year costed extension (19,5 Million SEK) to HEARD, to expand its research work, translation of evidence into policy actions, and review its progress and regional reach. For the 2018-2022 period, a total support of 97,5 Million SEK was agreed upon. The activity period for the current agreement ended in December 2022. Sida has been the only donor to this programme, and remains to date, one of the main funders for HEARD’s operations, including the PhD programme.
The goal of the HEARD programme has been to support the generation and use of robust evidence by national and regional stakeholders working to improve SRHR across East and Southern Africa.
The goal and the intended outcomes have been underpinned by three aims:
• Shorten the distance between dedicated scholarship and SRHR policy impact.
• Undertake targeted research to ensure political and financial investments in SRHR are more effective and efficient.
• Enable a region-wide platform of evidence-informed decision-making for health more broadly, and for SRHR in particular.
The purpose of this evaluation is to help Sida and HEARD to assess the results of the programme at outcome level, which will provide input to upcoming discussions concerning the potential preparation of a new phase. The primary intended user of the evaluation is the regional SRHR team at Sida.
The evaluation will further:
• Document lessons learned and inform how implementation may be adjusted or improved in a potential new phase of the programme.
• Provide an opportunity for learning among those participating in and commissioning the evaluation.
• Assess how the programme design and focus have evolved over time and how these changes have affected programme results – including changes in organisational structure, priorities of research, focus countries and partnerships, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, regional approach and reach.
• Support HEARD to demonstrate the impact of its work, contributing to recommendations on how to revise or strengthen the approach to applied SRHR research, how to link evidence to advocacy, policy and programming, as well as influence policy uptake and implementation.
The evaluation shall focus on the period of implementation (2018 to 2022). The evaluation shall also geographically cover Southern and Eastern Africa, with field visits to be conducted in two countries: South Africa and Zambia.