Management Response and Action Plan (MRAP): Evaluation of Global Affairs Canada’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Programming, 2017-18 to 2024-25

Recommendation 1

YSD, with the support of YOD, should ensure SRHR and global health-specific technical support is systematically integrated into the Grants and Contributions programming cycle to guide the planning and delivery of GAC-funded SRHR programming.

Technical support could include:

• Providing relevant SRHR-specific technical expertise and strategic advice to support PTLs at key points within the programming cycle.
• Offering SRHR-specific knowledge to support excellence in program development.
• Engaging in SRHR conversations and communities of practice both within the department, and externally.
• Relevant in-house expertise and/or outsourced resources, depending on departmental needs and context.

Management response and commitment

YSD agrees with this recommendation, noting it is applicable for all thematic/sectoral IA programming.

In alignment with current GAC guidance, programs and portfolios are expected to engage subject matter experts throughout all phases of the project and program/portfolio life cycle.

YOD will continue to assess the roles of thematic and sectoral specialists to ensure they are aligned with the department’s current and future international assistance needs.

The below Action Plan focuses on identifying specific opportunities within GAC’s Grants and Contributions programming process where technical expertise, advice and knowledge can have the largest impact on program quality and meeting sectoral policy objectives, including in relation to global health and SRHR investments.

Recommendation 2

To better demonstrate value for money, YSD should prioritize measuring and reporting results at the SRHR program/portfolio level.

The response could include: 

• Evidence-based programming guidance (sharing best practices, lessons learned and global evidence). 
• Strategies and/or innovative approaches for the department to measure real change all areas of SRHR, serving to push data collection beyond “output” and “reach” data and re-examine how to leverage reporting from partners.  
• Clear entry points within the global health governance structure to help ensure evidence of results is leveraged to inform the “strategic direction” for SRHR planning and delivery and better manage for SRHR results.

Management response and commitment

YSD agrees with this recommendation, noting the health sector has some of the highest returns on investment including measuring benefit of lives saved, increased productivity and economic gains. Additionally, we support reliable and cost-effective development interventions. As an example, for every dollar spent on vaccines there is a return on investment of $54 in economic benefit. For HPV vaccines, estimates show that for 1 million lives saved, US$2.3 billion in economic benefits could be realized with cervical cancer taking the life of women every two minutes. The Guttmacher Institute, a leading research and policy organization in advancing SRHR around the world, has documented that each US$1 invested in family planning yields US$60–100 in economic returns and each additional US$1 in contraceptive care reduces pregnancy-related and newborn care costs by US$3.12.

Having said that, there are added complexities in the challenging operating environments where we are seeking to drive improvements.

Recent assessments, including the GCTI Failsmart Lab on Minimum Requirements for Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), the Evaluation of Women’s and Girls’ Education in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (Charlevoix commitment), and this evaluation, have highlighted challenges in GAC’s current approach to program reporting. An approach, which depends largely on partner reporting for program-level analysis, presents methodological challenges and places undue reporting burdens on partners as it exceeds what is needed to meet legal/TBS accountability requirements. In response to the Charlevoix evaluation, YOD has developed guidance for the Department. However, implementing this guidance at the program and portfolio level requires additional resources and structural adjustments.

To address these gaps, the Department is developing options to strengthen MEL functions within International Assistance programming (RRD and SRD). Establishing a dedicated MEL function at the program/portfolio level would improve results-based management and complement partner reporting with enhanced internal capacity, thereby reducing reporting pressures on partners. Shifting resources to create a meso-level MEL function would enable better planning, learning, and accountability across SRHR, global health, and other thematic areas. This would require resources and be dependent on clarity of sectoral priorities going forward.

Recommendation 3

YSD should develop an evidence-based project and partner selection approach to deliver SRHR programming and improve its cost effectiveness.

This approach could: 

• Prioritize projects whose design and implementation are clearly informed by global evidence that reflect the identified SRHR challenge and specific needs and priorities of rights holder group(s).
• Prioritize partnerships based on an organization’s experience, proven capacity to deliver results (evidence-based) and ensure their sustainability.
• Maximize the value of different partnership types, depending on the specific SRHR priority identified and the political, social, cultural context of the recipient country.
• Ensure local knowledge, capacity and relevant experience is considered as a top priority in partner selection. 
• Account for all local factors and conditions that may impact results (political, economic, cultural) in the project and partner selection criteria.
• Leverage SRHR technical support (e.g., global health and SRHR specialists) for department-initiated funding mechanisms and competitive processes such as CfPs to ensure the right projects and partners are selected to deliver evidence-based SRHR programming.

Management response and commitment

YSD agrees with this recommendation. YSH developed an SRHR Toolkit in 2021 to provide internal guidance on SRHR programming. This will be updated to reflect new evidence and guidance on best practices, including ensuring solid contextual analysis, assessment of partner type and capacity in that specific context, and application of data for appropriate interventions. It will be socialized amongst those responsible for managing SRHR projects.

Recommendation 4

YSD should develop operational guidance that promotes coherence between SRHR responsibility centres within the department and strengthens internal efficiencies.

This could include:

• Clearly defined objectives for the department’s SRHR investments in line with the government’s global health policy and programming direction.
• Clear roles and responsibilities for SRHR responsibility centres within the department.
• Clear steps and mechanisms to support coordination efforts across all responsibility centres, in particular to improve synergies between mission/HQ, as well as between SGBV stakeholders and CSE/education responsibility centres.
• Ensure missions have the appropriate level of authority to plan, manage and implement country-specific SRHR programming in alignment with other programming areas at mission and in coordination with HQ-managed programming. 
• Clearer roles and responsibilities for the global health governance structure committees to support their mandate to provide “strategic direction” for SRHR planning and delivery.
• Entry points for SRHR technical support (e.g., global health and SRHR specialists)

Management response and commitment

YSD partially agrees with this recommendation, subject to policy direction on future program funding.

SRHR programming have been implemented as part of Canada’s 10-Year Commitment to Global Health and Rights (10YC), for which half of the annual commitment to spend $1.4 billion was committed to be allocated towards SRHR programming, including in neglected areas, totalling $700 million annually. Implementation of the MRAP will need to align with the outcomes of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review and decisions with respect to the 10YC.

Governance: The governance systems for health have been in place since the MNCH commitment of 2010 and have been adapted through the years based on the operational contexts including the revised GAC Corporate Committee structure. YSD will undertake a review of the governance model considering the changing policy environment and how best SRHR and global health objectives can be met with the existing responsibility centres for internal efficiencies.

At the working level, there has been positive feedback on the Global Health Working Group, a quarterly forum for sharing of SRHR and health-related information among PTLs in HQ and abroad. YSD will implement a review of the Governance Plan for global health and SRHR that builds on corporate guidance and includes:

• An updated Governance Framework (Terms of Reference) that is fit-for-purpose and addresses the current challenges identified, including improving mission engagement.
• A stakeholder Matrix with clearly defined and appropriate roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities across the Department, including missions and specialists.