Responding to COVID-19: Lessons from Evaluations of Previous Responses to Public Health Crises

By June 3, 2020 June 3, 2020 COVID-19, Events

This virtual panel discussion hosted by OVE (Office of Evaluation and Oversight) will present and discuss findings from evaluations that have examined the responses of multilateral agencies to past public health crises.

  • When: 5 June 2020, 11.30 am – 12.30 pm EDT (NY Time)
  • How to join: This is a virtual event. To participate, register here. (There is no registration fee).

The COVID-19 pandemic is greatly affecting our lives, regardless of where we live, and the full extent of its impact is still unknown.  International agencies are looking for ways to best support countries as they respond to the challenges from COVID-19, not only from a public health perspective, but also from an economic and development one.  Agencies such as the Asian Development Bank, UNICEF, and the World Bank have dealt in the past with public health crises created by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Avian Influenza, and Ebola.  Their evaluation offices have had the opportunity to assess what worked and what did not and have distilled lessons learned.

The session seeks to provide the audience with lessons from evaluations that are pertinent for the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Speakers:

  • Beth Ann Plowman, Senior Evaluation Specialist, UNICEF.  Ms. Plowman led the evaluation of “UNICEF’s response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa 2014–2015.”
  • Maya Vijayaraghavan, from the Independent Evaluation Department of the Asian Development Bank. Ms. Vijayaraghavan co-wrote “Responding to the Novel Coronavirus Crisis: 13 Lessons from Evaluation.”
  • Stephen Hutton, from the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank.  Mr. Hutton led the evaluation “Responding to Global Public Bads: Learning from Evaluation of the World Bank Experience with Avian Influenza 2006-13”

For more information, click here.