A European R&D project called EVAL-HEALTH is developing new methodologies for monitoring and evaluation of developmental aid in the area of health

In this sense, the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of Developmental Aid is a very relevant issue for donor countries and institutions as well as for recipient countries. Aware of this, the EC’s 7th. Framework Programme has approved an important grant for the project EVAL-HEALTH -“Developing and Testing of New Methodologies to Monitor and Evaluate Health Related EU-Funded Interventions in Cooperation Partner Countries" (www.eval-health.eu) formed by a consortium of nine partners which are research centres and companies from different European countries (Royal tropical Institute from Netherlands, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical from Portugal, INNOVATEC [Coordinator] from Spain and University of Leeds from U.K.) and developing countries (Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario from Colombia, University of Nigeria, Association for Stimulating Know How from India, and ASEAN Institute for Health Development from Thailand), as well as NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development) representing the African Union.
In the context of the EVAL-HEALTH project, which officially started on January 2011, the first expert meeting was held last May at the Scientific Park of Madrid to discuss different aspects of the EVAL-HEALTH project development: analytical and conceptual frameworks, development of specific methodologies, etc. Together with the project partners, international experts coming from relevant organizations participated in the meeting: the African Development Bank, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), Fogarty International Center (FIC), Voices for Interactive Choice & Empowerment (VOICE), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Brazilian Ministry of Health, Ghana Health Service (GHS), Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) and a representative from the EC.

Based on the outcomes of the meeting, the EVAL-HEALTH project has refined its research conceptual framework to enhance further its search for a new M&E system to verify things like the value for money, related to the economy of Health Area programs and projects, and their impact, efficiency and effectiveness on those developing countries where EC set its health related aid with special emphasis in Sector Budget Support (SBS) and R&D Actions.