The implementation of the 5-year impact evaluation by the Global Fund in the Republic of Moldova was supported by UNAIDS, which acted as catalyst on a local level for the establishment of a dialogue among partners. UNAIDS helped analyse the existing information in order to determine the impact in the case of the three diseases, including HIV infection and tuberculosis in Moldova.

The Five-Year Evaluation is a major effort to review the functioning and performance of the Global Fund as an institution and a partnership, and to identify areas of strength and weakness that will lead to improving day-to-day operations. The three overarching questions guiding the structure of the evaluation are outlined below:

1. Organizational Efficiency

Does the Global Fund as an organization through both its policies and operations, reflect core principles, including:

1. Acting as a financial instrument rather than implementation agency; and
2. Furthering country ownership?

In fulfilling these principles, does the Global Fund as an organization perform in an efficient and effective manner?

2. Partnership Environment

How effective and efficient is the Global Fund partnership system in supporting HIV, Malaria, and TB programs at the global and country level?

3. Health Impact

What is the Global Fund’s contribution to reducing the burden of the three diseases? What has been the overall reduction on the burden of the three diseases?

One of the most unique aspects of this evaluation is its attempt to measure impact – that is, to assess the reduction in the burden of HIV, TB and Malaria associated with the collective scale-up of prevention and treatment activities by all partners.

The Republic of Moldova was one of the 25 countries of the world selected to participate in the process of 5-Year Evaluation of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

The evaluation process consisted of an in-depth analysis supervised by the Technical Evaluation Reference Group (TERG), which collected necessary primary information in countries selected. A total of 16 countries were selected for inclusion in Study Area 2, which focuses on the Global Fund Partnership Environment. A set of 20 countries was selected for study under Study Area 3 – Impact Evaluation, with 8 countries engaging in an in-depth analysis including primary data collection and 12 countries where impact analysis will be based on secondary data.

One of the fundamental principles of the Technical Working Group for Evaluation was capacity building in the assisted countries using the expertise of the local experts, representatives of diverse institutions such as the Government, civil society, local universities, and research institutions.