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The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has launched its Mid-Term Evaluation Report conducted in 2020 on the current Medium-Term National Development Policy Framework (MTNDPF).
The objective of the mid-term evaluation is to provide stakeholders with an evidence-based assessment of the implementation of policies, programs and projects outcomes achieved in 2018 & 2019 period and to analyses their contribution towards national development objectives and goals.
This mid-term evaluation was conducted using the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) criteria, the framework for Development Evaluations which will consider the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and potential sustainability of activities during this assessment period.
According to the report, “Improvement in education outcomes including transition rates, BECE pass rate and pupil trained teacher ratio, free SHS contributed to increased net enrollment and relieved economic burdens of parents”.
On the health sector, it revealed that “improvement in healthcare accessibility resulted in a reduction in maternal mortality rate (institutional) as well as stillbirth rate”.
It further outlined that, Jobs created through the recommendation of the policy framework, PERD, NABCO, NEIP among others can be partly attributable to the implementation of key interventions like the Free SHS, GSP, PFJ, PERD, NABCO, award of scholarship schemes expansion of CHPS zones NEIP among others.
Despite these improvements recorded, the report outlined that, child abuse and trafficking cases are on the rise.
“Teacher absenteeism, inadequate infrastructure, teaching and learning materials, and uneven distribution of health professionals continue to persist in the education and health sectors.”
On the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) front, poor quality of drinking water; the prevalence of open defecation, was also attributed to the persistent high user fee for sanitation and waste management.
The Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, in an interview with the media on the sideline of the launch, recommended among other things that, NABCO, YEA and other job creations opportunities and poverty eradication interventions should be redesigned to create more decent and sustainable jobs for the teeming youth.