Abstract
The purpose of the evaluation of Strengthening Human Resources for Health (SHRH) Activity was to assess Activity progress and inform design for future Activities. The evaluation used mixed methods to answer five evaluation questions: (1) In what ways did the SHRH Activity contribute to improving human resources for health (HRH) and strengthening the regulatory environment in Ethiopia? (2) Did the Activity interventions facilitate local ownership, coordination and partnerships, and sustainability? (3) Were gender issues addressed in pre-service and in-service training? (4) Have Activity result/sub-result areas and interventions continued to be relevant to HRH gaps and challenges in Ethiopia? (5) Were there any facilitating and hindering factors? The SHRH Activity contributed to improved human resource management and quality of training in Oromia. Currently, Debre-Tabor University is ahead of its peers in the quality of its training. The SHRH Activity supported the federal regulatory agencies. However, the private sector continued to be more highly regulated than the public sector. Many of the Activity?s interventions were sustainable, but research and program learning interventions had limited local ownership and will not be sustained. The Activity made contributions to address gender issues in pre-service education, but not with in-service training. Human resource management, quality improvement, and research were found to be the most relevant interventions for HRH. The SHRH Activity support was a key driver of change for HRH in Ethiopia, and where there were high levels of ownership, commitment, and leadership among the different levels of management at the Ministry, Regional, University, and Health Science Colleges, there was better performance.