Abstract
Background: Evidence shows that fewer than 1% of all international development projects worldwide, including those in Nigeria, were evaluated at least 2 years after completion to learn what genuinely changed. With over 787 million US Dollars in official development assistance to Nigeria’s health sector in 2017, this seeming disinterest in assessing sustainability – particularly in light of the international commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals – is concerning. Objectives: We aim to assess the overall body of knowledge on the evaluation of sustainability of health programmes in Nigeria. Methods: We conducted a broad literature search, which included grey literature such as development project reports to identify all relevant studies reporting on our study objective. Articles were selected for inclusion using predefined criteria and data were extracted onto a purposely designed data extraction form. Results: Four articles met our search criteria. The review identified financial, technical, social and environmental barriers to sustainability. Recommendations encompassed all stages of the project cycle: funding, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Conclusion: This review explored the overall body of knowledge on the evaluation of sustainability for health programmes in Nigeria. A clear understanding of operational indicators for sustainability, embedding sustainability early in the project cycle, community ownership, capacity building, effective collaboration, leadership and quality post evaluation are key for sustainable development in Nigeria. A limitation of this review is the small number of studies included and the assessment of sustainability at a single point in time. Much more empirical and rigorous research is needed to explore sustainability of health programmes in Nigeria. Research should also seek to understand the views of key stakeholders such as donors, implementing partners and the government.
Highlights
Nigeria has been one of the largest recipients of health aid since 1999, and most critical public health interventions in the country are largely funded by donors (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development [OECD] 2019)
Nigeria received over 10 billion dollars in official development assistance (ODA) in just 2 years between 2013 and 2015; 49% of this assistance was allocated to the health sector (OECD 2016a)
This review explored the overall body of knowledge on the evaluation of sustainability of health programmes in Nigeria as well as potential facilitators or barriers to the sustainability
Summary
Nigeria has been one of the largest recipients of health aid since 1999, and most critical public health interventions in the country are largely funded by donors (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development [OECD] 2019). The question of what happens to health intervention beneficiaries when donor funding for implementation expires and ways to measure this has persisted (Bossert 1990; Cekan 2016; Mancini & Marek 2004; Proctor et al 2015). With over 787 million US Dollars in official development assistance to Nigeria’s health sector in 2017, this seeming disinterest in assessing sustainability – in light of the international commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals – is concerning
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
