Joint evaluation of the risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) collective service

The Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) Collective Service is a multi-agency collaborative partnership between the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organization (WHO). With the support of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Collective Service was established in June 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It aimed to transform how the public health and the humanitarian sectors coordinate, implement, monitor and resource collaborative approaches to community-led responses for public health emergencies.

The joint evaluation was conducted collaboratively by the evaluation offices of IFRC, UNICEF and WHO, which marked the first such joint evaluation undertaken by the three agencies. The evaluation concludes that the decision by IFRC-UNICEF-WHO to launch a global, inter-agency, and coordinated effort on RCCE was appropriate, necessary and timely. The Service made many positive contributions to RCCE coordination, technical guidance, and information management. The findings from the evaluation make a significant contribution to the much-needed knowledge base on what has worked (e.g. in collective service products, capacity-building, and inter-agency coordination) and what more needs to be done to accelerate further the progress in combating global health emergencies (e.g. in preparedness and readiness).

This evaluation report is published at a time when the Collective Service is at a crossroads. A clear majority of the key informants of the evaluation believe that the Collective Service should continue beyond 2023 and remain a feature of health emergency readiness and response in the future, although there is no consensus on its future scope. The evaluation report outlines strategic options and recommends actions aimed at developing a future vision and model for the Collective Service and shaping key elements such as its services, membership and fundraising approach accordingly. We are confident that the IFRC-UNICEF-WHO Collective Service Steering Committee will use the evidence generated by the evaluation and its recommendationsto determine the future shape of the Collective Service.