Maternal health remains a major challenge to health systems worldwide. The world is on track to reach some targets of the MDGs by 2015, but is falling short on others; maternal health is the least likely to meet the 2015 target. Given the insufficient progress in tackling maternal mortality, it is critical that effective interventions are implemented. Careful evaluation of these interventions is crucial for determining what works and for ensuring that scarce resources are allocated effectively. This is particularly true for those developing countries where maternal mortality is highest and access to maternal health services is poor. For this reason, UNFPA conducted the evaluation of its last ten years of support and interventions in globally improving maternal health and the midterm review of its Maternal Health Thematic Fund.

The Evaluation of UNFPA Support to Maternal Health has assessed to what extent the UNFPA overall assistance has been relevant, effective, efficient and sustainable in contributing to the improvement of maternal health in the last 10 years.

The evaluation reviewed the design, coordination, and added value of the Maternal Health Thematic Fund as a targeted effort to improve maternal health since the start of its country support in 2008.

The findings and recommendations of the evaluation will inform policy decision-making and project management purposes as well as how to strengthen existing partnerships. The main users of the evaluation are UNFPA Country and Regional Offices, UNFPA Programme and Technical Divisions, including the Maternal Health Thematic Fund staff. The evaluation results are also of interest to a broader audience, including governments of partner countries, UNFPA member states including donors, civil society and others.