First geographic evaluation in Madagascar — A public roundtable
On 13 January 2026, L’Initiative — Expertise France organised the event “Apprentissages du terrain — Madagascar.” It served as a forum to present and discuss L’Initiative’s first geographic evaluation conducted in Madagascar: lessons learned, operational recommendations, video testimonies and perspectives from Malagasy civil society, with the aim of turning learning into a lever for concrete action.
Learning from the field to strengthen health action
Faced with a fragile health system, a worrying rise in HIV prevalence, persistent tuberculosis and a high burden of malaria — particularly among young children — L’Initiative — Expertise France supports health in Madagascar through a growing portfolio of actions over recent years.
Rather than assessing projects one by one, the geographic approach reconstructs chains of change to read overall coherence: what collective effects emerge from a portfolio made up of projects, technical assistance and expert missions? Where has support been catalytic? Where are the blind spots? How do actor networks function? To answer these questions, the evaluation combined multiple methods and produced a comprehensive assessment enriched with co-constructed recommendations.
A public roundtable with health actors
The evaluation — a summary of which is available here — has opened a shared operational workstream to further strengthen the response to the three pandemics and to improve equitable access to health for everyone.
We hosted a half-day event on Tuesday, 13 January 2026 from 09:00 to 12:30 (UTC+1) dedicated to lessons learned from the field and to the actors who bring projects and technical-assistance missions to life.
The session drew on the results of the geographic evaluation. It combined a roundtable with Malagasy civil-society actors on the permanence of NGOs and the sustainability of the dynamics they initiate; a concise presentation of the evaluation’s lessons and recommendations; reflections and feedback from partners and L’Initiative — Expertise France; and field testimonies so that experience, nuance and locally lived constraints remained both the starting point and the anchor of the discussion.
A replay of the event is available.
Agenda and speakers
Welcome and introduction: Charlotte Binet — Country Director, Expertise France in Madagascar
Opening remarks: Rébecca Gillard — Head, East Africa & 3 Oceans unit, L’Initiative — Expertise France; Adeline Battier — Madagascar Project Lead, L’Initiative — Expertise France
Presentation of objectives and format of the field learnings: Laetitia Drean — Head, Monitoring-Evaluation-Accountability-Learning (SERA) unit, L’Initiative — Expertise France
Reportage on the Madagascar evaluation
Presentation of the evaluation’s lessons and recommendations: consultancy COTA
Partners’ feedback on the evaluation: stakeholders from Madagascar
L’Initiative — Expertise France responses to the evaluation: Rébecca Gillard — Head, East Africa & 3 Oceans unit; Adeline Battier — Madagascar Project Lead
Reportage on the PluriElles project
Roundtable discussion with participants
Conclusion: Eric Fleutelot — Technical Director, Major Pandemics Unit, L’Initiative — Expertise France
Closing remarks: Laetitia Drean — Head, Monitoring-Evaluation-Accountability-Learning (SERA) unit
Practical information
• Date: Tuesday 13 January 2026
• Time: 09:00 – 12:30 (UTC+1)
• Venue: in person at Le Mistral and online via Livestorm
• Language: French
• Registration required
