Gabon's Experience: Factors Enabling and Impeding the COVID-19 Response

This case study describes the country-level experience and response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Gabon between December 2020 and December 2022. We structured the presentation of COVID-19 response as an action cycle with five elements: (1) engagement, (2) assessment and surveillance measures used to track new cases, (3) planning, (4) action/implementation, and (5) evaluation. We describe the participatory monitoring and evaluation (M&E) process implemented in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Africa M&E team. The M&E system was used to organize and make sense of emerging data regarding the evolution of new cases of COVID-19 and related response activities. We share the results of this participatory evaluation, including systematic reflection by stakeholders ("sensemaking") to identify factors associated with lowering the number of new cases and with enabling and impeding Gabon's pandemic response. We conclude with lessons learned and practice implications from Gabon's experience to guide future country-level responses to rapidly evolving public health crises. This analysis seeks to guide decision-makers and practitioners in their efforts to respond to such situations.