Evaluates OPG to The Asia Foundation (TAF) to support integrated rural development (emphasizing family planning) in Bangladesh. PES covers the period 9/79-9/81 and is based on document review. Progress was slow in the first year of the project, and only three subprojects (SP”s) have been operating for any significant period of time. Delays in obtaining Government of Bangladesh (BDG) approval for activities (one proposal has been awaiting BDG approval for over a year) and vacancies in TAF”s Dacca office have been the major factors in the slow start-up. SP programming has picked up, however, and another three subgrants were recently made. TAF has programmed all project funds and is identifying new activities in anticipation of follow-on funding. SP implementation has been generally satisfactory. SP”s have become more diverse and TAF has increasingly emphasized integrated SP”s with rural organizations. TAF”s annual reports must however incorporate quantitative data on SP accomplishments; more specifically, its second report should include quantitative measures of how SP”s that do not actually provide FP services (e.g., the Mothers” Club and Maternal Child Health Center SP”s) contribute to increased FP acceptance and contraceptive prevalence. Income-generating SP”s, now included largely on a pilot basis (e.g., Dedicated Women for Family Planning) should be closely examined at project end to determine if this approach is appropriate to social service projects and if self-sufficiency is indeed a realistic objective. Action decisions are to prepare an operational strategy statement on USAID-TAF SP relations and submit a second annual report incorporating more statistics on family planning acceptors and continuation rates in SP”s.
