AID's role in Indonesian family planning : a case study with general lessons for foreign assistance

This report uses data collected from field visits and interviews to evaluate A.I.D.'s assistance to the Indonesian program and identify the underlying reasons for its success. The report describes the program's service network, its consumers, demographic impact, and A.I.D. inputs. A sociocultural study of the country shows that high population growth, administrative support, and community acceptance are the three factors whose convergence most favored the project's success. The history and description of the program, particularly the types and extent of service, are given. A.I.D.'s support is described in terms of leadership, commodities, organization, resources, local-cost programming method, and interagency linkage. Major strengths of the program are: (1) a high level of national political support; (2) strong Mission commitment to the goal of the project and to Indonesia's national family planning program; (3) provision of grant rather than loan assistance; (4) responsiveness of the local cost programming process to local needs; (5) effective decentralization; (6) strong support from the Mission director and a competent, tenured staff; (7) close collaboration between Mission staff and local counterparts; (8) rapid adaptations based on field experiments; (9) a management rather than demographic orientation to the data system; (10) effectiveness of participant training; (11) integration, emphasizing process over structure, of health and nutrition services into family planning (not the reverse); (12) use of non-material incentives for acceptors; and (13) abundance of oral contraceptive supplies. Future problems faced by the A.I.D. program are imminent staff turnover; failure to extend services to urban areas and the outer islands; management, data, and logistical problems of expanding services into health and nutrition; and relations with the reorganized country planning board. Four appendices tabulating data on the program and an organizational chart of the Mission are included.