Project assistance completion report : PVO co-financing project (493-0296)

The project was effective and received full support from the Government of Thailand (GOT). At the end of the project, 25 subprojects (SP's) had been completed, in addition to 18 SP's initiated under previous OPG procedures. A total of 20 PVO's participated in the project, providing 39% of SP costs. The PVO's were effective in reaching the rural poor and many worked with the poorest of the poor. SP beneficiaries, totalling about 400,000, were able to realize both monetary and non-monetary returns, including increased individual and family incomes, greater confidence among women leaders, increased motivation for development activities among villagers, improved literacy, and improved nutrition and health. Approaches concentrated on self-help methodologies and included: leadership training; home nutrition interventions; training in poultry raising, swine breeding, and vegetable farming for farmers and schoolchildren; development activities for schoolteachers; establishment of workgroups and clubs for community action; and vocational training. Nine of the SP's involved working with the landless rural population, and five reached groups classified as otherwise disadvantaged or unreached. On the negative side, PVO's continue to be weak in project design and evaluation as well as project management, with indigenous PVO's particularly weak in financial management. Some effective methodologies were not replicated because lessons learned were not adequately disseminated. Selection criteria as well as funding criteria were not well defined and submission of progress and financial reports to USAID/T was delayed in some cases. Measures to ameliorate these problems have already been taken or are planned for the follow-on project.