Village family planning/mother-child welfare project

The evaluation, conducted in part to strengthen the project evaluation capacities of BKKBN and local university staff, covered the period 1980-1985 and was based primarily on formal beneficiary surveys and small-scale case studies in Bali and East Java. Findings indicate that the percentage of women who had ever used contraceptives and the number of children immunized have increased significantly since 1980, evidently due in part to the Kb-Gizi program. Attendance at weighing posts has been correlated with mothers" knowledge of beneficial health practicies (e.g., immunization) and with the weight-for-age of the youngest child under 5. There is a moderately significant relationship between post attendance and current fertility and a strong relationship between attendance and current contraceptive use. A strong interaction between family planning and nutrition in terms of post participation and contraceptive use, family planning knowledge and practice, and child births is reasonably well-confirmed. The program has, in general, performed better in Bali than in East Java. Its ability to reach target populations is subject to a number of social and economic factors. For example, weighing post attendance is dependent in part on factors such as who cares for the child when the mother works and if the mother works outside the house and far away. Similiarly, data suggest that motivational strategies for mothers under 30 should vary with their level of education. The Family Income Generating Unit (P2K) has great potential for meeting goals, and if properly operated, can provide more financial support to nutrition and family planning on a sustained bases. Finally, although the program is experiencing problems in collecting data (possibly due to inter-community variations), its data collection and analysis system nonetheless possesses strong merit. Recommendations are to: broaden participation in weighing post and income generation activities; upgrade data collection and analysis and improve program monitoring and information dissemination to village health workers; further explore determinants of family planning behavior; and increase data accuracy for the Bali Resurvey to determine if changes in economic status explain some findings. Action decisions focus on the need for increased indigenous research capabilities and for USAID/I support of an Integrated Task Force to improve coordination of program development, implementation, and policy formation. (Author abstract, modified)