Evaluating an integrated reproductive health program: India case study

This report from the Lessons From the Field series presents methods and findings of a participatory evaluation of integrated reproductive health programs in two villages in India, with comparisons to a third village that had no reproductive health programming. The evaluation of the reproductive health component of the Bayalu Seeme Rural Devlopment Society (BSRDS) integrated programme took place in 2001 in the villages of Nellur, Yelenavadgi and Khanapur of the Aland subdistrict of the Gulbarga district south of Karnataka, India. The objectives were to review the reproductive health component of the BSRDS integrated programme to examine impact, outcome and progress; to determine the lessons learned from the application; and to develop capacity of NGO staff for self-evaluation. The evaluation method was integrated and included aspects of womenÆs status, reproductive health, group capacity, organisational capacity, integration, and savings and credit. It involved a comparison village and incorporated quantitative and qualitative methods. The results suggest that there were significant changes in key reproductive health practices; changes in indicators of womenÆs status; loans given by the created womenÆs groups had an impact on the livelihood of ca. a third of the group members; and that the womenÆs groups have developed capacities to effectively implement, monitor and evaluate their activities. It was found that the linkages between the menÆ agriculture groups and the womenÆs groups have been important and that the integrative model appeared cost-effective.