Definition of Project Success in Reproductive Health Development Context

Abstract

The reproductive health (RH) situations in developing countries are currently unstable. International and national RH authorities indicate that Thailand, one of the developing countries in Southeast Asia, has growing concerns on the increasing incidence of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases among adolescents, the future human capital of the nation. Maternal and child health still requires intimate care, especially for the poor households and in underserved areas. RH projects funded by international donors are valuable for country development. Technical assistance and supported funds accelerate the improvement of RH for the population. However, neither the assistance nor the funds will last eternally. The completion of the projects or termination of project funds before the initial RH problems can be solved is of great concern as the cease of funding may cause discontinuity of RH services in some countries where donors' funds are the main resources. RH project sustainability is a concept to be introduced to prevent discontinuity of the projects. Project sustainability can be used to guarantee long-term project success. It allows the future flow of benefits to be seen after the funding is stopped. The fundamental concept of project success has introduced project success criteria and factors. However, none of the generic criteria or factors focuses on project sustainability. To achieve reproductive health project success project sustainability must be included. This paper proposes that sustainability should become an additional success criterion for RH project success in addition to the existing conventional criteria