Sustaining Reproductive Health project Outcomes by Using Project Management Knowledge

Reproductive health's significance in respect to human rights and population development has been put under the spotlight since the topic was raised at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held inc;ai~o, Egypt in 1994. Reproductive health (RH) directly impacts on human wellbeing an~ natiflnal development. Many studies have emphasised the importance reproductive h~alth~rogrC,1rns to developing countries where reproductive health problems severely lag~E:;rind>\t.~e r;~st of the world. Problem solving on sensitive issues such as reproductive health;consum~a vast amount of time and resources and sustainable outcomes are needed.$omestudies have been conducted to expose multidimensional aspects fr~ms~ch}~s social, organisation behavioural, public health management and cornm~ni!X wo~~s perspectives in achieving sustainable outcomes. Many RH projects are,esta~lisfl~d~s collaborative reproductive projects (CRH) between Government and . ip~~rnatio~al,donors. The government receives contributions including funds and technicalassistance;tothe implementation of RH projects. The contributions from international dono~s are valu~;~le for country development and the improvement of RH for the population. H~""ever, t~rassistance and the funds usually state the nominated expiry date. The9ompl~tion,,~f tge projects or termination of project funds before the initial RH problems cC,1n be solv~disofgreat concern as the cease of funding may cause discontinuity of RH servi~~s in some countries where donors' funds are the main resources. Sustaining CRHproject outcomes are a concept to be introduced to prevent discontinuity of the projects: Sustain~ble outcomes can be used to guarantee long-term project effectiveness. Itallo",,~the f~~ure flow of benefits to be continued after the funding is stopped. Many studi~s re~~al th~tproject design and project management are crucial to sustainable outcomei'delivery.iHowever, the attempt to introduce a sustainable