Greater Mekong Subregion Regional Communicable Diseases Control Project

The project was designed to target vulnerable groups, including the poor, women and children, and ethnic minorities. It mainly targeted poor provinces in border areas, including 7 provinces out of 20 with a predominantly ethnic minority population. The project interventions benefited poor women and children, who are more at risk of communicable diseases. However, based on ADB's results framework criteria, the project is rated unsatisfactory for gender equity. It only partially complied with gender and ethnic minority covenants. While the executing agencies were responsive to prioritizing the needs of women and ethnic groups, these groups were not specifically targeted in outbreak control. Disaggregated indicators could not be provided. Engagement of consulting services also takes time in government systems, and came too late to help integrate gender and ethnic concerns in project activities. The feasibility of indicators and monitoring targets, and the capacity of the executing agencies should be taken into consideration when preparing the project.