Policy makers and programme managers alike need to know whether their interventions are having the desired impacts. While reproductive health programmes have generated extensive research in Asia, little systematic evaluation of projects on population ageing has been conducted. Following the Second World Assembly on Ageing (Madrid, 2002) and a regional meeting in Shanghai later the same year, it appeared necessary to develop methods of assessing the implementation of the agreements made at those conferences. The Secretary-General of the United Nations has called for a bottom-up approach to determine if the global and regional mandates are having their intended impacts.

In order to assist member governments and key NGOs in the region to carry out such assessments, the Population and Social Integration Section (PSIS) of ESCAP is conducting two subregional workshops. The first was held at Colombo from 11 to 13 May while the second is scheduled for late July at Beijing.
The South and South-West Asia Subregional Workshop on Implementation of the Madrid and Macao Plans of Action on Ageing brought together government officials from Bangladesh, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; representatives of HelpAge International, HelpAge India and HelpAge Sri Lanka; and other international organizations and NGOs located at Colombo.

The Workshop focused on using the Rapid Appraisal Methodology (RAM) for reviewing project implementation and assessing its impact on the target population and area. The Workshop was unusual in that it carried out an abbreviated form of RAM. A team of selected individuals from the Workshop, including ESCAP staff, a government official and representatives of HelpAge Sri Lanka and another NGO, spent a day in Tissamaharamaya, a village 160 mi south-east of Colombo, applying RAM. The village was selected because HelpAge Sri Lanka is carrying out a project there on providing volunteer home-care services to older persons who need them. During the day, focus group discussions were held with villagers benefiting from the project as well as those not involved. The study team also held a larger village meeting and conducted key informant interviews.

Workshop participants who did not make the long journey to Tissamaharamaya spent one day visiting HelpAge Sri Lanka projects in Colombo, including an eye clinic that provides free cataract surgery for poor older persons, two day-care centres for older persons and a centre for older persons experiencing dementia.

The team that conducted the pilot RAM in the village reported back to the Workshop on the final day. A role-playing exercise was carried out to demonstrate the use of a focus group discussion to assess the implementation of a home-care project. The Workshop concluded that RAM can be a cost-effective way to assess the feasibility of a development project in a specific area, to review its implementation and to assess its impact. If particular goals of national policy are reviewed, it is possible to gain some information about implementation and impact of national programmes.

Once finalized, the report and recommendations of the Workshop will be posted on http://www.unescap.org/esid/index.asp.