Implementation of the Family Planning Programs in Villages: Needs, Prospects and Possible Solutions

This paper is made up of three parts. The first part provides an analysis of the family planning program adopted by the Government of Serbia in early 1998. In addition to the targets, measures and the institutional basis of the activities envisaged by the program, attention is also given to the evaluation of the document itself. It is highlighted that formulation of the elements of the family planning program and their adoption constitute only the first step and that the success of the program shall largely depend on the manner of its operationalization, and particularly, on the implementation of the proposed measures and activities. In the first part of the paper, the author also asserts that the document adopted neither included the points of particular interest nor the specific conditions for implementing the program-related activities in the context of rural population. Hence, the second and the third parts discuss the research findings regarding rural population of Serbia and the pragmatic experience acquired by other countries in carrying out similar activities. The information gathered in the 1990s by means of questionnaires conducted in low and high-fertility regions was analyzed to highlight the need for implementing the program in rural population and to assess the prospects of the program-related efforts pertaining to a change in reproductive behavior. The summary experience gained in implementing family planning programs in other countries, and concretization of different elements of the activities undertaken was observed from the point of view of the need to operationalize family planning programs in Serbia.