In spite of these achievements, the Bank s overall lending operations directed at improving the status of women seem modest when seen in the context of the Bank s project classification system. The adoption of the mainstreaming approach within the Bank in recent years is the primary reason for the limited number of Bank projects carrying WID classification. Also, there are a number of Bank projects substantially targeted to improve women s health or educational opportunities that do not carry WID classification, but instead are classified as human development projects. The Project will support the strengthening of the primary health care system at the commune and district levels in 10 selected provinces. Its objectives are to strengthen health and family planning programs, and to improve health status, especially that of mothers.
Emphasis is placed on services for safe motherhood and, more broadly, family health.
It is envisaged that birth spacing will improve, and fertility and population growth can be reduced. The Project will also provide in-service training to existing women health workers, and more women will be trained as nurses, midwives, and doctors assistants. Two model outreach programs designed to reach ethnic minority women in remote provinces will also be pilot-tested under the Project. Hence, the project classification system does not fully reflect the efforts and resources directed to addressing and mainstreaming gender concerns in Bank activities. For example, the work of the Programs Departments in addressing gender issues in the Bank s macroeconomic work, such as the COSS, is not reflected.