Strengths
The program helping to reduce fertility rates in Bangladesh has a variety of advantages and effective interventions. First, it is critical to underscore that the decision to educate women about contraception is effective in dealing with the knowledge gap between the sexes when it comes to healthcare. Another important advantage is a range of initiatives helping to work with men and reduce the frequency of cases of reproductive coercion.
Next, to start the program in different parts of Bangladesh, it was necessary to increase the number of family welfare assistants, which led to the creation of new jobs for women. Most importantly, the program is extremely successful in terms of practical results – due to it, total fertility rates in the country do not exceed 2.3 (Alam, Chamroonsawasdi, Chansatitporn, Munsawaengsub, & Islam, 2018).
Weaknesses
The weaknesses of the program are strictly interconnected with financial resources and the distribution of gender roles. Regarding financial issues, the services provided by outreach workers are quite costly since they have to visit a few population localities. Another weak point refers to the position of women in the chosen location. Rural areas of Bangladesh are still dominated by religious men, which acts as a barrier to women’s empowerment (Alam et al., 2018).
Opportunities
To improve the long-term results of the program, it is possible to define the presence of more cost-effective ways of educating women about birth control methods. Also, additional interventions may need to be constructed to meet the needs of uneducated women in rural areas (Alam et al., 2018).
Threats
Since contra-contraception ideas are typically expressed by deeply religious people, there is a threat that the situation with religion in Bangladesh will reduce the effectiveness of interventions introduced in the past. Additionally, people’s unwillingness to go back to traditional reproductive practices can give rise to “implicit” reproductive coercion.
Reference
Alam, M., Chamroonsawasdi, K., Chansatitporn, N., Munsawaengsub, C., & Islam, M. (2018). Regional variations of fertility control behavior among rural reproductive women in Bangladesh: A hierarchical analysis. Behavioral Sciences, 8(8), 1-12.