Reproductive Health Response in Conflict (RHRC) Reproductive Health Response in Conflict (RHRC)
Burmese refugee in Thailand

Guatemalan refugee family in Mexico

What We Do

The goal of the Reproductive Health Response in Conflict (RHRC) Consortium is to increase access to a range of quality, voluntary reproductive health (RH) services for refugees and displaced persons around the world. Read more about Who We Are.

Mission Statement (June 2003)

The RHRC Consortium is dedicated to the promotion of RH among all persons affected by armed conflict. The RHRC Consortium promotes sustained access to comprehensive, high quality RH programs in emergencies and advocates for policies that support RH of persons affected by armed conflict.

The RHRC Consortium believes all persons have a right to quality RH care and that RH programming must promote rights, respect and responsibility for all. To this end, the RHRC Consortium adheres to three fundamental principles: using participatory approaches to involve the community at all stages of programming; encouraging RH programming during all phases of emergencies, from the initial crisis to reconstruction and development; and employing a rights-based approach in all of its work, as articulated in the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development Program of Action.

The RHRC Consortium is comprised of seven agencies: American Refugee Committee, CARE, Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, International Rescue Committee, JSI Research & Training Institute, Marie Stopes International, and Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children.

Objectives

RHRC Consortium members work together in the following areas: 

  • SERVICE PROVISION - to expand and improve RH services for displaced women, men and adolescents.
  • ASSESSMENT - to promote the inclusion of RH as part of the initial and ongoing needs assessments in emergency and stable displaced settings. 
  • DESIGN, MONITORING & EVALUATION - to develop, disseminate and utilize guidelines for design, monitoring and evaluation of RH projects in displaced settings. 
  • TRAINING - to promote the use of existing training modules and develop, adapt and test new modules to improve RH education and services. 
  • RESEARCH - to pursue a select research agenda to improve service delivery and funding for RH for displaced populations.
  • SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM - to increase, through technical and financial support, the number of organizations working to increase displaced persons’ access to quality RH services.
  • ADVOCACY - to advocate improved RH services among agencies funding or providing assistance to displaced populations. 
  • DOCUMENTATION & DISSEMINATION - to document and disseminate information on RH in displaced settings to displaced communities, field staff, managers, policy makers and donors. 

Expert Resource

RHRC Consortium members are available to make presentations, provide advice and serve as an expert resource on the topics and areas listed above. Today's realities:

  • 33 MILLION ARE IN NEED: There are at least 35 million refugees and internally displaced people (IDP) in the world today.
  • WOMEN & CHILDREN AT RISK: Women and girls constitute approximately 50 percent of the world’s displaced, and women and children constitute approximately 75 to 80 percent. Most displaced settings present serious challenges in protecting people from violence and providing equal distribution of services. If these issues are not appropriately addressed, women and children are left particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation in the camps and settings to which they fled for safety. 
  • SERVICES ARE LACKING: Comprehensive RH services designed to meet the needs of women, men and adolescents - not only pregnant women - are inadequate or nonexistent in most refugee and displaced settings.
  • NEEDS ARE LONG-TERM: Durable solutions to displaced situations may take years to achieve. Agencies should begin thinking beyond the "emergency" phase, and plan health interventions aimed at saving lives and reducing illness over a long term.

Accomplishments

The RHRC Consortium has contributed in a significant way to improved RH in displaced settings. Major accomplishments include:

  • Expanded RH service delivery: Increased access to appropriate sustainable RH services with Consortium members working with governments and NGOs in 70 sites in 30 countries (2002).  
  • Initiation of research and publication of papers: Conducted research, together with technical and local partners, to document refugee and internally displaced persons’ needs, better advocate among donors and policy workers, and improve RH service delivery.
  • Integration of the MISP in the Sphere standards: Successfully lobbied for the integration of the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) of RH in the 1999 revised version of the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response for humanitarian assistance providers.
  • Successful advocacy and alliances with key partners: Actively collaborated with other agencies to draft, field test and finalize the Inter-agency Field Manual on Reproductive Health in Refugee Situations, a key field tool to guide the implementation of quality RH services in displaced settings.
  • Development and Dissemination of Resource Materials: Published reports, field guides and articles that have led to measurable improvements in RH care for conflict-affected populations, including a short course on HIV/AIDS for humanitarian workers, distance-learning modules on emergency contraception and the MISP for reproductive health, and guidelines on emergency obstetric care and sexually transmitted infections.