General Reproductive Health
Reproductive health is a human right
Key Messages |
Overview
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Facts & Statistics |
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This page contains key facts and statistics on the subject of General Reproductive Health. Click on 'Overview', 'Facts & Statistics' or 'Stories from the Field' for more detailed information on the topic, in different formats.
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Click here for more resources on general reproductive health.
School girls in East Timor
Photo by: Women’s Refugee Commission, 2005
Key Messages
- Reproductive health (RH) is a human right articulated in international human rights instruments.1
- United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888 and 1889 on Women, Peace and Security underscore the importance of including women in all processes of decision-making and in political and economic reconstruction.2
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1889 explicitly refers to the need to ensure women and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health services and to improve reproductive rights to achieve positive socio-economic conditions in post-conflict situations.3
- RH problems are the leading cause of women’s ill health and death world-wide.4
- RH care and rights afford women and young people opportunities to overcome poverty.5
- RH components are included in four of the ten Millennium Development Goals including promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS. In order to accomplish these goals, RH must be a core component of these efforts.
- RH care for displaced persons is not a luxury, but a primary health care necessity, which saves lives and dramatically reduces ill health.
- In displaced settings, it is imperative that RH services are in place to prevent compounding the suffering of displaced women.
- The Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for Reproductive Health is a priority set of life-saving activities to be implemented at the onset of every humanitarian crisis. It forms the starting point for sexual and reproductive health programming and should be sustained and built upon with comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services throughout protracted crises and recovery.
- Comprehensive reproductive health care includes maternal and newborn health care, family planning, prevention and care for sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence. Adolescent reproductive health cross-cut all issues.
- Internally displaced populations (IDPs) and refugees not living in camps can be particularly neglected groups and should be specifically targeted for RH care and services.
References
Note: Links provided only if resource is available to public.
1 International Conference on Population and Development, Summary of the Programme of Action, Cairo, 1994.
2 Inter-agency Working Group on RH in Crises, A Statement on Family Planning for Women and Girls as a Life-saving Intervention in Humanitarian Settings, New York, May 2010.
3 Inter-agency Working Group on RH in Crises, A Statement on Family Planning for Women and Girls as a Life-saving Intervention in Humanitarian Settings, New York, May 2010.
4 UNFPA, State of the World Population 2005: The Promise of Equality, UNFPA, New York, 2005.
5 UNFPA, State of the World Population 2005: The Promise of Equality, UNFPA, New York, 2005.
Updated December 2010. Please note: while this site is periodically updated, it is up to the user’s discretion to verify that the facts provided are the most current.
