Sexual and reproductive health and rights: a global development, health, and human rights priority.

In May, 2014, at the 67th Session of the World Health Assembly, member states reviewed the progress made in the implementation of resolution WHA57.12, the WHO Reproductive Health Strategy. The progress report noted that although a range of regulations and strategies to strengthen sexual and reproductive health and related rights have been implemented, certain areas required further attention, which include unmet need for contraception, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents and young people, as well as prevention and management of the consequences of unsafe abortion, gender equality, violence against women and girls, and cancers related to reproduction. Importantly, in the progress report WHO reaffi rmed its commitment to making sexual and reproductive health a priority in the post-2015 development agenda. This reaffi rmation underscores the importance of sexual and reproductive health and rights and WHO’s commitment on these issues. Sexual and reproductive health and rights are fundamental to individuals, couples, and families, and to the social and economic development of communities and nations. However, 20 years after the International Conference on Population and Development and the UN Fourth World Conference on Women, universal access to sexual and reproductive health remains an unfi nished agenda. Much remains to be done to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 (reducing maternal deaths MDG 5a and achieving universal access to reproductive health MDG 5b). Furthermore, as highlighted in the UN Secretary-General’s report, inequalities between and within countries, and persistent disparities between women and men, and between social and ethnic groups, continue to inhibit progress. At the Rio+20 Summit governments reaffi rmed the need to achieve sustainable development. To achieve these objectives governments must create greater health equity, ensure gender equality, and promote and protect human rights. Promotion and protection of sexual and reproductive health and rights lies at the very core of this approach. Sexual and reproductive health and rights encompass eff orts to eliminate preventable maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity, to ensure quality sexual and reproductive health services, including contraceptive services, and to address sexually transmitted infections (STI) and cervical cancer, violence against women and girls, and sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents. Universal access to sexual and reproductive health is essential not only to achieve sustainable development but also to ensure that this new framework speaks to the needs and aspirations of people around the world and leads to realisation of their health and human rights. Better control of women’s fertility allows girls to remain in education longer, accumulate more skills, and eventually earn higher wages. According to the World Bank, female participation in the labour force decreases with each additional child: by about 10–15 percentage points among women aged 25–39 years, and about 5–10 percentage points among women aged 40–49 years. Universal access to sexual and reproductive health is therefore not only an essential human rights priority to ensure women’s empowerment and gender equality, it is also a key international development priority. Over the past 2 years, through the ICPD Beyond 2014 Global Review and the post-2015 development agenda Published Online July 16, 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S0140-6736(14)61190-9