The term “sexual and reproductive health and rights” (SRHR) is said to have been articulated decades ago during the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW) which took place in Beijing. With precedence to the World Health Organisation's definition of health, the Cairo Programme defined reproductive health as[1]
“A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and...not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes. Reproductive health therefore implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so. Implicit in this last condition are the right of men and women to be informed and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of family planning of their choice, as well as other methods of their choice for regulation of fertility which are not against the law, and the right of access to appropriate health-care services that will enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth and provide couples with the best chance of having a healthy infant (para 72)”.
At the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, countries were called upon to address the SRHR needs of adolescents and young people and to secure the reproductive rights of women and girls. Significant milestones have been reached and many stakeholders hold the conviction that promotion of adolescent sexual and reproductive health is a prerequisite in securing reproductive health and wellbeing in later life. But existential challenges are noted especially in addressing of gender norms, attitude of health care workers towards adolescents and social economic barriers in access to SRHR services. These continue to affect both young women and young men as they transition to adulthood[2].
More efforts have been given and with reason to HIV prevention among adolescent girls and young women, given their higher levels of HIV-incidence when compared to their male counterparts of the same age bracket. Conceptions around risk and vulnerability to HIV, gender disparities, early marriages and teenage pregnancy brought adolescent girls and young women to the attention of many SRHR donors and programme implementers
Sexual and reproductive health and rights must be affirmed as a non-negotiable aspect of the post-2015 agenda
Sexual and reproductive health is faced with numerous challenges on a global scale. Some of them include the following[3];
Even within the storm of challenges lies opportunity. Below are our thoughts on the opportunities for the strengthening of global SRHR[4].
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