Providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care to all, including those affected by crises, is an overarching goal of the health sector. However, during a crisis, SRH services that are more critical in preventing death and illness are often prioritized over others. These priority lifesaving SRH interventions are bundled into what is known as the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for SRH. The MISP, which is a global standard in humanitarian response, has six objectives and one additional priority. Objective six of the MISP consists of planning for comprehensive SRH services that are integrated into primary health care as soon as possible. Over the years, implementing this planning process has proven to be a challenge. The objective of this toolkit is to provide a step-by-step guide for SRH coordinators, or staff with equivalent responsibilities, to facilitate an in-country workshop to catalyze participatory planning among stakeholders and partners.
The IAWG Training Partnership Initiative (TPI) led a three-year effort to support planning for and roll-out of comprehensive SRH programming following MISP implementation.
In 2020, the IAWG Training Partnership Initiative, WHO Global Health Cluster, UNFPA, and in-country partners collaborated to:
- Finalize a participatory planning workshop toolkit for comprehensive SRH, which is available in English, French, Spanish, and Arabic.
- Design and conduct training on the workshop and toolkit to support inclusive SRH planning among diverse stakeholders in Syria, Niger, and Iraq during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Publish a peer-reviewed article in Conflict and Health on the development of the toolkit and 2018-2019 planning workshops in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Bangladesh, and Yemen.
- Undertake post-workshop implementation of the collective comprehensive SRH work plans developed in DRC and Bangladesh