IAWG: At a Glance

IAWG is a collaborative global coalition of individual and organizational members. Formed in 1995, IAWG includes 55 core member organizations, representing United Nations (UN) agencies, governments, international and national non-governmental organizations, universities, donors, and community-based organizations, as well as 4,000 individual members from 122 countries. IAWG’s greatest strength is its diverse membership.

IAWG provides unified leadership to advance policy, strengthen practice, mobilize resources and build accountability to ensure the sexual and reproductive health and rights of people affected by crises.

IAWG brings together humanitarian and development leaders to work on a comprehensive range of SRHR issues. The coalition is led by a 22-member Steering Committee and our members advance a shared agenda through participation in 13 sub-working groups, representing technical and cross-cutting areas of work. The coalition is coordinated by a secretariat hosted at the Women’s Refugee Commission.

IAWG works collaboratively to

• Strengthen the Evidence Base: Evaluate the state of SRHR in humanitarian settings, set the agenda for and undertake research to drive interventions and policies.
• Create Enabling Environments: Advocate for the inclusion of SRHR and historically marginalized populations, and the attendant and necessary policies, tools, and funding.
• Support Frontline Implementers: Host communities of practice, develop and coordinate trainings, and amplify frontline voices in global spaces.
• Harness Technical Expertise: Develop and disseminate technical guidance, standards, and tools.

An estimated 274 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance - including 68.5 million women of reproductive age. They are at greatly increased risks of preventable maternal and newborn death and illness; unintended pregnancy; unsafe abortion; sexual and gender-based violence; and sexually transmitted infections including HIV.

SRHR, as a core component of primary health care, saves lives and upholds human dignity. Yet, it is often deprioritized rather than treated as a lifesaving, primary healthcare and human rights intervention. IAWG exists to ensure and advance SRHR in humanitarian crises to guarantee the health, human rights, and dignity of those affected.

While myriad organizations and institutions are working across SRHR and adjacent programming, IAWG is the first, longest standing, and only organization to continually serve as a central coordination resource to these partners.

For over 25 years, IAWG has developed global guidance, institutionalized SRHR into humanitarian responses, implemented global evaluations, and collaboratively addressed gaps in policies, funding, and programming. IAWG’s vital contributions include:

• Research: IAWG undertakes Global evaluations of SRH in humanitarian settings, requiring the coordination of hundreds of agencies. The 2012-2014 evaluation results were published in the peer-reviewed journal, Conflict and Health. IAWG is preparing to launch an updated Global Evaluation to inform the humanitarian and development sectors over the next ten years.
• Advocacy: IAWG identifies key strategic opportunities to advance policy, mobilize joint action across its members, and coordinate ongoing advocacy and accountability activities. Our efforts have led to systemic change, such as the inclusion of contraceptive services and safe abortion care as internationally recognized lifesaving, essential services in a humanitarian response.
• Guidance & Tools: IAWG creates and provides resources to support its members and frontline implementers throughout all phases of humanitarian crises - preparedness, response, and recovery. These include:
  • The Inter-Agency Field Manual for Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Settings, introduced in 1999 and last updated in 2018;
  • The Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), a priority set of life-saving services and activities to be implemented in the earliest days of an emergency. The MISP is now an international standard in humanitarian response; and
  • Inter-agency Emergency Reproductive Health Kits, managed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with supplies to implement the MISP;
  • the Field Guide for Newborn Health in Humanitarian Settings;
  • the Adolescent SRH Toolkit for Humanitarian Settings;
  • the SRH Clinical Outreach Refresher Training modules; and more.

IAWG was founded at a time when SRH services in humanitarian settings were virtually non-existent. Today’s humanitarian service providers, and the millions of people whose lives they impact, rely on IAWG as a central and trusted resource. During an era of increasing natural and manmade crises, your partnership and support of this work is more important than ever.