Sexual reproductive health and rights in emergencies project ended in July 2021 and this has been externally evaluated. See the External Evaluation Report below.

More than 26 million women and girls of reproductive age worldwide are in dire need of humanitarian aid, having been forced from their homes by violence and persecution, fleeing natural disasters, drought and famine and now living in refugee camps and crises zones.

Evidence has shown that these women and girls are at increased risk of sexual violence and unintended pregnancies. Childbirth is fraught with danger – the rate of maternal death and injury in crises zones almost double the world average. But preventing unintended pregnancies remains challenging for too many women and girls.

Key interventions to increase access to and use of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) services are known, and many organizations working in crisis settings are implementing these with extremely limited resources and multiple challenges.

There is therefore an urgent need to build capacity among Health Cluster partners, not only to respond during onset, but also to support the transition to ensure that comprehensive SRHR are addressed through the primary health care system for the longer-term.

With funding from The Netherlands, WHO in collaboration with UNFPA implemented a project to build the capacity of Health Cluster partners to address unmet reproductive health needs of women and girls in Bangladesh (Cox’s Bazar), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kasai) and Yemen, through cluster and sector coordination mechanisms.

The primary activities of the project included:

• Strengthening the capacity of national and local actors to provide SRH services;
• Building awareness of SRH services amongst communities;
• Procurement and distribution of RH kits to strengthen service delivery of SRH services to communities affected by crises;
• Strengthening infrastructure capacity to provide SRH services and to harmonize monitoring at national and local level for SRH service delivery;
• Documenting the evidence of SRH interventions in emergencies for further improving the quality of life.

Activities were implemented in close collaboration with WHO’s project on gender-based violence in emergencies as addressing gender-based violence is a core component of the Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP) and comprehensive SRH services. Through joint planning and trainings, the two projects ensured that SRH services were strengthened to be a critical entry point for GBV survivors.

Project Output #1: Strengthening SRH coordination capacity

Joint work with IAWG TPI, the MISP to CSRH Planning and Prioritization Toolkit was piloted in 3 countries by the GHC SRH project. The toolkit provides a step-by-step guide for people transitioning from the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP)  to comprehensive SRH, is now available in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.

To address a gap in tools and guidelines, the Global Health Cluster Cash-Based Interventions Task Team and SRH project collaborated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and Royal Tropical Institute to produce three tools documenting evidence and feasibility of cash and voucher assistance for sexual and reproductive health services in humanitarian emergencies. 

Project Output #2: Strengthening SRH service delivery

Contact the GHC unit at healthcluster@who.int for more on service delivery in the forthcoming project report.

Project Output #3: Harmonization of SRH Health Information Data Management Information System (HDMIS)

Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

Kasaï, Democratic Republic of Congo

Yemen