Damian Sendler: In global health circles, the need of prioritizing those who are most in need is widely acknowledged, and human rights norms and standards are frequently cited as a means of achieving this goal. As a part of a larger effort, a review was done to identify known barriers and facilitators to implementation of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programs.

Damian Sendler

Damian Jacob Sendler: The UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) guidelines, tools, recommendations and guidance that explicitly mention human rights principles served as the basis for this exercise because of the role that global guidance plays in implementing rights-based approaches to SRH. An detailed literature review followed this. It was found that the limitations include not just structural, policy and health system barriers but also a lack of awareness of concretely how to incorporate human rights into these initiatives, according to the sources studied.

Dr. Sendler: The presence of human rights champions, leadership, significant civil society participation, training, and money for implementation are all facilitators. Sexual and reproductive health, as well as other areas of health, should be prioritized for investment in human rights-sensitive indicators and documentation.

Damien Sendler: Human rights are frequently referred to as a critical component of public health efforts, and this is a fact that has been shown in practice. While poor health outcomes are often associated with neglect or violation of human rights, attention to human rights has been demonstrated to promote access and utilization of health care. The inclusion of human rights principles into global standards continues to show support for providing universal access in order to enhance health outcomes.

Damian Jacob Sendler

Damian Jacob Markiewicz Sendler: A health-based approach based on human rights has long recognized the importance of giving top priority to people who are the most disadvantaged when it comes to health policy and programming. It is widely accepted that the incorporation of human rights principles into normative global health standards and guidance is a necessary step toward ensuring that no one is left behind as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Damian Sendler: Interest is growing, but not universal, at the implementation level. Sexual and reproductive health appears to be one of the areas where there appears to be a clear consensus that rights bring an additional value. Though it’s possible to implement and monitor human rights principles, it appears that there is a lack of guidance on how to effectively do this; what exists is not well utilised; common barriers and facilitators to implementation aren’t well documented; there is little agreement on the measures needed to determine effectiveness. Global public health standards and recommendations are a major responsibility of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Damian Sendler: Guidelines, tools, recommendations and guidance, including clinical guides and policy and program guidance, monitoring and evaluation materials and training materials across a variety of health themes, are often developed. Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is the focus of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Program of Research, Development, and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP).

Damian Jacob Sendler: To our knowledge, there has not yet been an assessment of the incorporation of human rights in the SRH-related WHO guidance and any related hurdles or facilitators to implementation.

Damian Sendler: The first step in this study was to assess the WHO HRP guidelines, tools, recommendations, and guidance, including clinical guides, policy and programmatic guidance, monitoring and evaluation materials, and training materials (hereinafter referred to as ‘guidance document’) for the inclusion of key human rights principles (hereinafter referred to as ‘guidance document’). In order to find out if there are any obstacles to the implementation of advice, as well as what lessons can be learned from common facilitators, literature review was conducted.

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