Reproductive Health Program
Working for Better Access to Comprehensive Reproductive Health Services for Refugees
When refugees and internally displaced persons are uprooted from their homes, their health, including their reproductive health, is severely compromised. They are exposed to violence as they flee and in the camps or communities where they seek safety. Health care is often missing or inadequate. Lack of reproductive health care is a leading cause of death and disease among displaced women of reproductive age.
The Women's Commission has a variety of projects geared toward improving the reproductive health care of refugee women, children and youth:
- Ending Violence against Women and Girls (gender-based violence - GBV)
- Preventing Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV
- Emergency Health for Displaced Women and Girls
- Safe Motherhood
- Youth
For an introduction to reproductive health in emergencies, view our fact sheet.
Ten years of progress: Much remains to be done
The Women's Commission collaborated with the Inter-agency Working Group (IAWG) on Reproductive Health in Crises to produce the report Global Evaluation of Reproductive Health for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons. While significant progress has been made in advancing reproductive health for conflict-affected populations, the gains are threatened by a difficult political and economic climate. At the field level, reproductive health services in stable refugee settings have increased and are generally well established, although some areas, such as gender-based violence (GBV) and HIV/AIDS services, are weaker and critical gaps remain in safe motherhood, family planning and sexually transmitted infections. The Women's Commission continues to coordinate the Reproductive Health Response in Conflict (RHRC) Consortium, a group of seven international organizations working to improve access to reproductive health services for conflict-affected populations.
RAISE Initiative
Learn more about the Women's Commission's role in the RAISE Initiative (Reproductive Health Access Information and Services in Emergencies), which was formed to address gaps that still remain in emergency reproductive health care — gaps in family planning, gender-based violence, sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS and the provision of quality services for emergency obstetric care.
Learn more
View our film and see what life is like for Iraqi refugee women and youth in Jordan. Find out more about their reproductive health needs and their situation.
Get Certified: Learn how to provide critical reproductive health services in an emergency.
