Policy
WHO
Regional level
In times where the health climate in the European region is affected by inequalities and economic, political and social shifts, policy-makers within the region need comprehensive tools enabling them to tackle these existing issues at the 21st century.
In 2013, all 53 member states in the region agreed to adopt Health 2020- the European policy framework for health and well-being. The Regional Committee for Europe (RC) further committed to a new sexual and reproductive health (SRH) strategy and action plan in 2016 for the European Region, aiming to achieve the 2030 Agenda, emphasizing on :
SDG Target 3.7 “ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes by 2030”
SDG Target 5.6 “ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the ICPD Programme of Action and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences”
Country level
The WHO European regional strategy on SRH has been used as a guide for many countries to develop and sustain their own national policy documents, including:
| Armenia | Finland | Tajikistan |
| Azerbaijan | Georgia | Turkey |
| Belarus | Ireland | Turkmenistan |
| Bulgaria | Kyrgyzstan | United Kingdom |
| Croatia | Latvia | Ukraine |
| Denmark | Republic of Moldova | Uzbekistan |
| Estonia | Spain |
Global level
In May 2016, the 69th World Health Assembly decided on 5 priority aspects regarding sexual and reproductive health
- improving antenatal, delivery, postpartum and newborn care;
- providing high-quality services for family planning, including infertility services;
- eliminating unsafe abortion;
- combating sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, reproductive tract infections, cervical cancer and other gynaecological morbidities; and
- promoting sexual health.
The global health strategy on SRH will be running during 2016-2021, and are based on the evaluation of the implementation from the previous global strategy from2006-2015.
Other international commitments
Since 1995 many international development strategies, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), have played an important role in focusing efforts and highlighting resources needed for ensuring human rights and for decreasing SRH inequalities. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is the most comprehensive global policy framework to achieve those goals. Despite great improvements for women to access SRH care, inequalities between and within countries remain and is considered "unfinished agenda" in reaching universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights included in the Sustainable Development Goals 2015–2030.
Other United Nations conventions and summits resulted in many commitments related to sexual and reproductive health, including: the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
