Parliamentary Action is Critical to Protecting and Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Gaps in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) exact a significant toll on individuals, communities, and economies, especially those who are marginalized and most vulnerable. Almost 50% of women in 57 countries face constraints on their bodily autonomy and reproductive agency, such as their ability to make their own decisions about whether to have sex, use contraception, and seek reproductive health care (1).

The last few years have witnessed an erosion of human rights around the world. Within the context of sexual and reproductive health this is manifested as a pushback against human rights and gender equality operating across global, regional, national, and local spheres (2), which specifically targets core elements of SRHR such as women’s and girls’ agency, abortion access, and comprehensive sexuality education. The recent, unsuccessful efforts to repeal the ban on FGM in the Gambia reflect this worrisome trend.

Parliaments play a constitutionally mandated role in protecting and promoting the rights (including those related to sexual and reproductive health) of women and girls. In addition, parliaments are instrumental in upholding international human rights standards and commitments to protect women and girls from all forms of violence and discrimination, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol).

Given the role that parliamentarians play in championing SRHR, PMNCH works closely with Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) with the aim to influence to advocate the executive branch of government to achieve the following outcomes:

• Effective safeguarding against the anti-rights and anti-gender movement, including tackling dis- and misinformation campaigns through dialogue across political divides. Furthermore, equipped with the latest data and evidence, parliamentarians can themselves help dispel some of the taboos related to SRHR issues in communities, motivating communities to change their perception on these issues.
• Increase domestic financing for key SRHR interventions and commodities by advocating for clear government commitments to the availability and accessibility of sexual and reproductive health commodities and services, as well as timely implementation of commitments made towards pledging platforms such as FP2030 and ICPD
• Integration of SRHR as an essential component of national health and well-being packages. Parliamentarians can help articulate the “virtuous cycle” of SRHR and gender equality, tapping into feminist groups, youth coalitions, and women’s rights activists as advocacy partners.

The recent experience in the Gambia holds several lessons to successfully engage parliamentarians as champions in continued efforts to protect and promote SRHR, and as such, ensure that women and girls lead healthy and fulfilling lives.

In order to leverage parliamentarians as champions for these issues it is important to empower them with the necessary information and skills through:

• Access to the latest data and evidence in clear, context specific and useable form;
• Regular engagement with relevant line ministries implementing women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health programs so that parliamentarians are well informed and aware on the health needs and rights of women, children and adolescents. This can be enabled by inviting parliamentarians to attend key meetings of the health sector organized by country-based partners;
• Access to testimonies and evidence brought by local stakeholders and exchanges with them through fora such as public hearings;
• Experience sharing engagements with other countries that have made advances on similar issues; and;
• Workshops and webinars that enhance their capacity to effectively advocate for the enactment and enforcement of policies and legislation that protect and promote the sexual and reproductive health needs and rights of women and girls.

PMNCH is committed to work closely with the parliamentarians. We will do so by equipping them with the latest data and evidence and context specific messaging to enable them to act as champions to counter the anti-rights movement. We will also facilitate engagements among parliamentarians and other partners undertaking SRHR advocacy to strengthen the coalition of pro-rights partners that builds a proactive narrative on these issues rather than reacts to the opposition.

PMNCH stands in solidarity with vulnerable and marginalized women and girls whose sexual and reproductive health and rights are under attack, as well as with parliamentarians, civil society organizations, activists, and partners working tirelessly to uphold these rights around the world. We pledge our continued support to jointly creating a future where every woman and girl can live a dignified and fulfilling life free from violence, discrimination, and harm.