Sexual & Reproductive Health & Rights
(SRHR)

Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) is an essential building block to achieving gender equality, but it is restricted globally.

Families in Africa are trapped in cycles of poverty because they do not have the option to plan when to have children or decide how big they want their families to be. 

Access to full, comprehensive health care that includes sexual and reproductive health can change the course of a person’s life and set them up to reach their full potential. 

SRHR encompasses the different human rights related to sexuality and reproduction, such as sexual health, sexual rights, reproductive health, and reproductive rights. Everyone, including children and adolescents, is entitled to SRHR. It’s an essential part of universal health coverage, which does not just include the absence of disease or dysfunction, but also ensures physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being. 

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Key Facts About SRHR

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• Girls and women of reproductive age will lack at least one essential sexual or reproductive health service throughout their reproductive life.

• In sub-Saharan Africa, where the majority of the world is poor live, two-thirds of illnesses that women of reproductive age experience are caused by sexual and reproductive health problems.

• In developing countries, more than 200 million women want to avoid pregnancy but do not have access to modern contraception.