Advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights; supporting demographic developments

Context

By 2050, the world’s population is expected to increase by two billion. Whether the actual figure turns out to be higher or lower is directly linked to access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). When women can decide freely about their lives, it increases their opportunities for education and employment.

They usually then have fewer children and wait longer to have them. Such demographic changes have a direct impact on poverty reduction, food security, the provision of infrastructure, environmental protection and climate change mitigation.

Objective

International cooperation improves the SRHR of women and young people and promotes a development policy that considers population dynamics.

Approach

The project supports the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in designing and implementing development policies that promote SRHR and take demographic trends into account.

The priority areas of advisory services include:

• Advancing the sexual and reproductive rights of women and other vulnerable groups
• Promoting rights-based family planning
• Improving the range of, and access to, sexual and reproductive health services

In cooperation with the Berlin Institute for Population and Development, the project looks at correlations between population dynamics and issues such as social protection, education and food security.

The project gathers practical experience from projects, feeds this into its advisory services and demonstrates how and to what extent international cooperation can further increase its contribution to SRHR.

Moreover, the project supports BMZ in representing its positions in international negotiations and processes. Important cooperation partners include the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF).

Last update: August 2023