In 2021, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) found that only four out of every ten women use contraception in Nigeria. To help address this sexual and reproductive health disparity (SRH), the World Health Organization (WHO) has coordinated with Nigeria’s Ministry of Health employing a people-centered, and gendered approach to increase the accessibility of SRH services. In particular, WHO has found that self-administration of injectable contraception has already made strides in improving contraceptive uptake regionally. This method has been made available directly within communities through pharmacies and drug stores.   The UN reports that self-administered methods are popular because women can use it in any setting, whether they are in a community setting, refugee camp, or anywhere else. The injection provided by WHO allows up to three months of contraceptive cover, which assists women who desire long-lasting protection. The organization states that this intervention helps give women greater autonomy, and even reduces the pressure on health workers, especially in conflict settings where...

On November 16th, the International Conference on Family Planning in Thailand, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Special Research Programme HRP, and the FP2030 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that committed to strengthen cooperation on sexual and reproductive health and rights, with a special emphasis on family planning.   In signing this document, all three organizations pledged to continue to work together to provide high-level leadership that assists countries in realizing their family planning commitments. A WHO representative, Dr. Pascale Allotey said that ““270 million women around the world have an unmet need for contraception, jeopardizing their health, their well-being and their futures. Our MoU calls attention to the urgency of the situation and commits to accelerated action on this most fundamental issue of sexual and reproductive health and rights.”’   Further, WHO issued eight commitments that intend to expand access to modern contraceptives to FP2030, a international partnership of globally-focused organizations working on family planning. These commitments which endeavor to make...

The United Nations recognizes sexual and reproductive health (SRH) as a keystone on which sustainable development is based— and these goals were first outlined at the1994 International Conference on Population and Development. In mid-November, the 2019 High-Level Commission on the Nairobi Summit, or ICPD+25, released a groundbreaking new report that builds on this framework. The report examines global progress and setbacks regarding sexual health and rights that occurred since 2019. It recommends that countries take steps to “unwind” the various social, political, and economic barriers that hinder the advancement of SRH.   Positively, the report sheds light on how roughly 77 percent of low- and middle- income countries have created plans to develop or execute national commitments to sexual and reproductive health or have developed monitoring and evaluation systems. The recent progress in Latin America and Africa- notably the legalization of abortion in Mexico, Argentina, and Columbia that resulted from women’s movements- sharply contrasts events transpiring in Eastern Europe and the United...