Reproductive Health and Rights

Reproductive health and rights have received increasing global attention because of the gradual recognition of reproductive health as a basic human right and because of their link to population and poverty issues. The poorest countries, and the poorest populations within any particular country, tend to suffer the most from unsatisfactory reproductive health conditions. Investing in reproductive health facilitates the alleviation of poverty.

The concept of reproductive health and rights, as first adopted in 1994 by the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, broadens the concept of maternal health. It covers areas beyond the health of women as mothers and envisions more than the absence of disease. It attends to the physical, mental, and social well-being of both men and ...