CARE's Strategy to Strengthen Sexual & Reproductive Health Rights

CARE International’s Program Strategy identifies strengthening gender equality and women’s voice as a cross-cutting approach and sets out to support 100 million women and girls to exercise their right to sexual, reproductive and maternal health and a life free from violence by 2020 (see: discussion on GBV). This involves CARE focusing on SRHR to support the most marginalized communities to overcome poverty, social injustice and humanitarian crises. Importantly, evidence and learning from this work is applied to influence policy change and scale up effective solutions.

CARE’s work is embedded in human rights principles, of both a right to life and health, but also the right to reproductive self-determination and bodily integrity. CARE’s SRHR programs seek to create the conditions – personal, social and structural - that enable all individuals to realize these rights. This work is based on principles of equality, non-discrimination and accountability.

CARE’s SRHR work covers the following spectrum:

• Working with individuals, communities, service providers and policy makers to overcome inequitable social and gender norms, practices and policies at the household, community and service levels;
• Working with partners to prepare for and respond to the sexual and reproductive needs of all individuals – with a focus on women and girls –  in emergencies and fragile contexts;
• Building trust and accountability between communities and health service systems by expanding spaces for dialogue, negotiation and shared oversight;
• Working with health systems to increase health worker effectiveness, using innovative approaches to increase their capabilities, motivation and responsiveness; and
• Encouraging policy action, supporting policy implementation and helping to amplify the voices of women and girls in policy formulation.