L’Initiative and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)

L’Initiative’s commitments to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are aligned with the French 2016-2020 international strategy on population, sexual and reproductive health, and rights issues, as well as with other approaches (feminist diplomacy/gender equality, global health strategy, and education and youth strategy).

SRHR is an integral component of L’Initiative’s investments, both in terms of technical assistance and funded projects implemented by various partners (civil society, ministries, research institutes, etc.), particularly around the following themes:

• SRHR challenges from a community health perspective.
• Sexually transmitted infections and sexually transmitted diseases (STIs/STDs) and HIV.
• HPV screening and cervical cancer.
• Engaging key populations in sexual health.
• Gender equality and gender issues in sexual health.

In 2015, a dedicated call for projects was launched on the theme “HIV and AIDS, adolescents and girls,” which resulted in six projects being funded across 12 countries. Learning from these funded projects has been captured in a good practice guide entitled “Addessing the sexual and reproductive health challenges of adolescents and young girls: sharing experiences”.

A call for operational research projects was launched in December 2021 and focused on HIV, HPV, and associated cancers—project selection is currently underway.

Overview of key data

During its first decade, L’Initiative supported 46 projects with at least one SRHR component in 29 countries, including six projects under a dedicated SRHR theme (call for projects 2015). L’Initiative also supported 41 technical assistance assignments with at least one SRHR component in 25 countries.