About HRP

Mission

HRP research helps people lead healthy sexual and reproductive lives, by strengthening capacities of countries to provide quality information and services that enable people to protect their own sexual and reproductive health and that of their partners.

HRP is a global leader in reproductive health research

HRP supports and coordinates research on a global scale, synthesizes research through systematic reviews of literature, builds research capacity in low-income countries and develops dissemination tools to make efficient use of ever-increasing research information.

HRP has scope and capacity

HRP has a strong ground network of health professionals, non-governmental organizations, universities, government agencies, and community support. Since 1990, institutions collaborating with HRP published over 3000 articles in peer-reviewed journals and trained more than 70 000 staff at regional and country centres. HRP administered more than 4860 research capacity strengthening grants leading to the production of 6600 publications and presentations by collaborating centres. It is through this vast network that HRP uses its consultative processes to determine priorities for research.

HRP builds upon the world consensus

HRP’s work builds upon The Global Reproductive Health Strategy adopted by the 57th World Health Assembly in May of 2004 and on the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, the Plan of Action of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, and on the Millennium Development Goals.

HRP research saves lives

HRP’s research provides organizations and governments with the information they need to improve sexual and reproductive health services. This cutting-edge and timely information is used to promote best practice, to develop guidelines and tools to strengthen health services and to improve the quality of care they offer.

Programme Areas

Promoting Family Planning:

To ensure that, by 2015, all primary health-care and family planning facilities are able to provide the widest range of safe and effective family planning methods.

Improving Maternal and Perinatal Health:

To widen the range of products and technology to improve maternal and perinatal health, especially in resource-poor settings.

Preventing Unsafe Abortion:

To determine unsafe abortion prevalence and practices, to produce norms, tools and guidelines on preventing unsafe abortion, and to assist countries in reducing unsafe abortion among others, by improving access to safe abortion, to the fullest extent allowed by law, and quality post-abortion care.

Controlling Sexually Transmitted and Reproductive Tract Infections:

To improve strategies for controlling sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and reproductive tract infections (RTIs), including strategies to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and other STIs.

Adolescent Reproductive Health and Sexuality:

To contribute to positive adolescent sexual health and maturity for equitable and responsible relationships,and to develop programmes, policies and guidelines integrating adolescents’ unique perspectives.

Gender Issues and Reproductive Rights in Reproductive Health:

To promote gender equality and human rights in HRP programmes and to ensure that global reproductive health programmes and policies respect, protect and fulfill human rights and promote gender equity and equality.

Sexual Health:

To promote optimal sexual health and a positive view of sexuality for women, men and young people.

Technical Support to Countries: support national reproductive health and research capacity strengthening

To strengthen the research capacity of research institutions, individual researchers and programme managers in developing countries to address sexual and reproductive health issues relevant to national and regional needs and to facilitate the translation of knowledge into practice as part of the global research efforts.

Technical Support to Countries: policy and programmatic issues:

To build capacity for the development, implementation and evaluation of sexual and reproductive health policies and programmes that provide equitable access to quality services to meet the needs of individuals and communities.

Technical Support to Countries: mapping and implementing best practices:

To share experiences and lessons-learned in sexual and reproductive health in order to maximize the use of resources and minimize duplication.

Technical Support to Countries: monitoring and evaluation:

To map the burden of reproductive ill-health.

Communication, Advocacy and Information:

To communicate sexual and reproductive health knowledge, to strengthen the capacity of HRP collaborating centres in writing and publishing scientific papers and in communicating research findings to policy-makers and the public.