- In 2019, OHCHR and WHO agreed the first joint work-plan between the two institutions. This work plan, which has a strong focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights, particularly in the context of the Secretary-Generals Global Strategy on Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, as well as the work of the High Level Working Group on the Health and Human Rights of Women, Children and Adolescents. With respect to sexual and reproductive health and rights, the workplan commits the two organizations to work together to support human rights and public health standard setting, as well as to operationalize human rights based approaches, including in humanitarian settings.
- In 2019, a new stream of work was launched focused on SRHR in humanitarian settings through which OHCHR positioned itself as a key interlocutor and supported stronger understanding of rights based approaches in these contexts. As a result, OHCHR is now an active member of key networks, including IAWG on Reproductive Health in Crisis, as well as on the steering group for the development of a joint operational framework between the Global Health Cluster and the Global Protection Cluster. In May 2019, OHCHR convened an expert group meeting which brought together diverse participants, including experts from human rights and humanitarian communities, as well as women’s groups and women human rights defenders operating in crisis settings. This dialogue identified the need for similar such dialogues in specific regional and country contexts and a priority focus was identified, together with partners, in West Africa, which are planned for 2020. This work has also now integrated an explicit focus on COVID-19. OHCHR also established partnerships to support a priority emphasis on health workers as human rights defenders. This work has begun with a focus on the SRHR of women living with HIV, including a convening in Uganda in early 2020, for which follow up work is now underway.
- In relation to the broader aim of ensuring a human rights-based approach to health, OHCHR produced a report to ECOSOC highlighting the contribution which human rights could make to ensuring universal health coverage and also advocated for their inclusion during the lead-up to the adoption of the Political Declaration on U
- HC.In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, OHCHR has produced guidance on protecting economic, social and cultural rights in the response at national level.
