Human rights

To align policies and programmes with international human rights norms, a human rights–based approach must be applied to addressing gender-based violence and to ensuring the sexual and reproductive health and rights of all people. Beyond the health sector, this requires countries to take action by upholding human rights and committing to change harmful social norms, laws and policies. Particularly important are reforms that promote gender equality and women’s rights, and that contribute to women having autonomy over their own bodies and lives.

Fulfilling human rights for all requires a focus on equality and non-discrimination. This means organizations like UNFPA must work to identify overlapping forms of discrimination and understand how gender inequalities intersect with discrimination based on race, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, age, appearance, marital status and position in society – such as social class, caste, people from indigenous groups and citizenship, or lack thereof. An emphasis on gender discrimination alone is unlikely to meet the needs or secure the rights of women of colour, women with disabilities or indigenous women, for example.

UNFPA is also working to address stigma and discrimination and is promoting the use of disaggregated data to uncover so-called ‘invisible’ rights violations. Additionally, UNFPA is dedicated to including and amplifying the voices of marginalized people in policymaking, ensuring their meaningful participation by strengthening social movements and civil society organizations and taking targeted actions to address the needs of specific groups.

The right to sexual and reproductive health has been recognized by the international community for decades. Not only is sexual and reproductive health an integral part of the right to health, it is also fundamentally aligned with the enjoyment of many other human rights, including the rights to life, health and education; equality and non-discrimination; privacy, freedom from torture, and individual autonomy.

But to realize this right, sexual and reproductive health services, education and information must meet human rights standards for availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality, as outlined in the UNFPA assessment tool. They must be accountable to affected populations and civil society groups and have in place effective mechanisms for accountability regarding sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence.

A number of UN treaties and mechanisms help UNFPA advance human rights:

• UN treaty bodies such as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
• The Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council, which assesses the fulfilment of the human rights obligations and commitments of all 193 UN Member States once every four and a half years, and gives considerable attention to sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

UNFPA also provides technical support to national human rights institutions – including human rights commissions and ombudsman offices – to monitor sexual and reproductive health and rights; particular focus is given to the situation faced by certain population groups, such as indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and migrants.

Prioritizing the application of human rights principles became a cornerstone of UN reform efforts that were initiated in 1997. In 2003, UNFPA was one of the agencies that adopted the UN Common Understanding on a Human-Rights-Based Approach to Development Cooperation, which clarifies how human rights standards and principles should be put into practice in programming.

UNFPA’s guidance on Applying a Human Rights–Based Approach to Programming outlines key elements and good practices under this approach.

A rights-based approach helps to develop this capacity and encourages people to claim their rights. In this context governments have three levels of obligation: To respect, protect and fulfil every right. The Universal Periodic Review, as described above, has emerged as a particularly powerful mechanism with its considerable attention to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

This approach deals not just with outcomes, but with how those outcomes are achieved. It recognizes that people should be empowered as actors in their own development, rather than passive recipients of services. Informing, educating and including rights holders is central to ensuring – and sustaining – this progress.

Updated 25 March 2025