The United Nations Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction, known as the Human Reproduction Programme or HRP, has been providing the world with research findings and guidance on sexual health and reproduction (SRH) for more than half a century. This annual report highlights the programme’s key achievements in 2023, and points to major ongoing research that will be completed in the next few years.

This report presents an overview of the work during 2006-2007 of the Department of Reproductive Health and Research, which includes the UNDP/UNFPA/ WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP). The report covers both research activities and the technical support initiatives.Chapter 1 presents some of the general activities undertaken by the Department to advance sexual and reproductive health in the world. It also describes the Department's work in developing a monitoring framework for tracking progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the actual collection and synthesis of global data.Chapter 2 looks at activities in the area of family planning, a field that has seen tremendous advances in the past 30 years. Activities aimed at improving maternal and perinatal health are outlined in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 describes the Department's work in the area of reproductive tract and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV infection.Chapter 5 covers the work of HRP on unsafe abortion.Chapter 6 presents the Department's work on gender equity, reproductive rights, sexual health and adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Finally, Chapter 7 looks at the technical cooperation activities with countries, including research strengthening activities.

As digital technologies are expanding the power and reach of research, they are also raising complex issues. These include complications in ensuring the validity of research data; standards that do not keep pace with the high rate of innovation; restrictions on data sharing that reduce the ability of researchers to verify results and build on previous research; and huge increases in the amount of data being generated, creating severe challenges in preserving that data for long-term use. Ensuring the Integrity, Accessibility, and Stewardship of Research Data in the Digital Age examines the consequences of the changes affecting research data with respect to three issues - integrity, accessibility, and stewardship-and finds a need for a new approach to the design and the management of research projects. The report recommends that all researchers receive appropriate training in the management of research data, and calls on researchers to make all research data, methods, and other information underlying results publicly accessible in a timely manner. The book also sees the stewardship of research data as a critical long-term task for the research enterprise and its stakeholders. Individual researchers, research institutions, research sponsors, professional societies, and journals involved in scientific, engineering, and medical research will find this book an essential guide to the principles affecting research data in the digital age.

This highly regarded organization is one of the few engaged in contraceptive research and development that focuses on the needs of the developing world. The Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP) merits the Bank's continued and expanded support.

"This volume presents the highlights of current global thinking about sexual and reproductive health. Major changes have taken place in the last 15 years in the way decision-makers think about the subject and the manner in which programmes deliver comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services. The turning point was the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt, in 1994. ICPD was a watershed for several reasons. First, more than in any of the preceding United Nations population conferences, the issue of population was clearly placed as being central to sustainable development. Second, the narrow focus on population growth ("the population bomb") which had been a neo-Malthusian concern and preoccupation ever since the Club of Rome published its 1972 report Limits to Growth, was replaced by the comprehensive concept of (sexual and) reproductive health. Third, and linked to the definition and introduction of the reproductive health concept, was the strong call for a paradigm shift away from a policy environment driven by demographic considerations (sometimes to the point of using coercion in family planning services in order to reach demographic targets) to an environment that recognized the right of individuals to make their own choices. And, last but not least, ICPD as well as the Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW) held the following year in Beijing, People's Republic of China, strongly emphasized that the rights of women and men to good sexual and reproductive health are firmly grounded in universal human rights"--Provided by publisher.

Since the late 1990s approaches to women's reproductive health has shifted from a service-based model to a human rights approach. This approach associates reproductive health with freedom from discrimination and enjoyment of a satisfying and safe sex life, and full access to information and services related to reproduction. In spite of this shift, and the global effort to promote women's reproductive health through the enhancement of human rights and gender equality, progress has been very slow. In this book the author fills a much-needed empirical study of women's reproductive health. The author assesses data from 137 developing countries (or areas) and challenges the prevailing bioscience and public health models by linking women's reproductive health to gender equality measures and development policies. Discussion on abortion rights, regional variations and reproductive health needs among refugees and internally displaced persons are also discussed. This is a timely study which provides a theoretical and social policy basis for monitoring and improving women's reproductive health in developing countries. This is particularly important in the light of insufficient research in the field and a lack of analysis on the empirical and theoretical linkages between reproductive health and gender equality. The book will be of interest to researchers, professionals and students interested in women's health issues, gender/women's studies and human rights.

Special Topic Issue: Gynecologic and Obstetric Investigation 2012, Vol. 74, No. 3 This volume is a must read' resource on 40 years of research to develop and guide interventions for improving sexual and reproductive health by HRP, the Special Programme for Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction hosted by WHO and co-sponsored by UNDP, UNFPA, WHO and The World Bank. Insights are provided on how HRP was established to conduct research to address evolving needs in human reproduction. Over the years, HRP has been a global leader in the generation and synthesis of evidence on new methodologies in the field. It contributed to defining the concept of reproductive health and assists countries in their efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals and targets, especially that for achieving universal access to reproductive health. This special issue provides a chronicle of its achievements and includes significant references on its pioneering work. Tracing the history of HRP through informative articles, this work will provide valuable reading for all those interested in the areas of family planning, obstetrics, fertility, gynecology, AIDS research, andrology and epidemiology.

In this book, leading academics and practitioners in the field of reproductive health address topics such as contraception, abortion, sexually transmitted infections, maternal and prenatal health, sexuality and reproductive rights by examining a number of critical issues in these areas. The authors describe new research, identify gaps and priorities in policy and practice, and illustrate innovative solutions. The book further addresses such current imperatives as understanding the social meanings of emergency contraception, measuring gender-based violence, improving reproductive health governance, strengthening health systems and services, and redressing institutional barriers. The book also assesses how reproductive health programs can be reconfigured to new challenges such as those posed by climate change, vulnerable youth in fragile states, and risks from new infertility treatments. Using a rich and varied set of cases, a broad public health and social science perspective, and novel methodological approaches, this book questions common assumptions, illustrates effective solutions and sets out research, policy, and programmatic agendas for the present and future. This is a comprehensive volume which provides a valuable resource to researchers, educators, practitioners, policymakers and students, as well as anyone studying or advocating for reproductive health.