New website on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Southern Africa

June 2, 2016

Where would you go if you wanted to link up with people working on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Southern Africa?

For many years, Hivos has been working on SRHR issues, with a strong focus on people’s rights to (bodily) self-determination, freedom of choice and health. Now there is a space for people who care about sexual and reproductive health and rights to connect online. The SexRightsAfrica Network, an initiative of Hivos in Southern Africa and the AIDS Foundation of South Africa, has been set up in response to a clear need for people and organisations in Southern Africa to have a virtual platform to engage on SRHR issues.

The site offers a space to share information, to stay abreast of key issues, to organise for collective action and to link up with other people wanting to move the SRHR agenda forward. While its main focus is Southern Africa, we also see it as a space to connect up SRHR efforts in the region with other regions of Africa and the world.

The website is interactive and complements other web sites. It includes the following sections:

Network
By signing up for the network, you can link up with people and organisations working on SRHR issues similar to your own. You will also receive a monthly newsletter and learn about the latest developments in the region and beyond.

SRHR Map
We have created an interactive map to visualise the latest SRHR-related data on countries in Southern Africa, including the Indian Ocean island states.

News
The site offers a way to stay abreast of the latest developments on SRHR in the region and to upload news you think is important to others working on SRHR.

Knowledge Exchange
The Regional Learning Community offers a space where network members can share ideas and resources, reflect on lessons from their own practice, debate critical issues in SRHR and collaborate with others on research, development of materials and promotion of effective practice.

Action
This is a space for people to move from knowledge to action. Whether you are interested in organising an advocacy campaign or facilitating a session on best practices and lessons learned, the site has been set up to enable you to work collectively with others.

Resources
SRHR is a vast topic. We have started to gather information and tools to assist people in their work. For example, the database covers a diversity of topics and allows users to upload information they think would help others in the SRHR community.

Hivos’ approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights is based on a human rights perspective that includes access to safe abortion and contraceptives, reproductive and sexual health services and sex education. We also believe adequate knowledge and access to SRHR will directly contribute to reducing the number of maternal deaths rates, and the percentage of people with sexually transmitted disease, such as HIV/AIDS.