Gender Perspectives Improve Reproductive Health Outcomes: New Evidence (PDF: 717KB)

In 2004, the Interagency Gender Working Group published The “So What?” Report: A Look at Whether Integrating a Gender Focus into Programs Makes a Difference to Outcomes. The 2004 report presented evidence of the value of integrating gender into programs for promoting positive reproductive health (RH) and gender outcomes. The purpose of this new 2009 review is to assemble the latest data and update the evidence as to what difference it makes when a gender perspective is incorporated into RH programs.

This review focuses on five components of reproductive health programs, including interventions related to:

• Unintended pregnancy;
• Maternal health;
• HIV/AIDS and other STIs;
• Harmful practices, including early marriage, female genital mutilation/cutting, and gender-based violence; and
• Youth.
  

The authors examined gender-related barriers to each component of reproductive health and the strategies undertaken by programs to address the barriers. Out of nearly 200 interventions reviewed, 40 are included here as examples of programs that integrate gender to improve reproductive health outcomes. The interventions selected for inclusion were limited to those that have been evaluated—meaning they established criteria for assessment that were related to the goals of the intervention and followed an evaluation design—and that used accommodating or transformative approaches. The results of these programs suggest that the field is evolving toward a deeper understanding of what gender equality entails and a stronger commitment to pursue this equality in reproductive health programs.

In the past five years there has been a clear increase in the evidence that integrating gender does improve reproductive health outcomes. Today, women and men are reaping the benefits of gender-integrated programming that uses a gender-transformative approach and stronger evaluations are measuring the effects. This new review makes an important contribution to the growing body of literature on gender-based approaches to policy and programming. The evidence presented here suggests that incorporating gender strategies contributes to reducing unintended pregnancy, improving maternal health, reducing HIV/AIDS and other STIs, eliminating harmful practices, and meeting the needs of youth – all broadly included under the term “reproductive health.”

In addition, this report generated several new findings:

• Gender-integrated strategies are stronger and better evaluated than they were five years ago;
• Incorporating a gender strategy leads to a better understanding of RH issues;
• Formative research is critical;
• Programs that integrate gender can benefit from working at multiple levels; and
• Projects that integrate gender need to focus on costs, scale-up, and identifying policy and systemic changes required to “mainstream” gender.

The way forward, focusing on well-evaluated projects that address policy, systems, and cost issues, scaling up gender integration, and addressing sustainability of equitable gender relations over time, will make important contributions to the health and lives of women, men, and families around the world.