Since 2020, SRHM has been coordinating a new initiative which is contributing to debates about human rights standard development, setting research and policy agendas, and engaging in advocacy for SRHR globally and ensured that our knowledge is shared broadly to influence policy and practice.
This initiative includes a series of meetings with expert dialogue, comprehensive rights-based literature reviews organised around key rights principles of SRHR including accountability, participation, non-discrimination, autonomy, and consent. It aims to create knowledge products in the form of articles, as well as toolkits for dissemination and global use in mentoring, training, and education. The initiative also aims to enhance the ecosystem of rights and evidence by ensuring that research is conducted, knowledge is developed, and practices are influenced by evidence and human rights.
RIGHTS-BASED KNOWLEDGE CREATION IN SRHR: AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE
We published an introductory guide to rights-based knowledge creation in SRHR, written by B. Subha Sri. It has been produced as resource material for the mentoring programme on rights-based knowledge creation in sexual and reproductive health, conducted by the South Asia Hub of SRHM. It is meant to provide an introduction for researchers, practitioners and activists on how to use a human rights-based approach to knowledge creation in the area of sexual and reproductive health.
PODCAST ON KEY CONCEPTS
To help introduce the concept of rights-based research, SRHM Chief Executive, Eszter Kismődi, recorded an episode of the SRHM Podcast with three leading experts in the field: Sundari Ravindran, Laura Ferguson, and Sabina Faiz Rashid. Together, they discuss the important concept of rights-based research and explore why it matters for sexual and reproductive health and rights.
PODCAST ON Rights- and evidence-based knowledge in legal action
This discussion centred around the role and importance of evidence for advancing SRHR action from a legal perspective and how evidence is used for legal action in regional and global contexts as well as creating international human rights standards.
This is an important and much-needed discussion, that stems from a common understanding between the panellists on the importance and power of evidence-based knowledge, especially in turbulent political times, when the SRHR movement is being met with anti-SRHR sentiments and backlash globally. To secure SRHR for people in all regional, local, and global spaces, there is a need to understand the challenges in each of these contexts. The speakers provide important insights on using evidence for legal action, based on their experiences and work in their respective contexts.
ACCOUNTABILITY
In May 2021, we hosted a webinar on accountability in sexual and reproductive health and rights research. Five expert panellists came together and explored the core areas that SRHR accountability research must address including social and political contextualisation of accountability, unpacking the operations of power, the context of community driven accountability interventions and addressing marginalisation through accountability research.
Shortly after the webinar, we gathered 35 leading experts in the field for a dialogue on accountability. The purpose was to enhance the discussion on how accountability can be incorporated into research and knowledge creation from a diverse multi-disciplinary perspective.