Pascale Allotey

"It's shocking that around 800 women still die from preventable pregnancy-related causes every day and that these numbers have not moved significantly for a decade. Abortion care remains a neglected issue. Almost half of the 73 million induced abortions carried out each year are unsafe, putting women at risk of infection and death and less than half of all countries provide people with safe abortion care services. Programs to deliver comprehensive contraceptive services face bureaucratic and staffing bottlenecks that need to be overcome."

"An ongoing lack of access means that many women in low- and middle-income countries cannot be confident of receiving safe, respectful care when pregnant and giving birth. One million sexually transmitted infections are acquired every day. Most adolescents and young people do not receive comprehensive sexuality education, a known way to set them up for a healthy relationship. We still dismiss menstrual disorders and severe dysmenorrhoea as ‘normal’ for women, resulting in significant loss of quality of life and in productivity."

"Despite a challenging legal and policy environment that exists around SRH in many countries, I have the privilege, as director of SRH/HRP at WHO to work with an amazing team that continues to generate new knowledge, provide evidence- backed guidance and work with dedicated professionals in partner countries and organizations to contribute to supporting SRHR."

"It is clear to me that the scientific research and evidence-backed norms and standards provided by HRP are as important as ever. But I think what can do better by being more futures-oriented in the way we work. In the global public health space, we're still reacting to things we know from the past, rather than trying to plan and implement with a sense of what will be relevant for the future. How do we project a little bit of what's happening with changes in the population, or political, physical and social environment and so on? Whatever the futures-related interventions are – whether it's training or capacity building or technologies – we need to make that more embedded in our planning."

"We should live in a world in which the productive years, right from childhood, hold boundless opportunities for all. This includes the option to be reproductive at an age when the choice can be autonomous, with an expectation to prevent unwanted pregnancies, survive and thrive through a desired pregnancy, childbirth, parenthood, and beyond, with access to high quality, patient-centered promotive, preventive, and curative care."

"The need to put the S back in sexual and reproductive health comes out of the unfortunate politicization of our work because there is such a strong and increasing resistance to SRHR. Reproduction does not occur without sex, and sex occurs much more frequently for reasons other than reproduction – what a revelation! It stands to reason that we have to ensure that this major part of our lives is safe, consensual, healthy, and fulfilling for all."

"The Harvard economist Claudia Goldin, who recently won the Nobel Prize, noted that the single most transformative intervention both for economies and gender equality is the control women have over their fertility. Even though that doesn't always necessarily translate into better access to contraception, it is the empowerment of women to decide not to be purely reproductive, but also productive beings beyond motherhood, that has enabled economies to grow. The whole idea of ensuring sexual health, which means that women can choose the nature of their relationships, when to have children, and space those children, is absolutely fundamental. It's so fundamental I find it difficult to even think about why this argument still needs to be made."

"Gender inequalities prevent women and girls from practicing safer sex, limits their use of contraceptives, increases their risk of acquiring STIs including HIV, and underpins violence and harmful practices. Gender inequalities intersect with other socioeconomic inequalities and discrimination on the basis of class, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, among others to shape inequities in SRH outcomes."