French action for sexual, reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health rights

In 2016, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs published, for the first time, France’s External action on issues of population and sexual and reproductive health and rights 2016-2020 strategy report, in support of the implementation of the Programme of Action adopted at the International Conference on Development and Population in Cairo, in 1994.

In 2021, France, as joint leader of the Generation Equality Forum Action Coalition on Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), made several commitments in that area. France committed to allocating €400 million to SRHR over the five years of the Forum through a number of different programmes, including the UNFPA Supplies programme, and the ODAS Centre for safe abortion in West Africa.

In 2023, France launched its new international strategy for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for the 2023-2027 period. There were three key changes from the previous strategy:

• The rights-based approach, placing individuals and their rights at the heart of the strategy.
• Six thematic priorities to guide France’s action.
• SRHR, the cornerstone of French feminist foreign policy.

Background and issues in terms of sexual and reproductive health and rights

Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) have gradually become part of debates within international forums since the 2000s. . There are three goals to SRHR: human rights and individual freedoms, gender equality and sustainable development in societies, and finally public health. The final stage in defining SRHR was to broaden these rights to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender + persons (LGBT+) in the 1990s.

Through the support and expertise of civil society, the definition followed and adopted by France since 2018 has been that of the Guttmacher-Lancet Commission which characterizes it as “a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to all aspects of sexuality and reproduction, not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity.” This positive approach to sexuality and reproduction recognizes sexual relationships as sources of pleasure, based on trust and communication to promote self-esteem and overall wellbeing. All individuals have a right to make decisions about their bodies and to access services that support that right.

These changes are also taking place in international texts and state-recognized action programmes, particularly those backed by human rights and feminist movements.

But these changes are taking place in a delicate international context. SRHRs are facing many challenges:

• Recognition and political and financial monitoring which remain difficult despite real progress;
• The rise of conservatism and anti-choice movements which are jeopardizing hard-won progress;
• The increasing number of humanitarian, climate and health crises, which detract attention from SRHR issues.

France’s approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights

The strategy covers 6 thematic priorities: access to safe abortion; access to high-quality sexual and reproductive health services and products; the fight against sexual and gender-based violence; support for social and behavioural change through comprehensive sexuality education and actions fostering the transformation of masculine gender norms; equal rights and access to rights for LGBT+ people, and the protection of sexual and reproductive health and rights during crises.

Through this strategy, France is committed to honouring the financial commitments made during the Generation Equality Forum, amplifying its advocacy for SRHR around the world including during crisis and conflict situations, strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships and sharing these goals with all actors of its foreign policy.

France will strive to promote its values through its feminist foreign policy and an integrated approach to the intersection of several priority sector-specific issues. France’s International Strategy on Gender Equality.
Through its feminist foreign policy, France aims to promote ambitious advocacy across all international, multilateral and bilateral arenas, in order to guarantee the right to control over one’s body and sexual and reproductive health as an essential prerequisite to gender equality;

→ France’s human rights and development strategy: France supports educational and awareness-raising projects regarding the correlation between human rights and SRHR aimed at all stakeholders in the French diplomatic network;

→ France’s global health strategy: sexual and reproductive health is part of this strategy. Several initiatives stem from this: the creation of the Muskoka Fund, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Initiative;

→ France’s international strategy for food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture: France is aiming to combat malnutrition in a comprehensive, multi-sector, multi-actor format by prioritizing action against undernutrition and the crucial period of the first 1,000 days (pregnant and nursing women and children under 2 years old);

→ France’s Humanitarian Strategy: in the process of renewal, several commitments will strengthen the inclusion of gender equality and SRHR, particularly access to the Minimum Initial Service Package.

For more information:

• Feminist foreign policy

Updated: January 2026