Find out more about Options' commitment to make the world a more gender equal place.
The Generation Equality Forum is a major global gathering for gender equality.
Options is taking part in the Generation Equality Forum from 30 June to 2 July 2021. The Forum is a global gathering for gender equality convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France, in partnership with youth and civil society. The event is a major global inflection point for gender equality that brings together governments, corporations and change makers from around the world to define and announce ambitious investments and policies.
As a commitment-maker, Options has pledged to strengthening the institutional capacity of CSOs and implementing partners to provide adolescent girls with access to sexual and reproductive health rights information, counselling and referrals to comprehensive abortion and contraception services when wanted.
Since 1992, Options has worked to transform health systems by improving access to health services and outcomes, especially for women and children, with a strong focus on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH). We have pioneered rights-based approaches to strengthen women’s movements, reduce unsafe abortion and end female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). During COVID-19, we have placed women and girls at the centre of our programmatic responses, with a focus on continuity of essential RMNCAH services. We do this by:
Researching and designing with women and girls: Options has pioneered methods for conducting participatory research and co-creation with women and girls to ensure that our solutions to addressing gender barriers to health respond to their needs. These include our Participatory Ethnographic Evaluation and Research (PEER) method and human-centred design (HCD) approaches.
Ensuring that health services are high quality and gender-responsive: We provide technical assistance (e.g. on health financing and planning) to support national and local governments to strengthen health systems for quality RMNCAH services, overcoming financial and other barriers to access. Through advocacy and coalition-building, we also galvanise governments, civil society and the media to prioritise sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and family planning (FP) to meet the needs of women and girls.
Putting products and technologies for women and girls: We aim to increase access to products and technologies that enhance the power of women and girls to control their own bodies and health. This includes devices such as self-administered long-acting reversible contraception, and drugs for medical abortion.
Tackling harmful gender norms from grassroots dialogue to global advocacy: Options has led ground-breaking social and behaviour change communications (SBCC) initiatives on sensitive gendered issues, including FGM/C and safe abortion, that centre women and girls’ voices and perspectives.
Empowering women-led organisations: Women’s rights organisations and women’s movements are widely recognised as key change makers, yet they are under-resourced and often excluded from decision-making spaces. We are experienced at designing and managing inclusive granting mechanisms that respond to the needs of frontline gender equality activists.
Find out more about our work on gender equality and social justice.