Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC)
Bio
Author Biography
Lily Jacobi is an Advisor for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research with the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC). She works on research, programmes, and advocacy on access to contraceptive services, community-based care for survivors of sexual violence, community-based emergency preparedness for sexual and reproductive health, and other areas. She also co-leads the Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) on Reproductive Health in Crises Sub-Working Group on Emergency Preparedness and Resilience.
Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC)
Bio
Author Biography
Sarah Rich is the Associate Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health at the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC). She has more than 15 years’ experience in sexual and reproductive health, gender, and poverty reduction. She co-leads the Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) on Reproductive Health in Crises Sub-Working Groups on Voluntary Contraception and Supplies. She also leads WRC’s work on improving access to reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health services in northeast Nigeria through community health programming. Sarah has a master’s degree in Public Affairs from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
Volume 53
Number 2
Published: April 27, 2022
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, including contraception, save lives in humanitarian emergencies. To document practitioners’ perceptions of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on contraceptive programming in humanitarian settings and across the humanitarian–development nexus, the Women’s Refugee Commission conducted 29 key informant interviews with respondents from non-governmental organisations, the United Nations, and government ministries. Disruptions to contraceptive services included closures or repurposing of health facilities, limited availability of health providers, supply chain interruptions, restricted service delivery modalities, and lower demand for services. Adaptations to sustain services included telemedicine, task-shifting and sharing, community-based service delivery, and other innovations. Underlying factors affecting the types and extent of disruptions and adaptations included emergency preparedness for SRH, decision makers’ prioritisation of SRH services, funding, and coordination. Findings reinforce the need to build awareness that SRH services, including contraception, are lifesaving and essential in humanitarian settings, and to improve preparedness, including bridging gaps between humanitarian and development actors.
