Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

The sexual and reproductive health and corresponding rights of people in partner countries of German development cooperation are still severely restricted in many places. For example, according to current estimates, almost half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe and complications following pregnancy and childbirth are one of the main causes of death for girls between the ages of 15 and 19. An increase in gender-based violence was also observed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

German development cooperation is attempting to counteract this situation through projects in the field of action “Population dynamics; sexual and reproductive health and rights”. Sexual and reproductive health is to be strengthened in partner countries by expanding crisis-resilient structures for health and social security. In this way, development cooperation aims to improve the quality of and access to sexual and reproductive healthcare and strengthen sexual and reproductive rights, especially for vulnerable groups. As a result, the field of action should also contribute significantly to the objectives of the feminist development policy of the Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation.

In its evaluation, DEval comprehensively analyses the activities of the field of action “Population policy; sexual and reproductive health and rights” and looks at its relevance, effectiveness and impact, sustainability, efficiency and coherence.

DEval thus pursues two objectives:

• Comprehensive evaluation of the implementation of sexual and reproductive health and rights interventions in German development cooperation to date and transparent reporting on this.
• The development of recommendations regarding how development interventions for sexual and reproductive health and rights can be improved in partner countries.

Overall, the evaluation is also intended to provide information for the design of a feminist development policy, for example by showing how development cooperation can contribute to strengthening rights and dismantling discriminatory structures.

In its theory-based evaluation, DEval follows the human rights-based evaluation approach, which aims to embed human rights standards and principles throughout the entire evaluation process.

The following data collection and analysis methods are used in a method-integrative approach to analyse the field of action:

• In case studies selected based on certain criteria, bilateral development projects are analysed comparatively using qualitative methods. The focus here is on the relevance of the projects for people in the partner country, as well as on strengthening their sexual and reproductive health and rights. In the course of this, projects in Malawi and Togo are analysed by means of on-site interviews. Projects in Guinea, Cameroon, Yemen and Kyrgyzstan are analysed through remote interviews.
• A secondary data analysis of data from the Demographic and Health Survey statistically analyses the effectiveness of German development cooperation on sexual and reproductive health and rights in all partner countries. To this end, changes in sexual and reproductive health and rights, such as a reduction in maternal mortality, are linked to development policy funding contributions from the BMZ.
• Evaluation synthesis: The results of project evaluations by the implementing organisations are evaluated and analysed for all projects in the field of action using qualitative content analysis. This provides a complete and comprehensive picture of the success or failure of projects in the field of action. This analysis of content is preceded by an analysis of the quality of the evaluation reports and their findings.
• Analysis of scientific evidence and the portfolio: The results of scientific studies focusing on the efficiency and sustainability of projects in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights are systematically summarised. These results are compared with the German development cooperation portfolio.

To ensure that the evaluation’s recommendations remain valid against the background of future changes, a qualitative scenario analysis will supplement the evaluation’s survey methods. In this analysis, scenarios for future framework conditions for strengthening SRHR are developed and used as background information for recommendations derived from the results.