What Counts as Need? Unpacking Sexual and Reproductive Health Priorities in Humanitarian and Displacement Settings

Rosanna Le Voir, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

This paper addresses the question: “How are sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs in displacement constructed and (de)prioritised by international humanitarian actors?” Humanitarian priorities start with needs. Which needs are given attention and who defines those needs is political. Evidence can amplify specific issues, attracting increased funding and policy attention. Meanwhile, gaps in knowledge production can render specific issues or groups invisible. This is especially true for SRH, where gendered and global north-south power hierarchies are embedded in data collection, identification of needs, and priorities. The methodology used semi-structured interviews with participants (n=30) from international organisations, donor and research institutions working on SRH in displacement and humanitarian settings. Data were analysed using formal coding and thematic networks. Key findings suggest that humanitarian needs-based framings of the sexual and reproductive lives of people displaced by conflict are partial, norm-driven, and top-down, resulting in a de facto hierarchy within SRH. The study demonstrates the insights offered by a more critical approach to needs- and evidence-based humanitarian action, as well as the shortcomings of a short-term and exclusively life-saving lens. It calls for a paradigm shift towards a more comprehensive, longer-term and rights-based outlook to SRH in humanitarian and displacement settings.

Keywords: Qualitative data/methods/approaches, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Migrant Populations and Refugees, Family Planning and Contraception

See extended abstract.