Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights

History

WGNRR was founded at the fourth International Women and Health Meeting (IWHM) in 1984. The conference was themed "No to Population Control... Women Decide!" and saw the formation of other important international networks including Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) and Latin American Women and Health Network. In 1987, at another IWHM conference, WGNRR partnered with the Latin America and Caribbean Women’s Health Network to launch a campaign addressing maternal mortality and declared May 28 the International Day of Action for Women's Health. WGNRR was an active participant in the International Conference “Reinforcing Reproductive Rights”, held in Madras, India in 1993. It was this year that WGNRR also began campaigning for safe and legal abortion. WGNRR's position on abortion was critical during the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994. According to their website, "WGNRR was part of a coalition- the Women’s Alliance- to ensure that women’s voices were heard and represented at the conference. that protested the population control theories that abounded at the time. WGNRR was also involved in workshops protesting the use of anti-fertility “vaccines”. WGNRR’s support of the ICPD’s inclusion of right to access of safe abortion was still tempered by its concern over the language and the fear of the misuse of such a document by proponents of coerced population control." In 1995, WGNRR undertook campaigns to address the feminisation of poverty and was an active participant in the development of the Programme of Action for the Women’s World Conference in Beijing. Following the Cairo Consensus, WGNRR held a 1996 Regional Members' Meeting in Amsterdam. Between 2003 to 2007, WGNRR collaborated with the People’s Health Movement (PHM) on the Women’s Access to Health campaign. WGNRR then decided to relocate its main office to the Global South and by 2009, the main office was transferred from the Netherlands to the Philippines.

Key Areas

Campaigns

WGNRR has facilitated several international campaigns on a wide range of issues including maternal mortality and morbidity, poverty, forced sterilization and the sexual and reproductive rights of youth. Since its inception, WGNRR has used "Calls for Action" to mobilize members. WGNRR's two primary campaigns are the International Day of Action for Women's Health (May 28) and the International Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion (September 28).

International Day of Action for Women's Health

In 1987, during a reunion of members of WGNRR in Costa Rica, May 28 was declared as International Day of Action for Women's Health. Since then, May 28 has been internationally renowned and activities are held worldwide by women’s and health groups. In 1999, it was officially recognised by the government of South Africa. For 2010-2015, WGNRR’s Call for Action campaigns will defend international human rights commitments, and demand respect for sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice.

International Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion

September 28 was chosen as the date for the Latin American and Caribbean Campaign for the Decriminalization of Abortion in 1990. This date was chosen in commemoration of the abolition of slavery in Brazil which is now remembered as the day of the "free womb" demanding for safe and legal abortion for all women. WGNRR has since adopted the day to mobilize members around the world to "advocate for reproductive justice and the decriminalisation of abortion." In 2015, the name of the day was changed to International Safe Abortion Day in an attempt to have a simpler, easier to remember name and to advocate for the day to become an official UN day.