The Cultural Context of Reproductive Health: Implications for Monitoring the Cairo Agenda

Abstract

When the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development adopted a reproductive health approach it became necessary to develop and adopt new indicators of progress. While former program experience has been used to further this task less attention has been paid to the underlying conceptual framework or to reconciliation of the goals of 1) developing a universal set of indicators and 2) responding to local conditions. The concept of reproductive health was developed through coalition-building but is nevertheless a cultural construct. Thus challenges to the development of indicators include 1) defining reproductive health and its scope 2) translating concepts into languages that have no equivalents 3) incorporating a gender perspective in settings where even women may seek other goals before seeking empowerment 4) setting appropriate priorities and 5) resolving discrepancies between womens perceptions and expressions of needs and biomedical assessments of their health. It is useful therefore to consider reproductive health indicators as existing on an continuum with quantifiable measures on one end and new indicators on the other to measure socioeconomic conditions changes in awareness satisfaction or well-being and empowerment. These latter measurements must be flexible enough to respond to specific cultural contexts. The very interdisciplinary nature of the current conceptualization of reproductive health will demand development of multidisciplinary interventions.