In the early 1970s researchers at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Szeged Hungary had few opportunities to communicate with the international scientific community and few resources to purchase needed equipment and supplies. However the Department was designated a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Research Center of the Expanded Programme of Research Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction in 1972. This 23-year collaboration provided the Department with the equipment and training it needed to carry out more than 40 clinical and nonclinical research projects in collaboration with various WHO Task Forces. Thousands of Hungarian citizens benefitted from access to new and effective means of fertility regulation and staff members contributed to almost 100 scientific publications. When political change came to Europe during the 1980s and 1990s the Center was able to play a prominent role in promoting cooperation in reproductive health research. In 1990 the Center hosted a meeting of the directors of WHO Collaborating Centers in Europe to 1) exchange information 2) identify common reproductive health research needs and priorities 3) develop collaborative plans 4) mobilize scientific expertise and 5) explore ways to mobilize resources. This led to a workshop on reproductive health needs in eastern Europe in 1993 during which the 1994 "Szeged Declaration" was drafted. This declaration identifies the basic elements of reproductive health assesses the regional reproductive health indicators and contains 14 recommendations to further reproductive health. The regional problems identified were so serious that the WHO established a scientific working group to achieve regional improvement.