Why is this call being launched?
Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) have always been shaped by geopolitical, socioeconomic, environmental and technological change, but these shifts are now moving at an unprecedented pace. They are reshaping how SRHR is experienced, financed, supported, advanced, stalled or eroded around the world.
HRP (the UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction), together with its UN cosponsors UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO and World Bank, is leading a global SRHR foresight and research prioritization process for 2026–2036. This open public consultation aims to gather diverse input to collectively identify the potential influences that may shape the future of SRHR over the next ten years. The process will culminate in a published report on the future of SRHR and a corresponding research agenda in 2027.
What is foresight, and why are we using it?
Foresight methods, used by governments, UN bodies and NGOs, offer a structured set of tools to look toward and plan for future possibilities and outcomes: identifying signals of change, analyzing trends and exploring plausible futures. Instead of predicting the future, foresight asks what the world might look like in 10 years, whether we are ready for it and how we can better prepare.
What is the SRHR foresight and research prioritization process?
This process is guided by two questions:
- What future trends will shape or constrain SRHR over the next 10 years?
- What evidence and research investments are needed today to prepare SRHR for the futures we may face?
The process is global in scope and covers SRHR comprehensively. Contributions through this public consultation are welcomed across the full SRHR agenda, and stakeholders are invited to provide input from their perspective of SRHR broadly or in the context of specific areas or themes within SRHR. Watch this explainer video here.
What is a signal?
This public consultation seeks to identify emerging or potential signs of change, referred to as “signals,” that may influence SRHR over the next decade. Signals can be small or large, well established or newly emerging , and may sit outside the health sector.
What are we looking for?
This public consultation aims to receive input from a diverse range of global, regional and national stakeholders on signals that may influence SRHR over the next decade.
Submissions may include descriptions of emerging issues, changes, shifts or disruptions that may shape SRHR at global, regional, national or community levels, including:
- economic systems: income, taxation, labour markets, industrial and trade policies, financial systems, the informal economy and commercial determinants;
- social infrastructure: universal social protection policies and public services;
- structural discrimination: racism, gender inequality, class privilege and other divisions in society;
- conflict, forced migration and displacement: security, fragility, peace and health, refugees and forced displacement, health emergencies;
- mega-trends: demographic shifts, socioeconomic transition, political, cultural, societal and behavioural change, climate change and environmental degradation, natural resource scarcity, digital transformation and AI, technological advances, energy transition, urbanization and widening inequalities;
- conditions of daily life: early child development, education, health and well-being, social connection, decent work, income, food and nutrition, housing and basic amenities, care burdens, transport and mobility;
- rights, legal and governance systems: laws, judiciary, regulation and accountability, policies, rights, social dialogue and participation;
- health systems: financing, governance, workforce, service delivery, health products, health data and information systems;
- media, communication, misinformation and disinformation; and
- changes in the research ecosystem, including research and development, research capacity, funding, methods, ethics, evidence translation and trust in science.
Who can take part?
This public consultation is open to individuals, and any organization or group whose experience, expertise and work may provide insights on the future of SRHR. HRP invites global, regional and national stakeholders across the public and private sectors, and is especially interested in submissions from health worker, community, youth and rights movement spaces that may not yet appear in published fora:
- health workers, professional associations and clinical networks
- civil society, community groups, youth-led organizations and rights movements
- governments, parliamentarians, regulators and other public sector bodies
- researchers, academia, think tanks and technical experts
- UN agencies, multilateral, humanitarian and development organizations
- funders, philanthropy, private sector, technology and innovation organizations
- media, communications and journalism
- anyone whose lived experience, work or perspective could help the SRHR field see what is coming next.
How will submissions be used?
Submissions will be used to identify key themes and emerging issues as part of the SRHR foresight and research prioritization process. All responses will be confidential, anonymised without identifiers prior to analysis and used strictly for the purposes indicated in this call for contributions. Individual contributions will not be publicly shared or published.
HRP and WHO reserve the right to analyze and use submissions made through this public consultation, including with the use of AI in accordance with WHO standards of practice for AI use. The findings will contribute to a published report on the future of SRHR and a corresponding research agenda available in 2027.
Along with each submission, respondents will be asked to include descriptive information such as name, contact email, country and sector. This identifying information is necessary to understand stakeholder participation in the process more broadly and to enable HRP to contact individual contributors if necessary.
What is the deadline?
Submissions must be received by September 30, 2026.
How do I submit?
Complete the short online submission form at the link below. Alongside your signal, you may share supporting resources, reports, links, examples or other information. Formal published evidence is helpful but not required; practice-based experience, early observations and field examples are also welcome.
If you do not have signals to share but know colleagues, networks or organizations whose perspectives would strengthen this process, we welcome their contact details or an introduction.
Questions
For questions regarding this call, please contact srhrforesight@who.int .