Advocates campaigning for refugees to have access to safe abortion in humanitarian settings say they have made major progress at a recent high-level meeting — but they added that “political sensitivities” among countries and some United Nations agencies are holding back efforts to get the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health services to those who need them.

A lot of progress was made during the meeting that will catapult the agenda for sexual and reproductive health and rights forward.

While some progress was made, their efforts to introduce a standalone objective on safe abortion were rejected by the U.N. Population Fund and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which expressed concern it could cause country governments to reject the overall package, advocates told Devex.

Experts also referred to a lack of strong evidence that it is feasible or sensible to include abortion as a minimum guideline considering how divisive the issue is.

Read the full article on access to safe abortion by Sophie Edwards at Devex International Development