Centre for Health and Gender Equity
The Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) is a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization whose mission is to 
ensure that U.S. international policies and programs promote sexual and reproductive health within a human rights framework of women and girls worldwide.
Mission
CHANGE envisions a world where sexual and reproductive health and rights are universally recognized and sexual and reproductive health care is accessible and available to all.
CHANGE works to ensure that U.S. foreign policy accurately considers the linkages between HIV/AIDS, family planning, reproductive health, violence against women and stigmatization of vulnerable populations.
CHANGE advances its mission by monitoring the impact of U.S. policies and programs overseas, and advocating for effective, evidence-based policies and increased funding for critical HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and family planning programs.
Programme Areas
CHANGE monitors policies and funding streams that affect women’s health and rights abroad by:
- Shaping U.S. International Policy
- Monitoring Implementation of U.S. Policy on the Ground
CHANGE advocates for effective policy guidance and increased funding by the Executive and Legislative Branches, advocate for evidence-based operational strategies to be developed by key agencies, and monitor implementation of these policies and programs on the ground. CHANGE uses our fieldwork to provide policy makers and our coreconstituencies (women’s, health, rights groups) with information on the implications of policies and funding streams for health and rights, and make recommendations based on these findings to advocate for needed changes.
Gender Based Violence
CHANGE is working to identify a range of ethical and rights-based reproductive health interventions that respond to physical and sexual violence and coercion. CHANGE seeks to improve programmes’ ability to:
- respond to women’s reproductive health needs and realities;
- increase women’s empowerment;
- support women in becoming agents of change in their own lives.
At the same time, CHANGE aims to strengthen the global response to Violence against women and assist the health care sector, ranging from donors to providers in developing strategic, rights-based responses to GBV that are consonant with the empirical evidence, theory and ethics of violence prevention and response.
Family Planning
CHANGE seeks to ensure that US international policy and assistance effectively address and expand informed choices in sexual and reproductive health among women and vulnerable groups through:
- Equitable access to an acceptable range of prevention and treatment technologies, information and services for unwanted pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV/AIDS;
- Means that are free from coercion, respect bodily integrity and are guided by bioethical principles of informed choice.
- Addressing socio-cultural and economic norms as well as gender and power based inequities that limit women’s ability to make safe and informed choice with regard to their sexual and reproductive health.
References