| dc.description.abstract | Among the many challenges linked to the outbreak of the novel corona virus disease (Covid-19) there are strong indications that the Covid-19 pandemic have adverse impact on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services globally. To expand the literature in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and its associations to Covid-19, this study assess how Covid-19 has affected SRH services in The State of Palestine and Malawi. These countries are chosen to fit into a Most Different System Design, as these countries has diverse geographical, cultural, religious, political and historical backgrounds. The impact of Covid-19 on SRHR are assessed with a mixed method study design, where part one assesses data provided by organizations that offers SRH services in Malawi and Palestine and part two is a critical analysis of SRHR and Covid-19 policy strategies in Malawi and Palestine. The impact of Covid-19 on SRH service provision in part one is further seen in relation to the analysis of the policy documents in part two.
The study´s findings indicate that Covid-19 has affected both organizations´ overall provision of SRH services and that the organization in Palestine experienced more shut down of service delivery points than the organization in Malawi. Furthermore, the policy analysis reveals that the subject position of women was somewhat related to how this impact may have played out. The findings further demonstrate that Covid-19 policies exceed SRHR policies and that this policy priority is linked to the impact Covid-19 has had on SRH services in the organizations of study. By doing a comparative study of two distinctive countries, this study shed light on the geopolitical and contextual factors that contributes to the impact of Covid-19 on SRHR, especially concerning political instability, economical barriers, donor dependency as well as women and girls´ position in the pandemic. | en_US |
