PREFACE Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations sets the goal “to achieve international cooperation … in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms …”. As part of this overarching vision, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are in a unique position to hold governments accountable to their commitment to respect, protect and fulfil reproductive rights as defined in the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action and further articulated in international human rights documents, national laws and other consensus documents. Furthermore, NHRIs are uniquely placed to support governments to meet the commitment to integrate the promotion and protection of human rights in their development and cooperation policies, as decided by States in the World Summit Outcome in 2005. At the Eleventh International Conference of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, which took place in Amman, Jordan from 5-7 November 2012, the Amman Declaration and Programme of Action was adopted. 12 Through the Programme of Action, NHRIs pledged to: Protect and promote reproductive rights without any discrimination, recognizing reproductive rights include the right to the highest attainable standard of sexual and reproductive health, the right of all to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children, and on matters related to their sexuality, and to have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, violence or coercion, as laid out in the Beijing Platform for Action and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development. In support of all the above mentioned commitments, this Handbook is intended to equip NHRIs with tools and resources to strengthen their role in promoting and protecting reproductive rights.