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The concern of the International agencies for the protection and promotion of the health status of women has been reflected in various international declarations. A few important declarations are mentioned below.

The first International Declaration is the “The International Declaration of Human Rights”, 1948. Article 25(1) of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights propounds that

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, and housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

The Universal Declaration makes additional accommodations for security in case of physical debilitation or disability, and makes special mention of care given to those in motherhood or childhood.

It clearly indicates that the declaration also gives coverage to the women whose health and well being is a matter of concern for the world community.

Health is briefly addressed in the United Nations' International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which was adopted in 1965 and entered into effect in 1969.The Convention calls upon States to

"Prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law," and references under this provision is made to "The right to public health, medical care, social security and social services." Thus, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination makes public health and medical care available to all world citizens without any bias and discrimination. This is applicable for women of all racial groups, colour, nationality and ethnic origin.

The United Nations further defines the right to health in Article 12 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which states:

The States parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. This cannot exempt the women.

In September 1978, the International Conference on Primary Health Care was held in Alma-Ata, USSR (now Almaty, Kazakhstan). The Declaration of Alma-Ata, co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), is a brief document that expresses "the need for urgent action by all governments, all health and development workers, and the world community to protect and promote the health of all the people of the world." It was the first international declaration stating the importance of primary health care and the role of world governments in catering to the health needs of the world citizens.It goes on to call for all governments, regardless of politics and conflicts, to work together toward global health. These fundamental tenets guide the work of the WHO today. Those who ratified the Declaration of Alma-Ata hoped that it would be the first step toward achieving health for all by the year 2000. Although that goal was not achieved, the Declaration of Alma-Ata still stands as an outline for the future of international healthcare. “Health for All” no doubt clarifies that health programmes and care services should reach all people including the women.

The next important declaration is the declaration of the CEDAW made in 1979. CEDAW stands for Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. CEDAW seeks to end discrimination against women in health care, and to ensure that prenatal and obstetrical care is made available to all women who need it(Art.12).Through these broad provisions, CEDAW seeks to improve women’s health throughout their life spans, from birth to old age. Improving women’s health requires not only access to good medical care, but also access to education, good nutrition, and the elimination of violence against women, both in the home and in armed conflict areas, The assumption being these serve as the means to secure better health status for women. In making recommendations to ratifying countries, the CEDAW Committee has accordingly expressed concern about the barriers to good health ranging from a general lack of adequate health care for women and girls, to the increasing number of women HIV/AIDs, and to high maternal mortality rates.

Women’s health also got reflection in the discussions of the World Conferences on Women. The first World Conference on women organised by the United Nations in Mexico City in 1975 gave a call to

the signatory nations to look into the reproductive health of women on the eve of the International decade for women. This was a historic effort to sensitize the nations to protect the reproductive health of the women which though vital for the lives of millions of women was in a deplorable state.

The Second World Conference on women organised by the United Nations in Copenhagen in1980 stated that special actions needed to be taken in areas such as employment opportunities, adequate health care services and education. Though it singled out health of women as an area of concern, its recommendations were more generic than being specific.

The Fourth World Conference on women organised by the United Nations in Beijing, 1995 adopted the Beijing Platform for Action which made explicit recommendations to secure the health status of women. The strategies suggested are:

 To increase women's access throughout the life cycle to appropriate, affordable and quality health care, information and related services.

 To strengthen preventive programmes that promotes women's health.

 To undertake gender-sensitive initiatives that address sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, and sexual and reproductive health issues.

 To promote research and disseminate information on women's health.

 To increase resources and monitor follow-up for women's health.

Promoting health, one of the fundamental aspects of primary health care, has been addressed independently by successive conferences, the first in Ottawa, Canada, in 1986and in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1997. The Declaration of Jakarta includes an updated conceptualization of health and identifies the requirements for its attainment as we head into the next century. These include "peace, housing, education, social security, social relations, food, income, women’s empowerment, a stable ecosystem, the sustainable use of resources, social justice, respect for human rights, and equity. Above all else, poverty is the greatest threat to health."

Other relevant international initiatives in recent years related to health are the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994), which insists upon reducing infant and maternal mortality, and guaranteeing universal access to reproductive health and family planning services.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals that were established following the Millennium Summit of the

United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. Goal 3, 4 and 5 are committed to the health of the world population and goal 4 specifically talks about women’s health. These three goals read as follows

 To reduce child mortality

 To improve maternal health

 To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

The outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century” called for, inter alia, policies and measures to address, on a prioritized basis, the gender aspects of emerging and continued health challenges, such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other diseases having a disproportionate impact on women’s health, including those resulting in the highest mortality and morbidity rates. It also called for the allocation of the necessary budgetary resources to ensure the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, so that all women have full and equal access to comprehensive, high-quality and affordable health care, information, education and services throughout their life cycle.

In 2004, the World Health Assembly adopted its first strategy on reproductive health, intended to sensitize the countries about the serious repercussions of reproductive and sexual ill-health. It also formulated strategies targeting at five priority aspects of reproductive and sexual health. These are improving antenatal, delivery, postpartum and newborn care; providing high-quality services for family planning, including infertility services; eliminating unsafe abortion; combating sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, reproductive tract infections, cervical cancer and other gynaecological illness and disease;

and promoting sexual health.

During the 2005 World Summit, heads of states and governments committed themselves to “achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015, as set out at the International Conference on Population and Development. It also tried to integrate some avowed aims like reducing maternal mortality, improving maternal health, reducing child mortality, promoting gender equality, combating HIV/AIDS and eradicating poverty.”