International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA)

Matilde Rocha, Liaison Officer for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights issues incl. HIV and AIDS (LRA)

Being a SheDecides Champion means refusing to let medicine operate on silence or compliance. In clinical practice, we are taught how to treat bodies, but too rarely taught to truly defer to the person inside them. Bodily autonomy is not something abstract for IFMSA; it is a clinical and ethical line in the sand. When access to abortion, gender-affirming care, or someone’s rights are being questioned, healthcare ceases to heal and starts inflicting harm. Fighting for autonomy is ensuring our future white coats protect self-determination.

How we are working so SheDecides

Health and medicine grant access to the human body, but never ownership over it. Across 120+ countries, IFMSA mobilises future healthcare workers around a shared conviction: care begins where sovereignty is honored, not where authority imposes. Through policy, capacity building, and collective youth action, we are trying to take down systemic paternalism in order to protect every person’s right to self-determination and body autonomy.

SCORA Capacity Building Initiatives

IFMSA delivers specialised capacity-building workshops equipping future physicians to promote SRHR:

  • BEAST (Basic Engagement in Advocacy for SOGIESC Training), which addresses LGBTQIA+ health gaps;
  • Ipas (Women’s Reproductive Rights and Access to Safe Abortion) to advance the development of a safe abortion advocacy network;
  • TACSE (Training on Advanced Comprehensive Sexuality Education) addresses comprehensive sexuality education and SOGIESC facilitation in a culturally sensitive manner;
  • HEAT (HIV Education and Advocacy Training) tackles advocacy dimensions of HIV;
  • IPET (International Peer Education Training) harnesses peer-education dynamics;
  • V2V (Violence to Victory) addresses GBV advocacy within a rights based approach.
  • TSRHRT officially certifies qualified SRHR peer trainers through non-formal education design.
Together, these programs translate evidence and SRHR into actionable community and global advocacy.

IFMSA Delegations to External Meetings

IFMSA prepares and deploys delegations to champion priorities at key multilateral spaces, notably the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), Commission on Population and Development (CPD), UN General Assembly (UNGA), World Health Summit (WHS), and UNFCCC, etc. Delegates undergo comprehensive capacity building on global health diplomacy and policy prior to each event, but our objectives are rooted in local translation, so they can bring acquired competencies back home to replicate advocacy strategies within their national contexts.

SRHR Advocacy Workshop

This workshop aims to introduce IFMSA members to advocacy efforts and work conducted in external affairs related to SRHR issues. Additionally, it seeks to provide them with practical knowledge and skills they can apply at the national level and empower them to engage in the international arena. Currently heading to its 9th edition, we have had around 370 participants so far from all the regions and great engagement.

IFMSA’s Policy Documents

IFMSA has Policy Documents that reflect its stance on issues related to health, education, social justice, and youth. Within SRHR issues, we have several PDs on Sexual Health and Rights, Gender Based Violence, Comprehensive Sexuality Education and LGBTQIA+ health and rights. On the other side, we also have a PD on Meaningful Youth Engagement, an area where we focus on as a youth organisation.

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SCORA X-Changes

The SCORA X-Change is IFMSA’s exchange program dedicated to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. It offers medical students immersive exposure to the social realities, legal frameworks, and healthcare strategies of host countries worldwide. Through clinical observation, community engagement, and intercultural dialogue, participants analyse health disparities, reproductive rights policies, and localised challenges in areas such as maternal care, HIV, and gender equity. By bridging global health principles with grassroots medical experience, SXC equips future healthcare providers with the cultural competence and practical perspective required to champion rights-affirming healthcare globally.

About The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA)

The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA), founded in 1951, is one of the world’s oldest and largest student-run organisations. As a non-partisan, non-profit organisation representing 1.5 million medical students across 133 National Member Organisations in 123 countries, IFMSA connects and mobilises future healthcare leaders worldwide. We envision a world where all future physicians unite for global health and are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and values required to lead locally and globally. Within this mission, our Standing Committee on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights including HIV and AIDS (SCORA) equips members with the tools needed to advocate for comprehensive SRHR and bodily autonomy within their respective communities in an evidence-based and culturally respectful manner.

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