Historical development of the global political agenda around sexual and reproductive health and rights: A literature review

•There have been very complex and long-term processes for the SRHRs to be acknowledged and included in the political agenda.•Twenty-four years of global efforts have had significant impact in improving women's health and well-being in many countries.•People who strongly value their cultural, traditional and religious beliefs make the acceptance of SRHRs difficult.•Sociocultural, political, economic and biological barriers are linked to the SRHRs of women to access health services over their life cycle.•There can be no one solution, or even a series of technical solutions, to such complex issue.