By Youth Sexual and Breeding Health Advocates, Ruben AvilaDirector sin control parents and shadecides young leaders, Mexico, Amanda PhilipsonCSE-teachers and board members Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU Malmö), from Sweden, Ana (Anuki) MosiashviLee, International Coordinator of Advocacy and Partnership in Y-Pier Network, Muhammad Ray Dwi PangstuProject Manager, Rutgar WPF Indonesia and Aneesu MandenSocial Work Student, Zimbabwe
This week, five United Nations agencies confirmed that despite some progress worldwide, most countries fail to provide quality and permanent sexuality to children and youth. This news is reminiscent of life-changing and potentially the immediate need for life-saving education, said UNESCO Assistant-Director General, Stephania Jianini for education.
we agree. For many people, it is a matter of life and death. Among girls aged 15–19, 10 million initial and unexpected pregnancies a year are the top causes of 3 million unsafe abortion, and maternal conditions death. Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) can prevent this. Youths from all countries and all regions have been standing for years and are saying this.
We are not only calling for CSE because it can save our lives, although it does; But because it helps us make deliberately, respectable and well informed decisions about our health, sexuality and relationships.
CSE is an overall, age-appropriate, multi-faceted learning process that occurs over the years. It creates personal and social competencies, such as significant thinking, risk evaluation, problem solution and ability to consider many approaches.
Investing in CSE is investing in the US and young people, in the US. We can maximize our education ability by eliminating confusion around menstruation and contraception, and challenging our goodness like discrimination, violence and child marriage.
Nevertheless, while many countries say that they have policies and laws related to sexuality education, good courses and teacher support, it does not always translate young people as we get sexuality education that we need.
The CSE policy is nothing without practical implementation and distribution – without budget, plan and monitoring. In fact, comprehensive relationship and sexual education provides equipment to young people who actually provide tools to understand themselves, the world and its within. If governments are really committed to protect human rights and for their commitments under regional, national and international agreements, they need to ensure that CSE fully felt its legal and regulatory implementation in the classroom. going.
At the same time, CSE delivery is nothing without quality training for primary, secondary and tertiary teachers-with the methods of participation and the skills of teaching diverse topics using a learner-centric view.
Teachers have the power to decide what to share or hide what information with their students. We urge teachers to reflect their own puberty experience, try to walk in your shoes, and do not interrupt their personal values to the widespread value of CSE. We also want more male teachers to engage in the implementation as our female teachers do, become champions and bring their perspective to the table.
We believe that young people need to be meaningfully engaged in the process of creating and designing sexuality education courses – because today many themes and realities that influence us are lagging behind. We need to know about issues affecting safe abortion, sexuality and intersections of technology, and various sexual orientation, gender identity and expression youth. These are important subjects, and if they are not involved, the opportunity to affect welfare and development positively is lost.
Access is another seriously important issue, and when millions of children were out of school, it is finished during the Covid-19 epidemic. We all do not have people whom we can talk to, or even on the Internet, can help us know about puberty, menstrual health, relationships or sex. We should find creative ways to reach those who face these difficulties.
Ensuring access to quality CSE in practice should be given priority globally if we can ever see a future where young people can really thrive, where we are free from confusion, discrimination, violence and aggression. We know that advances have been done, and that many countries are making important efforts to give CSE with the support of civil society and young people, but overall, we are lagging behind. Young people are not fulfilling their right to sexual education.
One of the most challenging things for us as young advocates is a lack of respectable dialogue. It is as if we are working in a reactionary location and the opposition is coming with heavy and strategic functions, taking advantage of power in decision -making processes. It is important that all major stakeholders support us in recognizing the positive impact of CSE for children and youth.
We all understand that literacy and numericalness are incredibly important, and it should be the basis of our education. These days school, however, needs to go beyond that. This is to prepare for the challenges of youth and infection for adulthood.
We are standing and urge you to listen to us. We, as young people, have an important role to play here. We can partner with governments and other stakeholders to experience negative consequences to ensure that any child or youth experiences evidence-based, positive information and sexuality, lack of education, or absence Those experience negative consequences.
Travel for comprehensive sexual education: Global Status Report (Eng) Summary (Eng) (FR) (SP)
UNESCO is currently developing a series with GEM report Peer Country Profile) To focus on the progress of country level towards extensive sexual education for release next year.
