Young People Need the Facts About Sex
More than a half a million healthy young women die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth including obstetric fistula each year. Young women under 24 run the greatest risk of dying from an unsafe abortion. Young people are also the group that, to the greatest extent, contract sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS.
The lack of information and targeted services for young people is a serious problem. There are a billion people aged 15 to 24, and there are close to two billion under 15. In many countries it is not accepted that people are sexually active before marriage, which means that it is hard for young people to obtain contraceptives, counselling or healthcare. It can be even more difficult for young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons to obtain services and care.
During the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo (ICPD) in 1994, 179 states agreed on a special section concerning the rights of young people to sexuality education and access to contraception. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child also guarantees young people the right to information and services relating to their sexual health.
Investing in young people’s sexual and reproductive health is a highly cost-effective and strategic method for achieving the goals adopted at the ICPD. It is also a precondition for attaining the UN Millennium Development Goals, which include ensuring universal primary education, equality and child and maternal healthcare, and halting the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Young people can be a powerful driving force in the fight against poverty. Involving young people in the issues that directly affect them helps improve their self-confdence and gives them the opportunity to exercise their human rights. Including young people lays the foundation for the responsible practice of future rights and duties. This is why it is so important to get youth involved in both the shaping and implementation of programmes that concern their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
The IFPA Demands:
- That political and financial priority be given to young people’s SRHR
- That young people are involved in the projects and programmes that concern them
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