by Sai Jyothirmai Racherla, Deputy Executive Director of ARROW
In 2000, the resolution 54/120, at the General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, that 12th August be declared International Youth Day. The theme of this year’s International Youth Day was “International Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages”. Examining the theme, from the lens of young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights with specific focus on comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), I argue that intergenerational solidarity and cooperation can play a pivotal role.
Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is defined as a “curriculum-based process of teaching and learning about the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality. It aims to equip children and young people with knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that will empower them to: realize their health, well-being and dignity; develop respectful social and sexual relationships; consider how their choices affect their own well-being and that of others; and, understand and ensure the protection of their rights throughout their lives.”[i]
It is beyond question that CSE, when delivered to children, adolescents and young people, puts them on a path of affirmative expression of sexuality, resulting in positive sexual and reproductive health and rights outcomes, further contributing to their overall well-being and development. We often see that CSE remains debated. An enabling ecosystem where every child receives comprehensive sexuality education, calls for cooperation and solidarity across different stakeholder groups including parents and family, teachers, health workers, communities and society at large, with the learner’s interests and rights protected, promoted and fulfilled. Family, teachers, peers, and communities have a great deal of influence on adolescents and young people in shaping their understanding of adulthood, relationships, reproduction, health and well-being, and hence equitable inter-generational relations and partnerships are crucial for comprehensive sexuality education implementation.
Teachers: Evidence shows that teachers are not adequately prepared in most countries in the region to provide CSE. In a review, majority of Ministry of Education respondents (79%) in the region reported that teachers undergo training on sexuality education delivery before teaching it at school. However, young people’s satisfaction with school sexuality education in the region stands at a mere 28%.[ii] Teachers in the region require adequate rights-based CSE delivery training, both at the pre-service level, but also in-service training and access to updated CSE resources. This should be bolstered with monitoring and evaluation, however, responses to the survey on the status of CSE indicate a lack of knowledge of any robust frameworks for measuring quality, preparedness and efficacy of teachers’ training and delivery.[iii]
Parents: Parents and families are integral to the CSE learning ecosystem, however the assumption in Asia is that parents are reluctant for the provision of CSE. In a cross-sectional study that used a self-administered questionnaire featuring 200 Malaysian parents, majority of parents (82%) agreed that sexuality information helps their children recognise and avoid sexual abuse.[iv] In a sample of 768 Indonesian parents and caregivers who completed an online Qualtrics survey to determine their level of support or disapproval towards the provision of sexuality education within primary and secondary schools, the majority of parents supported school-based sexuality education.[v] This evidence challenges the existing notions that parents are barriers to the delivery of sexuality education. Sensitising parents and dispelling misconceptions with evidence-based information on sexuality can make parents allies in the provision of CSE.
At the societal level, while the majority of countries in the Asia and the Pacific region have some laws or policies related to sexual and reproductive health and/or sexuality education for young people, commitment to CSE varies significantly across these countries.[vi] Community inclusion and society at large, which includes parents, teachers, health workers, faith leaders, and other education system stakeholders, should come together to reduce social resistance towards CSE. Intergenerational dialogues, cooperation, and value clarification can be key strategies. Modern media has a great role to play in influencing young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights decisions.
Journalists and social media influencers can not only influence young people with accurate information but also influence public opinion, dispel misconceptions and misinformation and contribute to scaling-up CSE across in-school, out of school, non-formal, informal, and digital spaces. This can go a long way to implement CSE for learners from early primary to tertiary levels.
So what next?
Teachers, parents, journalists, health workers, community members, progressive faith leaders, and young people can become Champions and Allies for the implementation of CSE in respective countries. Intergenerational dialogues and solidarity for CSE are ever crucial for effective, non-judgemental and respectful implementation of rights-based CSE, but also to deal with the opposition, and address misconceptions, dispel myths and misinformation.
Parents, teachers, young people and community experts at large can be involved in the design, implementation and monitoring of CSE programmes.[vii]
Comprehensive sexuality education advances healthy and positive values about bodies, relationships, gender equality, sexuality, and human rights. Organising Intergenerational dialogues around CSE can help transform attitudes of stakeholders to be supportive of young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Building trust and partnership among peers, adolescents, youth, parents, teachers, and the society at large, with evidence-based accurate information around sexuality. This can counter inaccurate information, dispel myths and misconceptions among communities.
Finally, delivering CSE in an enabling ecosystem, grounded on intergenerational solidarity and cooperation, will help realise the full development, health and well-being of young people, including their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
[i] UNESCO. (2018). International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education: An evidence informed approach. Paris. UNESCO. Retrieved https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/ITGSE.pdf
[ii] UNFPA, UNESCO and IPPF. (2020). Learn. Protect. Respect. Empower. The status of comprehensive sexuality education in Asia-Pacific: A summary review 2020. Retrieved from https://www.aidsdatahub.org/sites/default/files/resource/status-comprehensive-sexuality-education-asia-pacific-2021.pdf
[iii] UNFPA, UNESCO and IPPF. (2020). Learn. Protect. Respect. Empower. The status of comprehensive sexuality education in Asia-Pacific: A summary review 2020. Retrieved from https://www.aidsdatahub.org/sites/default/files/resource/status-comprehensive-sexuality-education-asia-pacific-2021.pdf
[iv] Abdullah NAFB, Muda SM, Zain NM, Hamid SHA. The role of parents in providing sexuality education to their children. Makara J Health Res. 2020;24.
[v] Sanyulandy Leowalu & Jacqueline Hendriks (2021) Perspectives of Indonesian parents towards school-based sexuality education, Asia Pacific Journal of Education, DOI: 10.1080/02188791.2021.1944842.
[vi] UNFPA, UNESCO and IPPF. (2020). Learn. Protect. Respect. Empower. The status of comprehensive sexuality education in Asia-Pacific: A summary review 2020. Retrieved from https://www.aidsdatahub.org/sites/default/files/resource/status-comprehensive-sexuality-education-asia-pacific-2021.pdf
[vii] UNESCO. (2014-2022). Retrieved from https://csetoolkit.unesco.org/toolkit/engaging/engaging-health-service-providers
