NEW UNFPA BOOKLET SAYS YOUTH WANT SEX EDUCATION, FAMILY PLANNING AND LESS PRESSURE TO MARRY EARLY AND HAVE CHILDREN
Press Release
POP/650
NEW UNFPA BOOKLET SAYS YOUTH WANT SEX EDUCATION, FAMILY PLANNING AND LESS PRESSURE TO MARRY EARLY AND HAVE CHILDREN
19970709 NEW YORK, 8 July (UNFPA) -- In a new publication by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), young people from throughout the world articulate their need for accurate information on sex, AIDS, family planning services, and their desire to marry and have children later in life.Young people also say they want their parents' help in all this but they do not want to be pressured or controlled by them. Instead, they are looking for support and guidance as they make their transition to adulthood.
"The moral issues about sex should be taught at an early age and not preached a few months before marriage", writes 15-year-old Vanita Ben, of Fiji, in The Youth Perspective, the UNFPA booklet which contains writings from an essay contest sponsored by the Fund on the theme: "promoting responsible reproductive behaviour".
"In this booklet, young people speak from the heart and with great passion", said Dr. Nafis Sadik, UNFPA Executive Director. "They tell us they want sexuality education and information on reproductive health, preferably from their parents. They want this information early and in a form appropriate to their psychological and physical development. They want accurate information so they can empower themselves to make choices and take responsibility for those choices."
Dr. Sadik said that many of the young writers indicated they want to have family planning information and supplies that will allow them to avoid early and unwanted pregnancy, and abortion, and to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
"Children are born to be taught. Everything we learn is taught to us, and we learn to be responsible about sex only by being taught. A child who knows nothing of the consequences of unprotected sex is most at risk", wrote 16-year-old Bradley O. Mauff of Western Samoa.
Dr. Sadik also said that one of the key themes of the booklet is an abhorrence of sex discrimination.
"Discrimination begins from the first moment after birth. For instance, I have observed that in the countryside, and in some households in the city, if a boy is born, there is general rejoicing, whereas if a girl is born, gloom
descends on the house. It is unfortunate that this is the reason behind some divorces, and also behind repeated deliveries, where the woman keeps having babies until she has a boy, regardless of the damage this does to the woman's health", writes 19-year-old Moshera Saad El-Deen Mahmoud Zidan of Egypt.
The booklet contains essays, in part and whole, from a contest organized in 1996 by the UNFPA to give voice to young people and to assist the Fund in its work with adolescents, especially in the areas of sex education and information. The essay contest was conceived as part of the momentum for the 1996 World Youth Forum in Vienna. There were 17 winners of the contest, ages 14 to 23, chosen by UNFPA judges from a field of more than 500 entries from 107 countries.
Collectively, the essays express a number of common points, including the following:
-- A demand for timely and specific sex education, which the essayists said was especially needed because of the prevalence of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. A lack of accurate information, especially about sexually transmitted diseases, is a major health threat to youth, they said.
-- A request by many young people for help from their families, particularly their parents, to combat the widespread problem of ignorance and incorrect information about sex from peers and the media. They expressed the hope that parents should be understanding and should not try to control them.
-- Young people who are sexually active wrote that they need family planning services in order to exercise responsibility. However, many young people also said they chose to abstain from sexual relations until they were ready, psychologically and physiologically.
-- A demand for gender equality and equity, particularly in education and employment, was pronounced by both female and male contestants. Many of the young women essayists said they were concerned about poor girls being forced into prostitution.
-- Opposition to early marriages and early childbearing, which essayists described as severely limiting to their options in life. Many African youth wrote against some traditional practices they considered harmful, such as female genital mutilation.
-- A call for greater involvement by men in family affairs, including in family planning decisions, was voiced by many young women and echoed by many male contestants as well.
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-- Young men are as much victims of societal pressures as their female counterparts, contestants stated. They wrote that young men faced pressure by elders in decision-making on such vital issues as when to get married, and when and how often to have children.
Dr. Sadik said that the essays also identify several recurring points made by the writers:
-- Parents are the preferred source of information on sexuality, but they cannot always be expected to do the job well because they have never been taught how to help their children with these issues. The contestants said that programmes should be designed to help parents educate their children, as a complement to school programmes.
-- The writers called for community support, including that of religious leaders, for school programmes that teach children -- those attending school, as well as those out of school -- about reproductive health. These programmes should be based on the premise that ignorance is a root cause of irresponsible, risky behaviour. The charge that sexual knowledge leads to early experimentation is unfounded, youths said.
-- Alcohol is often involved in early sexual experimentation, first intercourse and unplanned pregnancy, many essayists wrote.
-- Accurate information about reproductive health and sexual education is more difficult to obtain for the many children who are not in school, have no parents, or are in households where parents abuse them.
"We wanted to listen to young people. We need to know their dreams, fears and concerns. To be effective, policies and programmes that meet their needs must be based on a proper understanding of their attitudes and behaviour. That's why we organized the essay contest", said O.J. Sikes, Chief of UNFPA's Education, Communications and Youth Branch.
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