PRESS RELEASE
First event in the ICPD+5
review process
Round Table Assesses
Progress on
Adolescent Reproductive Health and Rights
| New York, 20 April
(UNFPA) -- Most countries now acknowledge
adolescents' right to be prepared to face reproductive and
sexual health concerns, and many have made significant
advances in meeting young people's needs for information and
services.
But attitudes need to be changed and
programmes better supported to sustain this progress, a group
of experts and activists in the field concluded last week at a
Round Table on Adolescent Reproductive Health and
Rights organized by the United
Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA).
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"There has been a sea change in attitudes
towards adolescent reproductive health and rights," said Dr. Herbert
Friedman at the close of the 14-17 April meeting. Since the 1994
International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in
Cairo, he noted, "many people and countries are coming together to
take action on the issue. Just a few years ago, there was mostly
talk about the problems."
The meeting, held at the Ford Foundation's
headquarters, was the first of four round tables scheduled as part
of a review of progress in implementing the ICPD Programme of
Action. The review will culminate next year in an International
Forum in The Hague and a special session of the UN General
Assembly.
| The gains made at the ICPD
must be protected and carried forward, UNFPA Executive
Director Dr. Nafis Sadik said on 17 April. She told
participants that their discussions and recommendations would
inform both the Fund's programming efforts and the UN
Secretary General's report to the General Assembly's special
session.
Advocacy programmes, involving informed
and articulate young persons and networks of non governmental
organizations are necessary to protect those gains and to
ensure that everybody hears about adolescent reproductive
health and rights, she said. |
"The hardest thing is to change the minds of
those who feel that providing reproductive health services for young
people leads to promiscuity," Dr. Sadik acknowledged. "We need to
find ways to have a dialogue with those in opposition. Our position
should be open, non-emotional and based on the facts and young
people's needs. We won't get far if we become confrontational," she
cautioned.
The round table was organized to review programme
experiences and policy changes initiated since the Cairo conference,
and to identify successful approaches and constraints faced by
countries in responding to the reproductive and sexual health needs
of adolescents.
To consolidate gains of the ICPD, Dr. Sadik
said, the successes and failures of projects should be shared among
development agencies or organizations, with the failures dropped.
Successful programmes, on the other hand, should be made sustainable
and lasting donor commitment secured.
The conclusions of
this meeting on adolescent reproductive health would also be very
relevant, she said, to the other three round tables: on reproductive
rights, including women's empowerment, due in June in Uganda; on
partnership with civil society in the implementation of the
Programme of Action, in July in Bangladesh; and on population and
macroeconomic linkages, in November, in Italy.
The 30
participants from two dozen countries included experts on sex
education and adolescent health from governments, academia, NGOs and
foundations, as well as a number of young people involved in
advocacy for adolescents' sexual and reproductive rights.
Over the four days of the meeting, panel presentations were
followed by group discussions on a wide range of topics, including:
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Improving accessibility and quality
of reproductive and sexual health information and services for
adolescents;Sociocultural and economic factors contributing to
teenage pregnancy, and how to promote an "enabling environment"
for adolescent reproductive health;
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The role of parents and of schools
in providing sex education, how to reach young people who are not
in school, and how to communicate effectively to change
unhealthful behaviour;
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National laws and policies
protecting the health and rights of youth, and how to remove
obstacles to information and service provision;
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Involving communities and
increasing the participation of young people in adolescent
reproductive health programmes; and
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The mobilization of resources from
the private sector and private foundations, and issues of
programme sustainability; and recommendations for future actions.
Dr. Friedman, an expert on adolescent
reproductive health formerly with the World Health Organization and
the meeting's general rapporteur, summed up the group's main
conclusions. He noted that countries now acknowledge that adolescent
reproductive and sexual health is a matter of human rights, and have
introduced national youth policies and extended reproductive health
services to more adolescents.
There has been progress since
the ICPD in integrating reproductive health with other services
aimed at youth, and new materials methods and technologies are being
used. There has also been greater collaboration between governments
and the private sector, religious communities and non governmental
organizations, as well as a variety of interventions
and advocacy campaigns initiated or led by youth. In addition, he
noted, there is an increased recognition of the need to improve the
status of women in terms of education and social
visibility.
Despite these achievements, Dr. Friedman
continued, important constraints remain: Many policy makers and
parents are reluctant to accept the idea of adolescent
sexuality, and the number of youth-friendly services is limited.
Health professionals often lack respect for young people, and the
young often do not trust the professionals. There is still denial of
the seriousness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and widespread
misunderstanding about the disease and its transmission. There is
insufficient coordination between United Nations agencies and youth
organization lack access to them.
The general rapporteur
listed a number of actions recommended by the round table. Among
others, adolescent reproductive health programmes should:
Involve diverse groups of young people in the development of
programmes, youth friendly services and communications materials,
and recognize that this will require adults to relinquish some
control;
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Cooperate with a wide variety of
NGOs and other partners;
-
Encourage open discussion of
sexuality;
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Involve key groups in the community
including parents, and recognize that parents are a valuable
resource;
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Train and support individual young
persons to provide counselling to their peers;
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Provide young people with
opportunities to serve as paid programme staff;
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Utilize a range of quality
communication resources, including entertaining mass media
materials, to effectively address young people's
concerns;
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Train health care professionals on
how to deal with adolescents;
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Develop indicators for evaluating
non-physical aspects of adolescence, including those for social
well-being and emotional health;
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Increase access of the young to the
formal health sector, while recognizing the importance of the
non-formal sector, including the family, NGOs, traditional
healers, social marketing and the commercial sector;
and
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Use the visibility of women's
groups to promote young women's interests;
The meeting also called on United
Nations agencies to strengthen their commitment to and funding for
programmes aimed at youth.
Also addressing the closing
session were two of the youth participants, Bjorg Thorsteinsdottir
of Iceland, President of the International Federation of Medical
Students' Associations; and Mala Bannerjee, of India. Dr. Claudio
Stern, coordinator of research on adolescent sexuality and
reproductive health at El Colegio de Mexico, spoke on behalf of
participants from Latin America and the Caribbean; while Kwame
Ampomah, a Director at Ghana's National Population Council, spoke
for African participants.
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