'Young people need preparation for their sexual life'

Mr Carl Ampah of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has blamed inadequate sex education for the youth for the increasing number of teenage pregnancies and transmission of sexually-transmitted infections.

He said the failure to prepare young people for their sexual life exposed them to coercion, abuse, exploitation, unintended pregnancy and sexually-transmitted infections (STI), including HIV.

Mr Ampah said in a situation where ignorance and misinformation were life-threatening, teachers had a responsibility to act in partnership with parents and communities to ensure the protection and wellbeing of children and young people.

He was speaking at the opening of a five-day workshop for the redesigning of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) Manual for the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), in Koforidua.

He indicated that while it was not realistic for educational programmes alone to eliminate the risk of HIV and other STIs, unintended pregnancy, coercion or abusive sexual activity and exploitation, properly designed and implemented programmes could reduce some of the risks underlying the vulnerabilities.

Mr Ampah called for the involvement of parents in the implementation of such programmes to enable them to appreciate the content of what their children were being taught and to equip them with skills to communicate more freely and honestly with their children on sexual issues.

The Executive Director of PPAG, Dr Catherin Dawson-Amoah, explained that her organisation had to initiate a process to review its existing manual because recent assessment of the manual indicated that it was outdated and did not conform to current reproductive health rights, needs and aspirations of young people.

She also said recent reports of the high rate of teenage pregnancies, early marriages, unmet needs for contraceptives and family planning, and incidents of STIs, was clear indications that the country needs a comprehensive sexual education for young people, especially those out of school.

Dr Dawson-Amoah added that it was in recognition of the challenges faced by the youth that the PPAG placed strong emphasis on CSE as an essential intervention to ensure that they were made aware of their sexual and reproductive rights and also empowered to make choices.

Source: GNA/Ghana