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Sexual education 2010, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health obviously includes sexual health. The Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Mr. Paul Hunt, has defined sexual health as "a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being related to sexuality, not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity; sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- In order to achieve this state of well-being, we must be able to look after our health, deal positively, responsibly and respectfully with our sexuality and must therefore be aware of our needs and rights. This is possible only if we receive comprehensive sexual education from the outset of our schooling and throughout the educational process. To this end, school should foster pupils' critical thinking about the various expressions of human sexuality and interpersonal relations, without reducing the topic to a biological approach (reproduction).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Comprehensive sexual education is extremely important in view of the threat of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, especially for groups at risk and persons in particularly vulnerable situations, such as women and girls exposed to gender-based violence or persons in difficult financial circumstances. In paragraph 16 of its General Comment No. 3, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has emphasized that "effective HIV/AIDS prevention requires States to refrain from censoring, withholding or intentionally misrepresenting health-related information, including sexual education and information, and that […] States parties must ensure that children have the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills to protect themselves and others as they begin to express their sexuality".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- There is no valid excuse for not providing people with the comprehensive sexual education that they need in order to lead a dignified and healthy life. Enjoyment of the right to sexual education plays a crucial preventive role and may be a question of life or death. Recognizing the need for the world's population to be educated in order to prevent HIV/AIDS, the Special Rapporteur also wishes to point out that restricting sexual education to the issue of sexually transmitted diseases gives a limited view of sexuality. In his opinion, reducing sexual education to these aspects may create an erroneous association between sexuality and disease, which is as harmful as associating it with sin.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- United Nations treaty bodies have viewed the lack of access to sexual and reproductive education as a barrier to compliance with the State's obligation to guarantee the rights to life, health, non-discrimination, education and information. For example, the Human Rights Committee has urged the removal of barriers to access by adolescents to information about safer sex practices, such as condom use. The Committees have also identified sexual education as a means of guaranteeing the right to health as it helps to reduce the maternal mortality, abortion and adolescent pregnancy rates and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights protects the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (art. 12) and the right to education (art. 13) and prohibits all forms of discrimination (art. 2). In its general comment No. 14 (2000), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights interpreted the right to health as an inclusive right "extending not only to timely and appropriate health care but also to the underlying determinants of health", among which it highlighted "access to health-related education and information, including on sexual and reproductive health".22
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- In its concluding observations, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has called for the provision of education on sexual and reproductive health and has specifically recommended sexual education as a means of ensuring the right of women to health, particularly reproductive health, as well as full access to sexual education for all girls and young women, including in rural areas and indigenous communities. The Committee has also recommended the development of training programmes and counselling services on reproductive health and has expressed the view that sexual education and awareness campaigns are appropriate means of reducing maternal and infant mortality. The Committee has associated the lack of education with the practice of abortion as a primary means of family planning and has advocated education programmes aimed at eliminating female genital mutilation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- States are required to provide comprehensive sexual education to their people, especially children and adolescents, in compliance with the standards of availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability established by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as regards the right to education. This is a State obligation of due diligence since, under international law, States must show that they have taken all the measures of a preventive nature that are necessary to fulfil their obligations to guarantee the right to health, life, non-discrimination, education and information by eliminating barriers preventing access to sexual and reproductive health and by providing in schools and other educational facilities comprehensive education for sexuality giving precise, objective and unbiased information. The Declaration "Preventing through education", signed by the Ministers of Health and Education of Latin America and the Caribbean in 2008, is a good example of recognition of States' obligation of due diligence in this regard.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Article 23 of the Ibero-American Convention on the Rights of Young People establishes the right to sexual education: 1) The States Parties recognize that the right to education also includes the right to sexual education as a source of personal development, effectiveness and communicative expression, as well as information on reproduction and its consequences; 2) Sexual education shall be provided at all levels of education and shall promote responsible conduct in the exercise of sexuality, aimed at its full acceptance and identity and at the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancies and sexual abuse or violence; 3) The States Parties recognize the important function and responsibility of the family in the sexual education of young people; 4) The States Parties shall adopt and implement sexual education policies, establishing plans and programmes ensuring information and the full and responsible exercise of this right.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- According to a study by the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), in East Asia most countries had sexual education policies, and many had had them since the early 1990s. Of the cases studied, the policies most widely implemented were those of Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, the Philippines and Thailand. In addition, since 2009, progress has been made in the implementation of public policies and national laws in several countries. However, although some form of sexual education is provided in the region, most young people do not receive comprehensive sexual education.48
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- In Europe, sexual education is taught as a cross-cutting subject. This is the case in Portugal, where it is dealt with in courses on biology, geography, philosophy and religion, and in Belgium, where the moral and ethical aspects of sexuality are dealt with in lessons on morals and religion. In Denmark, Estonia and, to a lesser degree, France, the topic is included in civics classes, adopting a broader approach. Other countries deal with it from the biological viewpoint. The focus on biological aspects does emphasize the importance of health education but often neglects relational and affective issues, undermining the comprehensive approach.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- According to the International Bureau of Education, HIV/AIDS is a mandatory subject in primary education in 10 of the 18 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. However, in many African countries, adolescents have no access to information on sexuality. On the basis of a number of studies carried out in the region, it is estimated that almost half of the people who have received sexual education received no information on topics considered to be of key importance (contraception, pregnancy and pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted diseases and the right to say no to sex). In the vast majority of cases, sexual education is provided through lectures; only in a few cases are more effective tools, such as interactive or group activities, used.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- According to a study carried out by the Guttmacher Institute, about half of 15 19-year-olds in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda have received some form of sexual education at school. In Malawi, 66 per cent of females and 56 per cent of males aged 15-19 who have attended school report that they have not received any kind of sexual education. In Burkina Faso the challenge is greater, since more than half of 15-19-year-olds have never attended school.56 Also, in the final years of primary education (age 12-14), young people are reaching a sexually active age and therefore need to have specific knowledge on preventing unwanted pregnancy and HIV infection. This suggests that sexual education should start before the end of primary education if it is to have some degree of effectiveness and a chance of changing behaviour.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Lastly, the Special Rapporteur wishes to highlight the experience of Denmark, where teacher training in sexual education is carried out in conjunction with Sex & Samfund ("Sex and Society"), the Danish Family Planning Association. The Special Rapporteur considers this to be a good example of a collaborative relationship between the State and civil society in the search for tools for promoting sexual education and providing it to the whole population. The valuable initiatives of the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defence of Women's Rights should also be mentioned.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- It is estimated that by the end of 2008, 33.4 million people around the world were living with HIV, and the number of AIDS-related deaths that year was estimated at 2 million; almost 300,000 of that number were children.5 In addition, various studies have revealed increasing links between violence against women and HIV/AIDS. Women who have experienced violence are at a higher risk of HIV infection. The need to provide the population with sexual education as a means of prevention has been emphasized repeatedly. Thus, HIV/AIDS highlights the close link between the right to comprehensive sexual education and the right to health and to life.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Regrettably, the rights perspective is very rarely included in sexual education programmes, which are usually limited to the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and unwanted pregnancy. Although this approach is necessary in order to achieve enjoyment of the right to health and for the purposes of family planning, it cannot be the principal reason for including sexual education in the curriculum. Sexual education should be considered a right in itself and should be clearly linked with other rights in accordance with the principle of the interdependence and indivisibility of human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Although fathers and mothers are free to choose the type of education that their sons and daughters will have, this authority may never run counter to the rights of children and adolescents, in accordance with the primacy of the principle of the best interests of the child. This implies a need to create forums in which all options and opinions can be discussed within the education process. Particularly in the case of sexual education, people have the right to receive high-quality scientific information that is unprejudiced and age-appropriate, so as to foster full development and prevent possible physical and psychological abuse.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur considers it important to take full cognizance of UNESCO normative work in the early 1970s, which led to the emergence of the "right to lifelong learning". The Third International Conference on Adult Education, convened by UNESCO in Tokyo in 1972, provided a conceptual turning point when it declared its belief that "the right of individuals to education, their right to learn and to go on learning, is to be considered on the same basis as their other fundamental rights, such as the right to health and to hygiene, the right to security, the right to all forms of civil liberty, etc."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Lifelong learning and the right to education 2016, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur commends the SkillsFuture credit, launched in Singapore to promote lifelong learning. Given to every Singaporean aged 25 years and older, it covers nearly 2.5 million citizens in the country. The first credit amounts to $500, with the proviso that the Government will top it up at regular intervals in future. The credit can be used for a wide range of courses. Already, there are 10,000 courses, in areas ranging from basic computing to web design, digital animation, human resources management, finance, health care and languages. The courses are provided at publicly funded tertiary institutions, as well as by private providers. The Government will provide employers with subsidies of 70 to 90 per cent when they train their employees. The credit is provided on top of SkillsFuture study awards in various fields. For example, for all Singaporeans aged 40 years and older, 90 per cent of the costs of their courses will be funded.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- The way in which sexual education is incorporated into the official curriculum is not uniform across the region. In some cases, such as in Namibia, it is included in the subject "life skills", but the content relating to HIV is inadequate and needs to be enhanced.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The right to education includes the right to sexual education, which is both a human right in itself and an indispensable means of realizing other human rights, such as the right to health, the right to information and sexual and reproductive rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- In accordance with the provisions of article 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Human Rights Committee in its concluding observations has expressed concern about the elimination of sexual education from school curricula and the high rate of unwanted pregnancies and abortions among girls and adolescents and has requested that States should take measures to help young women avoid unwanted pregnancies, including by strengthening family planning and sexual education programmes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- As regards official curricula, in Latin America and the Caribbean information on sexuality is usually provided as cross-cutting content. According to a study of the handling of priority topics at the primary level, conducted by the National Public Health Institute of Cuernavaca, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay deal with all the relevant topics. Nine countries cover five of them; six consider four; five report that they cover three; and one covers only one of the six topics.45
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Financing education and update on education in emergencies 2011, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- The effective teaching of literacy, numeracy and life skills, such as health preparedness and conflict resolution, is crucial to enhancing resilience during periods of emergency. School staff must be given adequate incentives, and have their capacity enhanced, to give appropriate attention to the psychosocial needs of students, using resources and making schedule arrangements that allow for recreational and expressive activities, as well as referring severely affected students for additional support.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 87c
- Paragraph text
- [On the basis of these conclusions, the Special Rapporteur recommends that States should]: Ensure the inclusion of comprehensive sexual education from primary school onwards, taking into account secondary school enrolment rates, the age of first intercourse and other variables in a context of respect and adaptability based on the age of students and the capacities associated with their levels of emotional and cognitive development;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- States must ensure that they do not restrict individuals' access to appropriate services and necessary information and must remove social and regulatory barriers to information on sexual and reproductive health and health care, as stated in the Cairo Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development. In any event, the parents and other legal guardians of students must also provide appropriate direction and guidance on sexual and reproductive matters.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- That Committee continually calls upon States parties to implement sexual education programmes and has recommended the expansion of sexual and reproductive health programmes as a necessary means of addressing high abortion and maternal mortality rates. It has encouraged States parties to provide systematic sexual education in schools and has specifically called for increased efforts to prevent adolescent pregnancies, including educating children about responsible partnerships and parenthood.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- In the Asia-Pacific region, sexual education tends to be provided via subjects such as biology, science and health. All the countries of the region claim that HIV education is included at the secondary level; six of them claim that it is included at the primary level and 13 include it in teacher training. However, in some countries of the region, sexual education is limited to its biological or moral aspects, ignoring the broad range of areas in which it affects people's lives.51
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have stated that the right to health and the right to information require States to refrain from censoring, withholding or intentionally misrepresenting information relating to health, including sex education and sexual information.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sexual education 2010, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- In its general recommendation No. 24, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women requested States to report on measures taken "to ensure timely access to the range of services which are related to family planning, in particular, and to sexual and reproductive health in general. Particular attention should be paid to the health education of adolescents, including information and counselling on all methods of family planning".30
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph