A/65/162 fully endorses the precepts of Principle 16, referring specifically to the right to education. 10 II. The right to comprehensive sexual education in international human rights law A. Standards for the human right to sexual education in the context of United Nations human rights treaties 24. 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. 11 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. 12 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. 13 25. In general, treaty monitoring bodies have expressly recommended that sexual and reproductive health education should be a mandatory component of learning. For example, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has called upon States to provide sexual education in a compulsory and systematic manner in schools, including in vocational training, 14 and the Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended that States include sexual education in the official programmes of primary and secondary education. 15 26. 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. 16 27. In its concluding observations on various countries, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has urged States to integrate sexual education into school curricula 17 and has encouraged States to provide training on HIV/AIDS and sexual __________________ 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 8 Available at http://www.yogyakartaprinciples.org. Among the treaties that protect the right to life, health, non-discrimination, education and information are the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. See documents E/C.12/1/Add.106, para. 53 and CCPR/C/79/Add.110. See documents A/54/38, para. 56; CEDAW/C/LTU/CO/4, para. 25; CEDAW/C/NGA/CO/6, para. 33; CRC/C/15/Add.137, para. 48; CRC/C/15/Add.144, para. 61; E/C.12/1/Add.57, para. 27; E/C.12/1/Add.62, para. 7; and E/C.12/1/Add.65, para. 31. See documents CEDAW/C/MDA/CO/3, para. 31; and CEDAW/C/TKM/CO/2, para. 31. See documents CRC/C/15/Add.247, para. 54; and CRC/C/TTO/CO, para. 54. See documents E/C.12/2000/4, para. 34; and CRC/C/GC/2003/3, para. 13. See documents CRC/C/MUS/CO/2, para. 55; CRC/C/15/Add.261, para. 64 (c); CRC/C/15/Add.216, para. 38 (b); CRC/C/RUS/CO/3, para. 38 (b); and CRC/C/THA/CO/2, para. 58 (e). 10-46213