A Friendly Reminder From Youth
Washington DC - August 15, 2005The largest generation of young people in history is entering its reproductive years. Yet rarely do these youth have access to the detailed and accurate information about sexuality and reproduction they need to make the informed decisions that affect their lives. On the occasion of this year’s International Youth Day, the United Nations is calling on governments and civil society organizations to remain committed to the promises they have made to their youth – and PAI joins the UN in this call.
Worldwide, more than 10 million young people aged 15 to 24 are living with HIV or AIDS, and every year, almost half of all new HIV infections and at least one-third of all new sexually transmitted infections occur among people under age 25.
Furthermore, without access to reproductive health services – and in many countries, without the power to negotiate the conditions of their sexual relations – young women are unable to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy. One-quarter of the world’s unsafe abortions take place among girls aged 15 to 19 every year. And in places such as Africa, where only 46 percent of girls complete primary school, these early and unplanned pregnancies too often jeopardize young women’s education.
Good sexual and reproductive health is crucial to national development, and countries that fail to provide boys and girls with the means to remain healthy and in school will not benefit as fully from their other investments in young people. Ten years after the International Conference on Population and Development and the World Programme of Action for Youth (download .pdf), and five years after the international community’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, it is time for governments to take seriously the developmental needs of young people, including those relating to sexual and reproductive health, in planning for the future.
Population Action International (PAI) works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning and reproductive health policies and programs.
