By MIRIAM ZIMBA-
THE world is now 30 years into the HIV epidemic and 20 years into the global AIDS response, yet children and young people remain at the forefront of the epidemic in terms of infections, vulnerability and impact.
During the just ended United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) organised meeting on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) inception meeting in Lusaka, Swedish Ambassador to Zambia Lena Nordstrom, said young women and girls are more vulnerable.
This is against the background that Zambia has the fifth highest teenage pregnancies in the Sub-Saharan Africa, with most of these mothers likely to have adverse pregnancy effects outcomes.
In 2009, young people accounted for 41 per cent of all new infections, with young women accounting for 64 per cent of HIV infections among young people in the region.
“Zambia cannot afford to have her children and young people grow into adolescents and adulthood without much knowledge about their own reproductive health sexuality,” Ms Nordstrom.
She called for the need for CSE to continuously be recognised as an effective means of providing information and linking young people to SRH services.
CSE has proven to contribute to increased condom use, delayed sexual debut, lower levels of teenage pregnancies, increased assertiveness and better skills to take personal decisions on sex and sexuality among young people.
Ms Nordstrom explained that her country took the brave decisions to introduce sexuality education in schools many years ago, and much earlier than most other countries in the world.
In 1955, Sweden became the first European country to establish compulsory CSE in all schools.
“The realisation we made was that attending school was, and still remains, the main occupation of adolescents, and we understood that this was a great window of opportunity,” she explained.
Today, children and young people in the Swedish school system receive age appropriate information concerning sexuality education.
Some of the areas covered include issues like “how my body works, love and friendship, sex, my own development as a person, my family, about alcohol, tobacco and drugs and also about sexual harassment and abuse.
The education deals with SRH, including prevention of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies.
This is a holistic approach whereby pupils gain skills and resources that lead to personal development enabling them exercise greater control over their lives, and being able to exercise communication, negotiations and problem solving skills.
The results of these efforts have been that over the years many negative consequences that could result from adolescent sexuality have been averted and the young people are taking responsibility for their actions related to their sexuality.
She commended the Zambian government for securing high-level political support for the provision of CSE by signing its Ministerial Commitment on CSE SRH services for adolescents and young people in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) in December 2013.
She said although Zambia is just beginning in its efforts to introduce CSE in schools, it has made important strides to increase access to basic education for all and the figures are today impressive.
This is because more children in Zambia are attending school and staying longer in school.
UNESCO director and representative for Southern Africa Luc Rukingama reaffirmed his organisation’s commitment on the importance of the role of education in the global response to HIV.
Professor Rukingama explained that the response to AIDS around the world has made massive advances in making treatment and care available to ever increasing numbers of people.
He is of the view that this however does not replace the need for continued investment in and responses from education which is key since prevention is better than care.
“Just as we took the bold step a decade ago, to make access to universal and free primary education a reality for the first millions of children in the region, now our challenge must be to keep adolescents and young people in the education system, and continue providing them with the knowledge and skills they need for life,” he explained.
Overall, education has a protective effect and that can only be realised if we ensure that more learners are enrolled overall, more of them complete primary education, and as many as possible continue to secondary, technical and vocational education.
Professor Rukingama emphasised education must be linked to services which young people are confident to access and which are supportive and confidential where needed.
Already, Zambia is among five other countries in the region who are engaged in giant efforts to scale up SE with financial support from Sweden and NORAD, with technical support from UNESCO and other partners.
These include Tanzania, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Uganda.
For that we look at our partners in health service delivery, including government, civil society and development partners.
The Zambian government is also committed to ensuring the advancement of CSE in the school settings.
Ministry of Education permanent secretary Chishimba Nkosha explained that the Zambian government signed a plan of operation for the project to strengthen sexuality education programmes for young people in school settings in Zambia.
Mr Nkosha explained that Zambia is pleased to be among the 20 countries who in December 2013, endorsed and affirmed their commitment to attaining their commitment to attaining positive health outcomes for all young people in the ESA region.
“I am particularly delighted that Zambia is associated with the ESA commitment initiative that aims at securing high-level political commitment in the region for expanded and improved HIV prevention and SRH services for young people in the region,” he said.
Mr Nkosha feels that the most sustainable way to address the sexual reproductive health needs of young people and win the battle against HIV is through education.
CSE as an approach promotes and empowers young people, including those who are living with HIV, to protect their health, wellbeing and dignity, resulting in responsible citizenship.
The Zambian government has reaffirmed its position in advancing the causes of CSE, what remains to be seen, is implementation.
“Government, through my ministry remains committed to supporting the implementation of this project that will result in better reproductive health outcomes for young people in Zambia,” Mr Nkosha said.