Naa Jama is a 17-year old girl from James Town in Central Accra, a typical slum in the capital city of Ghana. She went to a private clinic that provides free long-acting reversible contraception in partnership with a local NGO.
Naa Jama is small in stature and physique and, at first, the nurses thought that she was queuing for her aunt who arrived a little later. When she said that she was there for the free contraception and not on behalf of her aunt, they were surprised. As they were preparing her forms, she said that she already had two children. She got pregnant at the age of 14.
The father of her children was a classmate in a local public school. They were in love and curious about what their other classmates were buzzing about when they talked about sex. Naa Jama stopped attending school when she became pregnant. After a peer educator from the local NGO had a discussion with her, Naa Jama decided to go back to school and now gets free contraceptives to prevent another pregnancy.
There are many stories like Naa Jama’s in most parts of Ghana and throughout Africa, as well as around the world.
According to Marie Stopes International Ghana, 57,000 teenage pregnancies were recorded in Ghana in the first half of 2017.
And while adolescent birth rates have declined globally, they have remained generally stagnant or even increased in Southeast Asia, according to UNFPA Asia-Pacific.
With rates as high as this, we cannot assume adolescents and young people know nothing about sex.
Sex education is key in preventing pregnancies
The information that many adolescents and young people have about sexual and reproductive health may be inaccurate, misleading, or stigmatizing. Even if they have the correct information, they may not have the means to prevent pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
This was one of the reasons why the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana, in partnership with UNESCO, the West African Health Organisation, UNFPA, Marie Stopes International and other civil society groups, developed a Comprehensive Sexuality Education Manual (Know It, Own It, Live It: CSE Manual). I (Edith) contributed to this effort.
In the Philippines, I (Joey) have participated in government policy discussions on the passage and implementation of the Reproductive Health Law as part of Family Planning 2020 Experts Advisory Community and the International Youth Alliance for Family Planning. I was one of the youth campaigners supporting implementation of the age-appropriate Comprehensive Sexuality Education in public schools in the Philippines.
Youth need access to correct and up-to-date information on sexuality
Naa Jama could have stayed in school in the first place if she and her boyfriend had had access to comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). CSE is one of the major components of a successful family planning and HIV prevention program not just in Ghana, but around the world.
If CSE delivers correct and up-to-date sex education and information about sexual and reproductive health and is made available in schools, it has the potential to equip students like Naa Jama and her boyfriend with the skills they need to make fully informed decisions about their own bodies and health.
From their interactions in the community and with their romantic partners to their self-perceptions and body image, young people will be able to practice assertiveness and will be more likely to avoid abuse, exploitation, discrimination, and misogyny.
CSE is also a tool to equip young people, especially girls, with the knowledge they need to help prevent unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, which tends to increase the number of years girls stay in school. Girls like Naa Jama usually drop out of school or are forbidden to come back to school while boys don’t have to interrupt their education.
More advocacy is necessary
However, the inclusion of CSE into the national curricula has been slow despite advocacy by organizations and networks such as the Ghana Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Alliance for Young People made up of youth-led and youth-serving non-state actors.
CSE is still seen as a controversial issue and generates debates on various platforms of dialogue. Teachers who believe that teaching CSE goes against their religion are major stakeholders in this debate.
One way to tackle this is to offer CSE training for current and new teachers. Once they understand the importance of providing accurate information, they are more likely to own and disseminate the concept as they would any other subject.
The new International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education published by UNESCO in partnership with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), highlights emerging issues and recommendations for CSE within the broader framework of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Empowering young people and keeping girls in school
If we wish to usher a new generation of young people who can make informed choices, we need to give them unbiased information on their sexuality.
We need to listen to children, adolescents, aspiring educators, and young educators when we discuss CSE. Children and adolescents are the experts themselves. They are not mere recipients of curriculum; they are the primary stakeholders.
Young educators need to be equipped with up-to-date, and relevant information in their journey to become effective teachers, equipped to withstand the "why’s" and the "how’s" of adolescents and youth bodies, their sexuality, and their health.
Governments should understand that investing in comprehensive sexuality education is ensuring quality education for its youth, especially young women and girls. If more girls stay in school and are equipped to make critical decisions, the ripple effect is immeasurable.