YOUTH STATEMENT at Cairo and Beyond: Reproductive Rights and culture

Conference on Reproductive Rights and Culture ^ | 25 Mar 2004

[Veritas_est]

25 Mar 2004 - YOUTH STATEMENT

YOUTH STATEMENT at Cairo and Beyond: Reproductive Rights and culture, 9 March 2004

NOTE: this statement was developed before the outcome document/action points of the conference were finalized.

We would like to thank UNFPA and the Dutch Ministry for Development Cooperation for inviting us, younger people. It was a great experience and we are happy to share our vision with you. The young people present at the Reproductive Rights and Culture Conference have come together to discuss the developments of the conference and we would like to share our thoughts and vision with you on what should be highlighted more regarding sexual and reproductive rights and young people. Adolescents and young people are still perceived as a ‘problem’: a group that needs to “change their behaviours” or that “needs to be shaped”. It is true that young people are facing urgent problems concerning their sexual and reproductive health and rights and this needs to be addressed. Therefore, we promote comprehensive sexuality education and access to youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. But NOT only to have healthy adults tomorrow, but also because young people have a right to quality of life right NOW. Young people’s behaviours do not need to be changed per se, young people’s rights need to be respected. The way young people are looked upon is also defined by culture. Because this conference raises the issue of culture, we would like to be critical to the kind of approach you have to young people and their participation: young people, not as problems or as recipients but as partners and actors of their own lives. We, young people, play an important role in the community. We are here now to address our issues, but we are here only with few. We are mobilizing young people ourselves and we represent youth from Africa, Latin America, Europe and globally. We are active actors in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights and are a force to promote sexual and reproductive rights of young people. According to the goals of the conference, this dialogue will contribute to recommendations on how to construct enabling conditions to promote sexual and reproductive rights of young people. In support of this, we would like to make some suggestions for actions: 1 Foster dialogue among young people to enable them to form networks and empower themselves 2 Stimulate dialogue between adults and youths in order to achieve equal dialogue and a stronger partnership. 3 Young people should be given the opportunity to participate more and have more representation in conferences such as this one. 4 More efforts must be made by governments, UN institutions and NGOs to really respect, promote and fulfil young people’s sexual and reproductive rights.

Thank you.

Femi Fasinu, Youth Coalition, Nigeria Jessica Horn, Rainbo/Amanitare, UK Rose Koenders, CHOICE, Netherlands Gisele Kouame-Mida, Positive Africa, Ivory Coast Nadia van der Linde, Youth Coalition/WGNRR, Netherlands Mariana Nasser, REDLAC, Brasil

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[madprof98]

We are active actors in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights . . .

No doubt.

[cookcounty]

"Reproductive rights" def.: the right to not reproduce. The opposite of "nonreproductive rights," which means the right to reproduce, right?