The 56th session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) did not manage to find a consensus on the topic of education, which will impact the lives of young people, adolescents, girls and marginalised groups.
The CPD monitors and reviews the implementation of the global standard around population and development that countries agreed to 29 years ago called the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). This year, the Commission was tasked with the addressing the priority theme of Population, Education and Sustainable Development, including the women’ and girls’ access to education and comprehensive sexuality education. The Chair’s final text was a carefully crafted balance accommodating all delegations.
However, the consensus on the document was broken by a few Member States did not want to include agreed language on sexuality education stemming from the 1994 ICPD Programme of Action itself. The objection to agreed language blocked meaningful advancement on education, this is very disappointing. Millions of learners worldwide will be impacted by the failure to adopt this resolution as this type of resolutions is meant to guide countries’ policies and actions.
The resolution was crucial at a time when the world is recovering from the largest disruption of education ever because of Covid-19. Moreover, 1 in 4 children and young people are still out of school. This means that many adolescents and young people, including the most marginalized, continue to face structural and societal gendered barriers in terms of accessing education, including comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). The lack of CSE leaves them vulnerable to coercion, sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. These negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes have an impact on continuing education for marginalized children, adolescents and young people. It will be crucial to come to a consensus at the next CPD, when the ICPD will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
However, the consensus on the document was broken by a few Member States did not want to include agreed language on sexuality education stemming from the 1994 ICPD Programme of Action itself. The objection to agreed language blocked meaningful advancement on education, this is very disappointing. Millions of learners worldwide will be impacted by the failure to adopt this resolution as this type of resolutions is meant to guide countries’ policies and actions.
The resolution was crucial at a time when the world is recovering from the largest disruption of education ever because of Covid-19. Moreover, 1 in 4 children and young people are still out of school. This means that many adolescents and young people, including the most marginalized, continue to face structural and societal gendered barriers in terms of accessing education, including comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). The lack of CSE leaves them vulnerable to coercion, sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy. These negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes have an impact on continuing education for marginalized children, adolescents and young people. It will be crucial to come to a consensus at the next CPD, when the ICPD will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
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