Right to Sexual and Reproductive Health Education 2016
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Rights of
the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the International Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), and Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
The right to a proper education is guaranteed for everyone under ICESCR and
UDHR, while the rights of a child to have information, education and good
health is also emphasized in CRC. Furthermore, many international
organizations recommend and promote inclusion of a comprehensive SRHE in
the curriculum.
“The right to education includes the right to sexual education, which is
both a human right in itself and an indispensable means of realizing other
human rights, such as the right to health, the right to information and
sexual and reproductive rights.’’32
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that in order to prevent
unintended and other SRH related issues and risks, it is important to equip the
adolescents with the relevant information, including a comprehensive SRHE.
Offering SRHE in schools is a most productive way of reaching out to young
people because the vast majority of adolescents are enrolled in schools. ICPD
recognizes that SRHE must begin in primary schools and continue through all
levels of formal and non‐formal education systems. Similarly, United Nations
(UN) treaty bodies have identified the lack of SRHE as a barrier to fulfilling the
State obligations such as guaranteeing the right to life, right to health, right to
education and information without any discrimination. Therefore, providing
32
United States general assembly, 65th session, (2010).Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right
to education, p.7. Retrieved from http://www.hirschfeld‐eddy‐
stiftung.de/fileadmin/images/dokumente/virtuelle_ bibliothek /UN_SpecRap‐
SexEd_Report_Human_Right_2010.pdf
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REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH EDUCATION FROM A RIGHTS PERSPECT