-bearing in mind that world has the largest youth population ever – 3 billion people under 25 years old and 1.06 billion between 19 and 25
-whereas one fourth of the HIV-positive people are younger than 25
-whereas the number of new cases of HIV/AIDS among young people is rising
-bearing in mind that in a majority of the EU Member States the sexuality education provided is of poor quality or not provided at all
-whereas Africa is facing the catastrophic consequences due to misinformation and poor quality Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy
-one third of young girls are coerced into sex
-bearing in mind that access to contraception in Europe is still very limited
-worldwide ½ million women are dying from pregnancy or birth each year
-100 and 140 million girls and women are facing female genital mutilation and 3 million girls are estimated to be at risk of undergoing FGM
-bearing in mind that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people around the world face violence and discrimination, sometimes even torture and execution because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. In many countries still consensual homosexual conduct is criminalized and civil marriage impossible
European Green Party,
-underlines the right of all young people to make free and informed choices about their sexuality and reproductive lives and the right to access information, sexual education, health care systems, services and the supplies necessary to exercise these choices.
-recognizes that youth between 10 and 19, in particular girls, are the priority groups of intervention concerning sexual and reproductive health and rights, since discrimination based on gender and unequal access to resources leads to greater obstacles in access to education, higher risk of sexual abuse, early marriages/pregnancies, exposure to traditional harmful practices, trafficking and HIV infection.
-recognizes that the main issues to attain the Millennium Development Goals and international Human Rights include access to contraception and family planning, adolescent health services, and overcoming domestic violence, as cited in the official reports on the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals highlighting the centrality of adolescents’ rights to sexual and reproductive health and education;
-underlines that sexuality education is of the highest importance in combating STDs and the exclusion and discrimination related to the former
Therefore, European Green Party calls on its Member Parties, Members of Parliaments, local and regional deputies, Members of the European Parliament to:
- act in favour of active measures that will guarantee the universal right to health, including sexual and reproductive health, by promoting access to information, provision and use of services in an environment of equality, including sexuality and health education of adolescents and young people in education and social participation institutions, enhancing the training of teachers and other educators
- assure that the non-evidence based positions of religious and political actors will be subject to public criticism, as the activities of some of those actors are of high damage to public awareness on the issue of sexual health
in domestic policies
- strive for an adequate level of economic and educational resources for sexual and reproductive education
- stimulate the debate and work on a common European standard for providing sexuality education in Europe
- demand from monitoring of influence of lack of access to contraception on women heath and social exclusion, in particular the consequences of laws banning abortion and access to contraceptives for young people
in the development and related policies
- strive for higher recognition of the link between international development and cooperation and securing basic human rights such as access to healthcare
- to actively monitor the impact of US funded abstinence programmes on young people rights to exercise sexual reproductive choices, gender equality and information related to individual sexual and reproductive rights;
-promote the goal of free access for all young people (including unmarried persons) to contraceptives and to HIV/AIDS prevention and care services
-to ensure that sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes and organisations in developing countries are adequately funded by European donors, including meeting UN and EU agreed targets of allocating 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) to Official Development Aid (ODA) and providing universal access to reproductive health, estimated to average 10% of ODA funding.
European Greens will support all the parties that perform these commitments in order to contribute to securing the future of nearly 1.1 billion young people aged 15 to 19 that are now entering their reproductive years.
