| "Educating to Prevent": The Mexico City Ministerial Declaration |
|
|
August 1, 2009 marks the first anniversary of the groundbreaking Mexico City Ministerial Declaration, "Educating to Prevent", in which health and education ministers throughout Latin America and the Caribbean committed to investing in comprehensive sexuality education and increased access to health services as a foundation for curbing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS. Nearly every country in the region was in attendance at the unprecedented meeting, convened by the Mexican government in advance of the 2008 International AIDS conference. Ultimately, governments committed themselves to fundamentally changing the delivery of sexuality education in their countries, resulting in the Mexico City Declaration on Sex Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (also available in Spanish). Unparalleled in its commitment by governments to address the important role that comprehensive sexuality education can play in improving the health and well-being of young people, governments agreed to key actions to promote the health and rights of young people. “The Ministers established clear commitments,” said Sylvia Cavasin, Director of ECOS in Brazil. “In order to fulfill the Declaration’s targets, governments must now take prompt and focused action.” The Mexico City Declaration’s ambitious targets include achieving a 75 percent reduction in each country of schools that do not provide comprehensive sex education by 2015. Countries acknowledged the role comprehensive sexuality education plays in introducing young people to the reproductive and sexual health services they need, and vowed to ensure that health services-including testing for HIV and STIs and counseling about condom use- are youth friendly. Governments also agreed to reduce the current number of adolescents not covered by adequate reproductive and sexual health services by half. In honor of this anniversary, IWHC, along with partners at the International Planned Parenthood Federation/ Western Hemisphere Region and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States created a media advocacy kit to support our partners in their local, national and regional advocacy efforts. You can find links to the kit's components in English, Spanish, and Portuguese below. Moving forward, IWHC will continue to work with our partners to fulfill the goals of the Declaration, and ensure a just and healthy life for young people worldwide.
Media Advocacy Kit: Sample Media Release Fact sheet on the Mexico City Ministerial Declaration Media Tip Sheet (for pitching stories and interviewing) |
