14 May 2014

Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Health says it is worrisome that in this day and age, there are some parents that are still unable to talk to their young children about issues of sexuality and thereafter citing cultural taboo as a reason.

Speaking at a consultative meeting of the East and Southern African (ESA) commitment to Adolescents and Young People’s Needs and Rights in Gaborone, Dr Gloria Somolekae said children are left to surf the realm of growing within a social space that expects so much from them and yet giving them little in return.

“The ESA commitment that was signed last year December in South Africa by East and Southern regions of Africa looks to reaffirm the need for the provision of a comprehensive sexuality education and establishment of youth friendly health services to better inform and prepare them to be able to take decisions on issues of sexuality in their best interest,” she said.

She said countries committed themselves to ensuring that information and services regarding sexual and reproductive health and HIV are made accessible and affordable at all times to citizens, adding that countries were encouraged to come up with strategies to better address the needs and rights of young people.

“The commitment that we signed on behalf of Botswana is captured in the slogan “Young People Today: Time to Act Now” and it is our expectation that stakeholders will work collectively to achieve this,” she said. Dr Somolekae indicated that young people today engage in sexual activity at an early age and are likely to contract infections such as STIs and HIV hence the need for coordinated interventions.

She said the ESA report of 2013 has identified the school environment as a convenient place to target the youth with the intended intervention that will make a difference in their lives, especially in Botswana where the school retention rate is in excess of eighty percent and the number of school years completed being eight.

She said health services should be provided in a friendly manner that will influence accessibility and utilisation.

“Health services should be re-oriented to appreciate a young person, and providers must be trained to be youth friendly as this will attract young people to freely come for services and information,” said Dr Somolekae.

Dr Somolekae challenged the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Skills Development, Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture and the United Nations (UN) to ensure that this commitment is effectively implemented in Botswana.

For his part, UN resident Coordinator in Botswana, Mr Anders Pedersen said the importance of investing in the provision of comprehensive sexuality education and sexual and reproductive health services for young people should never be taken lightly. He said the case of investing in young people will compel Botswana to respond to issues of young people more now than ever before.

“A safe and successful passage from adolescence into adulthood is the right of every child,” he said, adding that this right can only be fulfilled if families and societies make focused investments and provide opportunities to ensure that adolescents and youth progressively develop the knowledge, skills and resilience needed for a healthy, productive and fulfilling life.

He said unless sexual and reproductive health and rights are supported and upheld across a range of dimensions and within a range of settings, young people’s lives will remain to be negatively affected.

“The ESA commitment aspires to achieve a vision for the future; a young African, a global citizen who is empowered, educated, healthy, resilient and socially responsible, an autonomous decision maker and one who has the capacity to reach their full potential and contribute to the development of their community, country and the region,” he said. ENDS