Culture, Religion and Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health

This edition of Adolescence Education provides various reflections on how cultural and religious attitudes affect the sexual behaviour of young people and on the role they play in HIV incidence in the Asia-Pacific region. It is offered by Advocacy and Educational Support to Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH), a project implemented by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education (Bangkok) with United Nations Population Fund - UNFPA funding. The issue begins with an introductory section on the global situation with regard to education and health which culls out some key figures from the Population Reference Bureau (PRB)'s The World's Youth 2006 Data Sheet [PDF]. Continuing with regional news, the resource points to The UNESCAP [United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific] Socio-Economic Policy Brief 2006 [PDF], which provides further context focused on young people's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific. A text box explores some of the reasons why youth in the region are so vulnerable.

Having provided this context, the resource offers several examples of communication programmes and research projects that are being developed to address these health problems among youth in the region. Following the regional examples, this resource features concise summaries of various ASRH initiatives in Sri Lanka, Fiji, Nepal, and India. A "Good Practices" section highlights several experiences, strategies, and impacts.

The next section includes summaries of a series of research briefs which cull out the strategies, impacts, and lessons learned from the following: a global study of 83 sex and HIV education programmes for youth; a survey of knowledge, behaviour and attitudes about sexuality among adolescents in Pune, India; research highlighting factors associated with the RH risk behaviour of high school students in the Republic of Marshall Islands; a study examining historical trends in premarital sexual behaviour in North and South Viet Nam; and an examination of the "culture of silence" affecting the RH of adolescents and youth in Pakistan.

The resource concludes with several pages that direct the reader toward various ASRH-related online sources of information (web portals), resources (including a photo database), and upcoming events.