Comprehensive Sexual Education for Adolescents and Youth: A Comparative Perspective of Kenya and Cuba
摘要
The conceptualisation of the sexuality of Adolescent and Youth Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (AYSRHR) is imperative towards forming an understanding of the needs of the adolescent and youth. This would enable the contextualisation of the appropriate responses to their needs and the creation of an enabling policy and legislative framework. The realisation of these needs is dependent upon a country’s health system that is anchored on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) that seeks to strengthen institutional capacities and improve the equitable distribution of resources for the sustainability of progressive realisation of the right to health. Adolescents and youth form the greater portion of the population in Kenya. Their needs in relation to sexual reproductive health rights are often met with challenges occasioned by a policy and legal environment that does not adequately address their needs. Some of the challenges include child pregnancies, child marriages, sexual and gender-based violence, lack of contraceptives, inadequate youth-friendly services, and low comprehensive sexual education, among others. The intersectionality of these challenges with other factors such as HIV, LGBTQ+, poverty, race, gender, minority, and marginalisation further compounds the challenges among the adolescent and youth, thus exacerbating the violation of their rights. The protection of adolescents and youth and equipping them with the appropriate information relating to their sexual reproductive rights through education is paramount to safeguarding and helping them make responsible choices and live healthy lives. This chapter would be useful towards knowledge advancement and increase awareness of the effective interventions for comprehensive sexuality education practices from both countries to enhance the accessibility and utilisation of sexual reproductive health services among adolescents and youth.