News

A lot has been achieved for the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of young people, but there are still mountains to be moved. On 17 May, the Dutch SRHR Alliance and youth leaders from all over the world presented the results of two large-scale youth programmes and called for action. As Ayantu Terefe from Ethiopia put it: “More dreams need to come true.”

On May 19th Rutgers gave a special lesson on sexuality education to a committee from the Dutch Parliament, which has caused quite a stir. Rutgers was accompanied by sexologist and television personality Goedele Liekens and a group of students. During the lesson Rutgers will promote the idea that empowerment should become an integral part of the primary goals in education regarding sexuality and relationships. Rutgers hopes that the Netherlands will continue to encourage other countries to address this issue as well.

April 15th, at the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD), governments from across the world renewed their commitment to realising the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action to improve the lives of women and girls.

As spring is setting in, we know it is time again to meet for the annual Commission on Population and Development (CPD). Between 11 and 15 April 2016, United Nations member states will come together in New York to discuss to what extent they are able to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. This includes sexual and reproductive rights and the rights of people who may need our particular attention today such as women, girls, youth and migrants.

Although Dutch children aged 9-12 are often occupied with various topics relating to sexuality, such as falling in love, relationships and puberty, too many children indicate not to be taught about these matters in school. This is demonstrated by a survey done by Rutgers in cooperation with the Children’s News programme at Dutch TV.

There’s a featherlight product that can have a heavyweight impact on the position and health of women worldwide: the female condom. Plenty of reason to put this commodity on the center stage on 8 March, International Women’s Day.

In May 2015, an outbreak of the Zika virus was identified. The virus is spreading though countries in South and Mid-America. The Aedes mosquito is spreading the virus. Proof has been found that infection during pregnancy might be dangerous for the unborn child. Therefore, women in South and Mid-America are advised to not become pregnant. However, due to a lack of contraceptives, this is not always possible.

Last Sunday, January 31, the Italian news programme Presa Diretta focused extensively on the Taboo of Sex: cyberbullying, sexting and sex education for young children. The Dutch situation is taken as a good example. The broadcast caused a stir in conservative Italy.

The Dutch Postcode Lottery announced on 26 January 2016 that we could again count on an annual grant of € 900,000 for 2016. The Dutch Postcode Lottery is able to award a record figure of € 328 million to over 100 charities thanks to its 2.7 million participants. We are very grateful.

Based on the findings and reflections of 10 years implementing Rutgers’ CSE programs in November 2015 a meeting was organized in Pretoria, South Africa, to discuss the way forward to upscaling and sustainability with Master Trainers and coordinators of Rutgers’ CSE programs in 9 African and Asian countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana and Malawi.