Our rights, Our lives, Our future

Supporting countries to deliver comprehensive sexuality education for adolescents and young people in Sub-Saharan Africa

Last update:11 March 2024

With a growing population of adolescents and youth in sub-Saharan Africa, there is an opportunity to reap an unprecedented demographic dividend if they are educated, healthy and employed. To achieve this, major obstacles such as such as early marriage, early and unintended pregnancies, HIV infections and gender-based violence need to be overcome.

Through its flagship programme, Our rights, Our lives, Our future (O3), UNESCO supports countries to provide good quality comprehensive sexuality education that empowers adolescents and young people while developing the skills, knowledge and attitudes they need to prevent HIV infections, reduce early and unintended pregnancies, and eliminate gender-based violence. It also focuses on building safe learning environments for learners by preventing all forms of violence including bullying in and around schools.

Run in partnership with ministries of education and health in 33 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, O3 has reached over 30 million learners through life skills and sexuality education, and an additional 35 million young people in and out of school through media platforms and advocacy mobilizing communities, teachers, religious leaders, parents and civil society.

A complementary programme, O3 Plus, supports learners in higher education institutions to achieve positive outcomes in education, health and gender equality, through access to CSE and sexual and reproductive health services.

O3 and O3 Plus programmes are made possible through the support of the governments of France, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, and the Packard Foundation.

Areas of work

Through O3, UNESCO closely works with countries to provide policy guidance and technical support, as well as targeted funding to scale-up national efforts on CSE that will strengthen the development and delivery of good quality sexuality education in the classroom.

UNESCO works with countries to strengthen their legal frameworks and education policies relating to sexuality education as well as policies to promote safe learning environments, with a focus on reducing gender-based violence. For example, UNESCO examined the integration of sexual and reproductive health and gender equality into the legislation and educational policies of 11 countries in West and Central Africa through a series of studies.

UNESCO has also supported education sector responses to COVID-19 to ensure safe return to school for teachers and learners; upscaling of distance learning solutions; development of standard guidelines on the prevention and management of COVID-19 in schools.

Across the Continent, UNESCO has worked with national governments and parliamentarians to increase the political commitment to delivering effective health education, including CSE, to learners. With official commitments from ministers of education and health, national level policies and curricula can more swiftly be updated, and schools and teachers feel more confident to take on these important, but sensitive, topics.

In addition, UNESCO supported the African Union to develop its Continental Strategy on Education for Health and Well-being. This is an important strategy that helps guide African countries in addressing the health priorities within the educational sector, and is anchored around four pillars: skills-based sexual and reproductive health and rights education; safe, non-violent, inclusive, and effective learning environments for all; promoting healthy eating and drinking and physical activity and sports; and addressing substance use.

Teachers are at the frontlines of ensuring children get the sexuality education they need to thrive. Through the O3 programme, UNESCO is supporting teachers across Africa with its tailored teacher training programmes, online courses and resources and the revision and development of teaching and learning materials on CSE. The Connect with Respect curriculum-based tool, for example, promotes gender equitable relationships and has been instrumental in tackling violence in and around schools, including bullying and corporal punishment.

The Regional learning platform is a knowledge-sharing and learning initiative for the 33 countries engaged with the O3 programme across Sub-Sahara Africa. The platform hosts the UNESCO CSE Course for teachers and provides teachers with opportunities for learning and exchange. The digital library accessible through the platform offers resources on CSE, including around curricula and teaching and learning material.

Revising or updating national curricula is also part of the support provided to ministries of education by UNESCO through the O3 programme. For example, UNESCO supported a curriculum audit in Malawi at both primary and secondary levels. The audit revealed gaps and strengths which will be used during the country’s curricula revision process. Based on the audit, UNESCO is supporting the Ministry of Education to review the curriculum, including with a literature review of good practices.

In response to the changing context and the need to complement classroom-based education, the O3 programme leveraged digital platforms and low-tech solutions to ensure adolescents and youth have continuous access to key health and sexual and reproductive health and rights information. More than 35 million in- and out-of-school adolescents and young people in sub-Saharan Africa were reached through television, community and national radio, podcasts, social media, mobile applications, chatbots and call centres. For example, the Let’s talk EUP (or Early and Unintended Pregnancy), a flagship campaign in East and Southern Africa engaged youth and communities in rural and urban areas through radio drama to prevent early and unintended pregnancies.

We know that parents, guardians or caregivers play an important role in discussing topics such as sex, gender and relationships with their children. Working with parents and communities to change gender and social norms is a key part of our work. For example, UNESCO supports families to develop their knowledge and attitudes around CSE, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and school violence prevention to foster home-based conversations about healthy and respectful relationships. O3 also worked with parent-teacher associations and school management, and encouraged stronger parent-child communication on these topics.

Online, in Kenya, RADA a health application is providing university learners access to information on sexual and reproductive health, relationships and dating, HIV infections and AIDS, alcohol and drug abuse, mental health, campus safety and career guidance via their mobile; and Hello Ado, a free mobile application providing information to adolescents and young people in West and Central Africa on sexual and reproductive health, a list of services and a chat function to ask questions and exchange anonymously.

Young People Today is a platform that provides information and resources on the East and Southern Africa commitment, as well as CSE and youth-friendly resources, evidence, information and news to support adolescent and young people’s health and well-being. With early and unintended pregnancy affecting an increasing number of adolescents across the region, UNESCO developed the Let’s talk campaign. Through positive stories, the campaign fosters exchange and social and behaviour change to reduce early and unintended pregnancy across 21 countries in East and Southern Africa.

Education saves lives is an online campaign raising awareness on the urgent need for health education to curtail child marriage and forced unions, early and unintended pregnancies, HIV infection and gender-based violence. This campaign brings together United Nations and civil society partners across West and Central Africa and has reached over 24 million people across the continent, particularly young people.

O3 Plus supports the health and well-being of learners in higher and tertiary education. It ensures that young people in higher and tertiary education institutions benefit from improved sexual and reproductive health, through education about HIV and pregnancy prevention, and on gender-based violence. O3 Plus empowers young people to reach their full educational potential and contribute more effectively to the development of their countries and region as graduates, professionals and young leaders.

O3 Plus targets 142,000 learners in 24 tertiary and higher education institutions across Zambia and Zimbabwe, and scaling up to include Kenya, Tanzania (phase 2) and Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda (phase 3). So far, it has reached over 88,000 learners with accurate, rights-based comprehensive sexuality education, through formal online or in-person course. In addition, nearly 7,350 learners were tested for HIV, with over 2,060 peer counsellors trained to provide sexual and reproductive health and rights information and services and 344 healthcare providers trained to provide youth-friendly information and services to learners across universities in Kenya, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.