cse hearingAs part of the European Youth Dialogues project, YouAct organised a hearing at the European Parliament, which brought young advocates together with MEPs to discuss prioritizing comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) on the EP agenda.

The Hearing was opened by MEP Katarina Nevedalova, who reinforced her strong support for SRHR and youth rights, and shared how these issues have been brought to a European level during her time as an MEP.

Young participants teamed up to share insights on:

– Human Rights Standards for CSE
– Dispelling Myths about CSE
– Integrating FGM prevention in CSE programming
– CSE in non-formal settings: reaching vulnerable and out-of-school youth
– Reviewing political debates around the Children & Families Bill in the UK
– Personal reflections on Growing up without CSE in the Netherlands, and working on CSE programming in South Africa
– CSE & SRHR in the Post-2015 Development Framework

We also launched a youth-produced video on CSE, featuring the perspectives of young people from across Europe.

Youth presenters covered a lot of ground in terms of the themes and issues addressed in the presentations. The variety in the hearing agenda speaks to the ability of youth leaders to integrate the rights and specific needs of young people who face various and intersecting forms of marginalization.

The proceedings were captured by visual harvester, Frederic Williquet, who drew visual notes of key points and interventions.

The last portion of the hearing was reserved for reflection and debate. Those in attendance engaged with presenters to discuss the Estrela SRHR report, and what factors make an enabling environment for delivering truly transformative CSE curricula.

YouAct would like to thank our presenters for all their hard work preparing their thoughtful presentations and interventions! We would also like to thank the MEPs and Parliamentary Staff for participating and engaging during the hearing.