UNESCO uses its comparative advantage with the education sector to support Member States to advance young people’s health and well-being. Efforts are guided by the revised UNESCO's Strategy on Education for Health and Well-being, which was launched in 2022. The Strategy emphasizes building stronger, more resilient school health systems that promote learners’ physical and mental health and well-being, as well as HIV and reproductive health, while focussing on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and on ending violence and discrimination. It addresses the mutually reinforcing intersections of SDGs 3 (Health), 4 (Education) and 5 (Gender equality).
UNESCO is the co-convener of the UNAIDS division of labour area on young people, along with UNICEF and UNFPA. UNESCO also supports development of the “Education Plus” initiative, which aims to strengthen the education and empowerment of adolescent girls and young women in Africa.
In 2022-2023, UNESCO’s effort to support global HIV prevention achieved the following key results:
- Adopted landmark Recommendation on Peace, Human Rights and Sustainability Development. The Recommendation conceptualizes health and well-being within the notion of “education for peace”, based on evidence and internationally agreed language.
- Strengthened political commitment. UNESCO played an important role in supporting countries to deliver on their pledge to strengthen education and health programmes to better address HIV, early and unintended pregnancy and gender-based violence, and achieve tangible targets by 2027 and 2032.
- Strengthened HIV prevention efforts. UNESCO contributed to HIV prevention through its longstanding experience in working with ministries of education and by synergizing efforts with ongoing initiatives on girls’ education and quality comprehensive sexuality education, including the “Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future” (O3) programme. The O3 programme addresses barriers to girls’ education, health and empowerment, including adolescent pregnancy, HIV and gender-based violence.
- Increased capacity and commitment to comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). As co-convener of the Global Partnership Forum on CSE with UNFPA, UNESCO fosters a space for thought leadership and strategic action. UNESCO’s position as the knowledge leader on CSE was also further consolidated with the 56th Commission on Population and Development’s focus on education. UNESCO contributed with its expertise, including written reports and presentations to the committee on education and population. It also continued to support better coordinated global efforts to respond to the anti-rights movement and its disinformation campaigns against CSE, including by collaborating and sharing information with UN partners to promote a coherent response.
- Established digital community of practice. Recognizing that digital spaces are increasingly used by adolescents and young people as sources of sexuality education, UNESCO established a community of practice for digital content creators, the “Digital sex-ed creators hub”, in eastern Europe and central Asia. The hub convenes over 290 content creators from 60 countries who are creating innovative, factual digital content for young people.
