Over 90 % of countries responding to an UNFPA 2003 global survey reported

1. EuroNGO’s International Conference – Poverty, Politics and Sex: Will the Millenium Development Goals Deliver Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights? The Youth and the MDG Agenda - Progress and Challenges Joana Almeida 17 February 2005

3. 1/3 of new cases of curable STIs each year— more than 100 million—are among women and men younger than 25 1.2 Bilion People are aged between 10 and 19 Years Old – 87% in Developing Countries ½ are poor and ¼ live with less than 1$ per Day One woman in three in developing countries gives birth before age 20: 17 % of all births are in the least-developed countries and these are 14 million births worldwide each year. Young People from 15 to 24 account for 1/2 of all new HIV infections 2.5 million each year, girls and young women are especially at risk The majority of those aged 15 to 24 – 90% by 2005 and 95% by 2010 - should have access to the information, education and services necessary to develop the life skills required to reduce their vulnerability to HIV (ICPD) Pregnancy is a leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 19, with complications of childbirth and unsafe abortion being the major factors. They account for at least 1/4 of the estimated 20 million unsafe abortions and nearly 70,000 abortion-related deaths each year. Over 90 % of countries responding to an UNFPA 2003 global survey reported having taken measures to address adolescent reproductive health and rights: policies, laws or programmes Every 14 seconds, a young person is infected with HIV/AIDS. The number of new infections among young women is several times that for young men 2/3 of newly infected young people in sub-Saharan Africa are female.

4. Youth Friendly International Agreements • 1994: the Cairo Conference (ICPD) stressed the need to listen and involve youth in SRR programmes, participating in the political process to attain an adequate education, high-quality health services and counselling (PoAction Para 6.7) • Youth should be involved in planning, implementation and evaluation of activities with direct impact on their lives, regarding information, education, communication activities and services – in order to prevent early pregnancies and HIV/AIDS as for sex education (Para 6.15) • ICPD+5: full involvement is defined as the participation in the design and implementation of health and education services in sexual issues, in order to generate future opportunities for young people (ICDP+5 Para 73 c) • These Health services are advised to be user-friendly to offer the best information, education counselling and health promotion to youth that are both in schools and out of them, including social disadvantaged one.

5. Youth Friendly International Agreements • 1995: the BeijingConference on women’s rights also points up the special needs of adolescents in education and services and information that are user-friendly (Platform for action 267) • 2000: The CotonuAgreement of the countries of ACP, includes the special needs of youth and promotes profiting from the aptitudes, energy, innovation spirit and potential of Young people, in order to ameliorate the opportunities in social, cultural and economical domains and increase productive job opportunities.

6. Global Partnership Cooperation between generations Cooperation South and South Cooperation North and North Cooperation between cultures and countries RODIN – The Cathedral

7. www.youact.org xyjoanaalmeidaxx@yahoo.com youact@gmail.com