Comprehensive Sexuality Education
1. Context and background
In Niger, the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of young people and adolescents has been a major concern for political authorities for decades, with sectoral plans, policies, and health strategies mentioning reproductive health and social issues of adolescents and young people since 1985. The country has the highest fertility rate worldwide (7.6 children per woman) and one of the highest maternal mortality rates. One of the root causes of school dropouts is early marriage and pregnancy, with approximately 50-75% of pregnant adolescents not completing school. About two-thirds of the population are under the age of 25, of whom 74% are in the 14-19 age bracket. 30% of girls are married before the age of 15 and 77% are married by the age of 18 (SERAT, 2017).
As a response to these concerning trends, the Ministry of Education, with support from external donors and other ministries, has worked to integrate comprehensive sexuality education(CSE) into high schools and colleges. The first relevant module, referred to as 'Training on sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and young people for responsible behavior' was developed in 2014 as part of the national school curriculum. However, it was subsequently withdrawn due to strong pressure and reaction from parents, and religious organizations and leaders, who maintained that the content went against the country’s values. In 2015, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, and donors, held a workshop with religious organizations to try to reach consensus on the programme of sexuality education in schools. The final outcome was the decision that reproductive health and sexuality education content would be integrated into the existing subjects of geography, life and earth sciences, and family and social education. Modules were adapted to more accurately reflect the socio-cultural reality in Niger and the programme was renamed 'Reproductive Health Education of Adolescents and Youth'. In 2018, a workshop was held in Niamey, bringing together both state and civil society actors, to define the roadmap for operationalizing CSE in West Africa, as part of the objectives of the Ouagadougou Partnership. The Ouagadougou Partnership, which was launched in 2011 across nine francophone West African countries, aimed to accelerate progress in the use of family planning services.
2. Terminology
Naming CSE in Niger has been a process, evolving from the terms 'family life education', 'population education', 'sexual health education for adolescents and youth', 'sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and youth, 'comprehensive sexuality education' to the most recent, which is 'youth and adolescent reproductive health education'. The 2014 Teacher’s Guide to Sexual and Reproductive Health of Adolescents and Young People for Responsible Behavior that was developed for teachers in high schools and colleges (and later withdrawn) included definitions of key terms in CSE, including the right to SRH, gender, gender-based violence, contraception, family planning, puberty, adolescence, early pregnancy, and abortion. 'Reproductive health education' is the overall term currently used in government documents and the school module.
3. Laws and policies
3.1. Relevant international/regional agreements to which Niger is a signatory
Niger has ratified a number of international agreements that are relevant to sexuality education, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) in 1986, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1990, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1999, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2008.
At the regional level, Niger is one of the nine Francophone West African countries that are part of the Ouagadougou Partnership. The Partnership was originally launched at the Regional Conference on Population, Development and Family Planning in 2011 in Burkina Faso, with the aim of accelerating progress in the use of family planning services to avoid high rates of unmet family planning needs. The Ouagadougou Partnership is based on two principles: better coordination among donors to optimize their support to countries; and collaboration and cooperation at the national and regional levels to address the high rate of unmet needs for family planning. CSE is one of the main approaches and commitments implemented in some countries to achieve these objectives – including Niger. Regional workshops were held in Niamey and Abidjan in 2018, during which a roadmap was drawn with the aim of having national benchmarks on the implementation of the SRH education module in the school curricula. The IntraHealth International’s Civil Society for Family Planning has supported the Ministry of Education in the implementation of CSE. As part of the 'CS4FP Plus' initiative that followed the regional workshop in in Abidjan in 2018, Niger’s roadmap was developed to strengthen and promote the implementation of CSE by 2020, with strategies including an advocacy strategy for political decision-makers, religious leaders and the community, the integration of Reproductive Health Education for Adolescents and Young People in training curricula, and the training of field agents and other actors involved in Reproductive Health Education for Adolescents and Young People. Achievements in this period included the establishment of a division dedicated to the Health of Adolescents and Young People within the Ministry of Public Health, the development of the 2017-21 Multisectoral Adolescent and Youth Health Strategic Plan, and the inclusion of CSE in the school curricula at secondary level.
The table below provides a summary of how the international commitments relate to sexuality education.
|
INTERNATIONAL |
|
|
|
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Ratification date: 1999 |
Acknowledges the need to guarantee sexuality education free from discrimination and stereotypes, conveying gender equality values. |
|
|
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Ratification date: 1990 |
Commits to the right to access appropriate health-related information. |
|
|
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Ratification date: 2008 |
Commits to the highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities. |
|
|
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Ratification date: 1986 |
Acknowledges that the right to sexual and reproductive health is an integral part of the right to health. |
|
|
UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education
Ratified in 1968 |
Reaffirms that education is a human right. It highlights states' obligations to ensure free and compulsory education, bans any form of discrimination and promotes equality of educational opportunity. |
|
|
The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action
Attended |
Calls for sexuality education, counselling and support mechanisms for adolescents, and identifies essential topics. |
|
|
UN General Assembly 2016 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS
-- |
Includes commitments and calls to scale up and/or attention to scientifically accurate age- and culturally-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education. |
|
|
Commission on the Status of Women 2016 Resolution on Women, the Girl Child and HIV and AIDS
-- |
Includes commitments to make universally accessible and available quality comprehensive sexual and reproductive health-care services, commodities, information and education. |
|
3.2. Relevant national laws and policies mandating comprehensive sexuality education
In June 2006, the Niger National Assembly adopted the Law on Reproductive Health, which stipulates that: 'Every individual, every couple has the right to information, education and the necessary means concerning the advantages, risks and effectiveness of all methods of birth control' (article 5). Law No. 98-12 of 1998 on the direction of the Nigerien education system does not make any reference to sexual and or/ reproductive health education.
Niger has policies in place for CSE at both the primary and secondary levels. Since 1985, all national strategic documents, including five-year plans, sectoral health policy statements, health development plans, education laws, and general policy statements. These make special mention of the health and social issues facing adolescents, with the first legal texts relating to voluntary contraception being adopted in 1988. Political will regarding reproductive health education has been clearly expressed, and it is directly referenced in several national government documents.
The 2014 Teacher’s Guide to Sexual and Reproductive Health of Adolescents and Young People for Responsible Behavior was designed to specifically provide teachers in high schools and colleges with information on the Reproductive Health Education, but it was later withdrawn.
As part of the 'CS4FP Plus' initiative, the 2018 Roadmap for the Operationalization of Reproductive Health Education for Adolescents and Youth (for Niger) was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, with the aim to strengthen the implementation of Niger’s CSE programme by 2020. This included strategies for improving the institutional environment, building national capacity, making the socio-cultural environment more receptive to the concept and importance of CSE, strengthening the provision of SRH services, and developing resource mobilization strategies.
The vision in the 2017-21 Multisectoral Adolescent and Youth Health Strategic Plan is to 'make Niger a free and prosperous nation where all adolescents and young people enjoy their health rights, and work as a pillar essential for economic, social and cultural development', with specific mention of the importance of reproductive health education.
The 2017-21 Health Development Plan aims for the 'promotion of reproductive health' and the 'establishment of a multi-sectoral coordination framework for reproductive health', which includes the ministries of Education, Population, Culture, and Planning. One of the goals of the Plan is to prevent teenage pregnancies, with interventions carried out explicitly through the ministries of Secondary Education, Population, Youth, and Justice.
The 2017 National Gender Policy supports women’s access to basic social services (including education and reproductive health).
The 2020-22 Education Sector Transition Plan makes no reference to reproductive health education.
3.3. Curricula
While Niger originally only had the Reproductive Health Education of Adolescents and Youth in secondary schools programme (SERAT, 2017), CSE content is now also included in the curriculum at both primary and secondary level. Reproductive Health Education for Youth and Adolescents is integrated into the school subjects of geography (population and development), life and earth sciences, family and social education, and gender and human rights. The content varies according to the classes and disciplines and is based on an inclusive process using UNESCO’s Sexuality Education Review and Assessment Tool (SERAT). The course has been adapted to reflect Niger’s socio-cultural reality. One of the strategies of the CS4FP Plus initiative is the integration of Reproductive Health Education for Adolescents and Young people into the training curricula, which includes the development of Reproductive Health Education modules at primary and secondary schools and the finalization of additional modules that integrate Reproductive Health Education at the general secondary level. Students also have access to information on SRH through after-school health clubs in middle schools and high schools.
Mandatory or optional
Reproductive health education is mandatory in primary schools.
Model of delivery
Reproductive health education is integrated within the subjects of geography, life and earth sciences, and family and social education (SERAT, 2017). There are teaching aids for reproductive health modules in each of these subjects, while school health clubs have additional training modules in Education for Family Life and Reproductive Health Education.
Comprehensiveness of content
The Reproductive Health Education module covers the areas of interpersonal relationships, sexuality and sexual behavior, communication, negotiation and decision-making, human development, SRH and youth empowerment (at different levels). According to an analysis by UNESCO’s SERAT in 2017, the weak parts of the Reproductive Health Education module were in the areas of interpersonal relationships, sexuality and sexual behaviour, communication, negotiation and decision-making, and youth empowerment. The programme does not seem to really transmit knowledge to students about the different bases for different types of relationship (such as love, friendship and sexual attraction), nor does it encourage students to reflect on these types of relationship, so that they are able to identify the characteristics of a consenting and respectful relationship. There is also no content regarding sexual orientation, consent, development of effective communication or decision-making skills, gender inequality, sex and gender, social norms, and the right to privacy. There is very little content enabling students to understand national laws and international agreements in relation to human rights. However, strong elements were found to be in the areas of human development and SRH (SERAT, 2017). The module does cover issues of unwanted pregnancy, STIs, contraception, and gender-based violence, as well as the biological aspects of development, such as the body, pregnancy and childbirth. CS4FP Plus has been working with the Ministry of Education in adapting the education modules to make sure they are comprehensive and customized to Niger’s specific socio-cultural reality.
Learning resources
According to the 2017 analysis of SERAT, students did not have specific textbooks on Reproductive Health Education, with the Ministry of Education planning for the development of national guidance on the module and design of textbooks for students (SERAT, 2017).
3.4. Teachers
Since 2015, teachers have been trained annually in Reproductive Health Education programmes, with additional training organized for 40 teachers of out-of-school youth, 2,100 secondary school teachers, and 100 supervisors of schools and health institutes. Niger has also developed several teaching aids for different modules, which incorporate Reproductive Health Education. Due to the 2017 SERAT analysis concluding that teachers were not being adequately trained to teach reproductive health education, the Ministry of Education has been working to strengthen teacher training on the subject and to include reproductive health education within initial teacher training. The Ministry of Education has been implementing sexuality education modules in middle and high schools by training 450 teachers in three regions (Tilaberi, Zinder, and Agadez) with the financial support of UNFPA, while CS4FP Plus has helped to train 105 teachers in the regions of Maradi and Niamey. One of the objectives of CS4FP Plus is to strengthen national capacities in CSE through training and development, which includes supporting the training of teachers at different levels.
3.5. Schools
The Ministry of Education has set up school health clubs at secondary level, school infirmaries in secondary education establishments, and health workers in each of the school infirmaries. Primary schools have been equipped with first-aid boxes for students. According to the 2017-21 Health Development Plan, health services for young people will continue to be integrated across all levels of the health system, with the provision of SRH services in school infirmaries.
4. Governance
4.1 Responsible ministries
The leading institution in the implementation and integration of Reproductive Health Education for Adolescents and Youth in Niger is the Ministry of Education, with support from the Ministry of Public Health, Population and Social Affairs (Adolescent and Youth Health Division). The National Steering Committee for Reproductive Health Education for Adolescents and Youth is the coordinating body for all interventions within the framework of the implementation of Reproductive Health Education for Adolescents and Youth, while the Technical Working Group for Reproductive Health Education for Adolescents and Young People is the Committee’s executive body. The Technical Working Group is made up of 23 members from public structures, including representatives from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth, Ministry of Public Health, and the Ministry for the Promotion of Women and Child Protection. The public sector ministries mainly define strategies, regulations, and working plans, as well as being responsible for training various actors and coordinating activities. Civil society organizations are mainly involved in advocacy at the community level, supporting public actors, and capacity building.
4.2. Level of responsibility/decentralization and autonomy
Government authorities have begun the process of decentralizing services to local authorities (with education at the forefront), but this is not yet fully developed.
4.3. Government budget allocation
The education sector overall receives 19% of total public expenditure, with the Ministry of Primary Education benefiting from the largest share (56%) and the Ministry of Secondary Education, 20%. However, no information on the exact government budget allocation to Reproductive Health Education was found.
5. Monitoring and reporting
Data on the implementation of the Reproductive Health Education Program do not appear in the national education statistical yearbooks. The Ministry of Education is planning to establish a link with the Statistics Information Department to collect reproductive health education data (SERAT, 2017). The Civil Society for Family Planning monitors the progress of reproductive health education in schools as well as the implementation of interventions, with plans in place to develop a database to monitor progress and teacher training on an annual basis.
