Youth Counselling And Support Services

Apply a human rights approach with a gender and intercultural perspective in addressing population and development issues, and step up efforts to recognize, promote and uphold relevant goals in order to eliminate inequalities and foster social inclusion.

Ensure full integration of population dynamics into sustainable development planning, sectoral policies and public policies and programmes in general ―in particular in development and land-use planning― at national and subnational levels, drawing on sociodemographic knowledge and information and harnessing technological advances.

Guarantee for all boys, girls, adolescents and young people, without any form of discrimination, the chance to live a life free from poverty and violence, and to enjoy protection and exercise of their human rights, a range of opportunities and access to health, education and social protection.

Invest in youth, through specific public policies and differentiated access, especially through the provision, without discrimination, of universal, free, public, secular, high-quality, intercultural education in order to ensure that this stage of life is full and satisfactory, to enable them to develop as autonomous individuals with a sense of responsibility and solidarity and with the ability to tackle creatively the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Promote and invest in labour and employment policies and special training programmes for youth to boost personal and collective capabilities and initiative and to enable them to reconcile studies and work activities, without precarious working conditions and guaranteeing equal opportunities and treatment.

Ensure the effective implementation from early childhood of comprehensive sexuality education programmes, recognizing the emotional dimension of human relationships, with respect for the evolving capacity of boys and girls and the informed decisions of adolescents and young people regarding their sexuality, from a participatory, intercultural, gender-sensitive, and human rights perspective.

Implement comprehensive, timely, good-quality sexual health and reproductive health programmes for adolescents and young people, including youth-friendly sexual health and reproductive health services with a gender, human rights, intergenerational and intercultural perspective, which guarantee access to safe and effective modern contraceptive methods, respecting the principles of confidentiality and privacy, to enable adolescents and young people to exercise their sexual rights and reproductive rights, to have a responsible, pleasurable and healthy sex life, avoid early and unwanted pregnancies, the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and to take free, informed and responsible decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive life and the exercise of their sexual orientation.

Design intersectoral strategies to help young women avoid subsequent pregnancies, including antenatal, childbirth and post-partum care, access to contraceptive methods, protection, support and justice.

Design and implement public policies, plans and programmes —at all political and administrative levels— that take into account changes in the age structure, in particular population ageing, and the opportunities and challenges associated with these changes over the medium and long term.

Extend social protection and social security systems, with a gender perspective, to include those women who have devoted their lives to productive work, whether as domestic workers, women in rural areas or informal workers.

Promote, protect and guarantee sexual health and rights and reproductive rights in order to contribute to the fulfilment of persons and to social justice in a society free from all forms of discrimination and violence.

Promote policies that enable persons to exercise their sexual rights, which embrace the right to a safe and full sex life, as well as the right to take free, informed, voluntary and responsible decisions on their sexuality, sexual orientation and gender identity, without coercion, discrimination or violence, and that guarantee the right to information and the means necessary for their sexual health and reproductive health.

Design policies and programmes to eradicate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the exercise of sexual rights and the manifestations thereof.

Guarantee universal access to good-quality sexual health and reproductive health services, bearing in mind the specific needs of men and women, adolescents and young people, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, older persons and persons with disabilities, with special attention to vulnerable persons, persons living in rural and remote areas and to the promotion of citizen participation in the follow-up to commitments.

Promote the prevention and timely detection of and guarantee universal access to comprehensive treatment for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections and eliminate the stigma and discrimination to which persons living with the virus are often subjected.

Strengthen measures for detection of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections in pregnant women and for prevention of the vertical transmission of the virus.

Promote prevention and self-care programmes for the sexual health and reproductive health of men.

Ensure, in those cases where abortion is legal or decriminalized under the relevant national legislation, the availability of safe, good-quality abortion services for women with unwanted and unaccepted pregnancies, and urge all other States to consider amending their laws, regulations, strategies and public policies relating to the voluntary termination of pregnancy in order to protect the lives and health of women and adolescent girls, improve their quality of life, and reduce the number of abortions.

Develop and strengthen policies and universal care services based on the highest human rights standards, from a gender equality and intergenerational perspective, in order to share the delivery of services between the State, the private sector, civil society, families and households and between men and women and facilitate dialogue and coordination between all the parties involved.

Develop and strengthen plans and programmes for addressing disparities in the representation and performance of boys and young men in the education system, especially in the English-speaking Caribbean.