(2) what support his Department provides to sexual and reproductive health education programmes in post-conflict states;
(3) what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of sexual and reproductive health education programmes towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) especially those for reducing maternal and child deaths and HIV/AIDS will not be attained without progress in achieving sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.
This view was endorsed in 2006 when the UN Secretary General recommended a new target within the MDG monitoring framework of “universal access to reproductive health by 2015”. An essential element in achieving this will be ensuring that women and men, including young people, have access to condoms, contraceptives, medicines and other products, and the services, information and education they need to protect their sexual and reproductive health.
Conflict and post conflict states pose particular challenges if they are to meet the MDGs. DFID's recent White Paper “Making governance work for the poor” recognises that we must help people have security, incomes and public services. Effective states are central to development, so we must help countries—especially those at risk of falling even further behind the rest of the world—do better in ensuring security, achieving sustainable growth, and delivering health and education for all.
To contribute to meeting the sexual and reproductive health needs of people in post-conflict states we have recently agreed a grant of £5 million to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for them to provide reproductive health supplies. This is in addition to our annual £20 million core grant to UNFPA.
We also have a number of programmes we directly support in countries. For example, in Rwanda we have provided £250,000 to a project which aimed to increase public awareness and discussion of women's sexual and reproductive health issues and lead to positive changes in knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and behaviour. In Somalia, we have provided over £400,000 to a project which aims to provide free primary health care and increase the access and quality of services provided to women. Part of this programme provides reproductive health education and highlights the benefits of family planning and birth spacing for women and their children.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has collected evidence from developing countries on what works in preventing HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections in young people. But I am not aware of specific assessments of the effectiveness of sexual and reproductive health education programmes in post-conflict states.
However, many countries now recognise that education (especially female education) can play an important role in reducing poverty. The link between improved education and improved reproductive health and HIV prevention is also recognised and many developing countries have established or broadened reproductive health policies and programmes. However, over 200 million couples still have no access to effective contraception and 15 to 24-year-olds account for 50 per cent. of new HIV cases. In Africa, 90 per cent. of all HIV infections are sexually transmitted with women and young people disproportionately affected.
DFID continues to give priority to supporting reproductive health and rights for women and to focus our bilateral programmes on strengthening of health systems to deliver effective information, services, and supplies. DFID is investing £1.85 million in a project evaluating the long-term impact of an adolescent sexual health intervention programme in Tanzania.