Unsafe Teenage Sexual Practices: Hon. Oladeji Advocates Urgent Implemetation Of Child Rights Law
To ensure that adolescents engage in safe sexual and reproductive practices, the Oyo State House of Assembly has issued a request to the state’s relevant Ministries, Departments, and Parastatals to start enforcing and implementing the State’s Child Rights Law, 2006.
The call was included in a motion made during the plenary on Tuesday by the lawmaker who represents the state constituency of Ogbomoso North, Hon. Bimbo Olawumi Oladeji.
In order to promote the health and general wellbeing of teens who are the victims of hazardous sexual and reproductive practices, the legislator also urged parents and other stakeholders to give teenagers the support and assistance they need.
Presenting the motion on “Stemming the Tide of Teenage Sexual And Reproductive Health Challenge Through Health Information Education Communication”, Hon. Oladeji stated that unsafe sexual and reproductive health practices in Oyo State and Nigeria as a whole has negated goals 3 and 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals as proposed by the United Nations’ General Assembly in 2015 focused on ensuring good health and well being as well as promoting life-long learning opportunities for all and achieving gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls respectively.
She urged local, national, and international organizations to make deliberate and conscientious efforts to promote safe and healthy sexual and reproductive health behaviors among teenagers and young people.
The alarming rate of unsafe sexual and reproductive health practices among teenagers in Oyo State has led to an increase in the number of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, according to Hon. Oladeji, the chairman of the committee on women’s affairs and social inclusion.
She pointed out a number of key causes for the practice, including poor access to health information and insufficient instruction on sexual and reproductive health practices.
To inform teenagers in the state about safe sexual and reproductive health practices, Hon. Oladeji called for progressive health information, communication, and education programs.
The House Speaker, Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, urged the Executive Arm of Government, represented by the Ministries of Education, Science and Technology, Youth and Sports, and Health, to launch a progressive health information communication and education program aimed at educating the teenagers in the state about safe sexual.
The Speaker also urged them to integrate and prioritize sex education in the school curriculum to keep the teenagers adequately informed about sexual and reproductive issues and establish Health information and Communication Centers with qualified and relevant personnel and resources to provide appropriate support and counseling for teenagers who require supports, as well as partner with international organizations working in the area of sexual and reproductive health education for necessary professional support.
