Health education issues discussed
SocietyUlaanbaatar/MONTSAME/. Kaori Ishikawa, the Head of Office of
UNFPA Mongolia, met with L. Tsedevsuren, the Minister of Education and Science
on Monday, October 19. In addition to congratulating on the new appointment as
the Minister of Education and Science, Ms. Kaori Ishikawa discussed with the
Minister about the health education system as well as the institutionalization
of health education, specifically the comprehensive sexuality education in
Mongolia. UNFPA has played a key role in promoting health education in the Mongolian
education system since 1997. Partnering with the Ministry of Education and
Science, UNFPA succeeded in introducing health education into the curriculum of
general education schools, training national experts, institutionalizing
pre-service training for teachers, and developing national health education
standards, guidelines and manuals.
Kaori Ishikawa congratulated the Government for its
commitment to provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education to
all, including adolescents, youth, young people with disabilities, people
living in remote areas and herder girls and women, and ensure that the
comprehensive sexuality education is taught by trained teachers in secondary
schools; the commitment that has been presented at ICPD at 25 Global Summit at
Nairobi in November 2019. Mongolia has been one of the champions in the region
to advance progressive agenda and has been cited as an example at the Summit.
Minister Tsedevsuren highlighted UNFPA’s support of
technical expertise and partnership with the Government in reintroducing health
education in Mongolian education curricula as well as the positive impact of
sexuality education in Mongolia. As the Minister proposed some suggestions for
further collaboration, in particular, to implement joint scientific projects
among young scientists enabling them to share experiences in innovations and
technologies. The sides agreed to further strengthen and elevate bilateral
cooperation in the science and education sectors.
UNFPA is one of the strongest advocates for comprehensive
sexual education for youth and adolescents in the world and Mongolia.
Comprehensive sexuality education is a rights-based and gender-focused approach
to sexuality education that enables young people to protect their health,
well-being and dignity. In Mongolia, UNFPA succeeded in institutionalizing
comprehensive sexuality education. In 2018, Mongolia became the first country
to include the main curriculum of the International technical guidance on
sexuality education in the general education curriculum.
Source: UNFPA Mongolia