Democratic Republic of the Congo | ICRH

A photo exhibition on teenage pregnancies in Kinshasa aimed at sensitizing Belgian parlementarians and the general public on problems related to sexual and reproductive health and visualises the consequences of a lack of the implementation of sexual and reproductive rights.

Education and training can play a vital role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. They can inform and empower children and youth and thereby have a direct impact on the evolution of the epidemic. Education and training can as well have an impact on society, by changing social norms, fighting stigma and discrimination or triggering economic development and thereby have an indirect impact on the evolution of HIV/AIDS. At the same time, the already under resourced and overcharged education systems in sub-Saharan Africa are also affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Sexual and reproductive ill-health is a cause as well as a consequence of poverty among women who end in a down-ward trend together with their children. Overall policy makers pay little attention to the situation of poor women in the development of their poverty reduction strategy.

During war and armed conflict the vulnerability of children and adolescents increases, particularly cwhere their sexual and reproductive health rights and needs are concerned. Responding to these rights and needs requires a very specific approach.