The SRHR coalition of the Forum Génération Egalité Madagascar, in collaboration with the Parliamentary Network for Reproductive Justice, hosted a consultation workshop on Comprehensive Sexuality Education in February.
Since November 2023, the Ministry of Education has banned all demonstrations of contraceptive methods in all Madagascar’s schools, in the name of the principle of absolute abstinence that pupils must follow. This contradicts Madagascar’s national and international commitments including FP2030, which was signed in 2021.
The Parliamentary Network for Reproductive Justice, together with civil society, will be lobbying the Ministry of Education to reiterate the need for sex education in schools and to call for the repeal of the decision.
The workshop (co-financed by Marie Stopes Madagascar, Médecins du Monde and Seed Madagascar) enabled members of the National Assembly to discuss the realities of young people’s sex education and to lobby the Ministry of Education. It was attended by ten MPs and 25 representatives of civil society and donors such as the European Union, USAID, UNFPA, UNICEF, the Consulate of Monaco and the French Embassy. The event was widely publicised by Malagasy media and was featured on the homepage of the Malagasy Assembly.
In view of the statistics presented by the HEARD programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on the sexual and reproductive health of young people in Madagascar, and the risk of an surge in cases of HIV by 2030, the participants recognised the importance of sex education in schools.
MSI Madagascar and partners have planned additional joint advocacy activities to push for the implementation of comprehensive sex education in schools in Madagascar.
