Monitoring of Population programmes, Focusing on Adolescents and Youth

Monitoring of population programmes, focusing on adolescents and youth - Report of the Secretary-General, 45th Session of the Commission on Population and Development, held on April 23 - 27, 2012. In accordance with decision 2010/101, by which the Commission on Population and Development adopted “Adolescents and youth” as the theme for its forty-fifth session, the present report provides an overview of development issues related to young people’s sexual and reproductive health, with particular emphasis on the needs of girls and young women. The report reviews actions by Governments, non-governmental organizations and the United Nations Population Fund and its partners that create a supportive environment for young people as they make the transition to adulthood; invest in young people; promote their rights and gender equality; provide access to sexual and reproductive health information and services; encourage their education and social integration; ensure protective measures and safe spaces for the most vulnerable among them, including those in humanitarian situations; and support an enabling policy and legal framework for their participation in policymaking. The report concludes by drawing attention to further actions required to promote and secure young people’s sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as a development priority to meet internationally agreed development goals and contribute to countries’ broad development aims.