UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS

February 1, 2009

Sexuality and Reproductive Health Expo

Over 3,000 boys and girls from secondary schools all over Jamaica gathered to participate in the Ministry of Education’s annual Sexuality and Reproductive Health Expo in the capital city, Kingston.

The expo featured innovative and interactive activities facilitated by members of Jamaica’s very active youth NGO community.  All these activities focused on generating discussion and passing on factual information and skills regarding the prevention of sexually transmitted infections including HIV prevention as well as unintended pregnancies among the adolescents in attendance.

One of the activities was the “risk game” – a life sized snakes and ladders board game where the pitfalls included early sex, negative peer pressure and unprotected sex.  Adolescents were able to discuss the consequences of these activities as they aimed to win the game by landing on the “ladders” that included graduating from college, planning a family, waiting to have sex and negotiating condom use with their partners. 

The Sexuality and Reproductive Health Expo is part of the Health and Family Life Education Programme which UNICEF supports in partnership with the Ministry of Education.  The Expo supports a life skills development programme which is taught in Primary and Secondary schools across the island which has so far impacted over 150,000 students between the ages 6 and 15 years.