Official launch of the “Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future” (O3) Programme in Ghana.

The Government of Ghana and UNESCO are jointly organizing a high-level dialogue on Comprehensive Sexuality Education for Ministers of Education and Health from the PAC countries on 30th January 2019, in Accra. The conference will also launch the O3 Programme and the New PAC Approach. Through the generous support of the Governments of Sweden and Ireland, the Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future (O3) Programme and its acceleration builds on current efforts by UNESCO to improve Sexual and Reproductive Health, as well as Gender and Education outcomes for adolescents and young people.

The O3 Programme supports delivery of good quality Comprehensive Sexuality Education that empowers adolescents and young people and builds agency while developing the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and competencies required for preventing HIV, reducing early and unintended pregnancies, and eliminating gender-based violence.

With additional support from the Government of Sweden, six countries (Eswatini, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe), will undergo a programme acceleration (2018 – 2022), which will allow them to deepen the scope of existing activities to attain an almost full-scale implementation of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE). These countries are now referred to as Programme Acceleration Countries (PAC).

The programme follows a 3-tier system with programme acceleration countries at the top followed by focus countries and then networking countries. This 3-tier system will allow countries to learn from each other as they work towards national coverage. Institutionalizing the CSE programs will ensure governments provide domestic funding and contribute to fully scaled up CSE interventions.