IPPF EN is fighting with and for young people so that they have the chance to develop the life skills needed to foster healthier and safer relationships, based on equality and respect. Over the past few decades we have seen increased support for relationship and sexuality education with several countries in Europe and Central Asia setting an ambitious tone. Nonetheless, access to relationship and sexuality education varies widely across countries, as many governments continue to deprive young people of crucial life skills that would enable them to have happy and healthy relationships and lives. At IPPF EN, we believe that the quality of someone’s sexuality education should not be reduced to a geographical lottery. Sexist and coercive movements are spreading misinformation about relationship and sexuality education. These movements oppose efforts to break down harmful and rigid gender norms around masculinity and femininity. They attack education that promotes awareness and respect for gender identity, sexual orientation, sexual pleasure and sexual rights. In this context, IPPF Member Associations are working tirelessly to enable young people to develop knowledge and life skills that support their health and well-being - through trainings for educators, the implementation of innovative programmes outside school settings, and advocacy for mandatory relationship and sexuality education. To learn more about the work done in different countries on ensuring young people access relationship and sexuality education, read our three blog series.

Young people are often denied care in societies where sex is taboo and parents can control their children’s access to medical providers. These challenges are amplified in conservative contexts where women and girls are made to feel uncomfortable when talking about contraception. The Tajikistan Family Planning Association (TFPA) has pioneered a phone application - available free of charge - that allows young people to gain crucial knowledge about modern contraception and sexually transmitted infections/HIV and connects them with health care providers. Through its innovative app, TFPA has created a safe space for young people to access stigma-free care, and to explore methods of sexual and reproductive self-care. This app has changed attitudes towards people living with STIs/HIV and inspired young people to have open and honest conversations about sexual and reproductive health care with their peers. "Before using the app, she thought STIs could only be caught by sex workers or people lacking morals, and that something like that could never happen to her or to her close friends. But now she realises that it can happen to anyone, even by accident. Now she tries to understand people who might have an STI." Young person in Tajikistan recounting an interview with a 19-year old woman as part of TFPA’s project

IPPF European Network is breaking down barriers to contraceptive freedom, helping to ensure that all people can lead safe and dignified reproductive lives. Across Europe and Central Asia, women are being denied control over their sexual and reproductive lives as a result of hostile chauvinist policies, gender inequality and social oppression. Many governments are not doing enough to ensure that women and girls have true access to contraceptive care, and it is the poorest and most marginalised who bear the brunt of this neglect. Too often, contraception is the privilege of the few, and women from low-income backgrounds are five times more likely to be forced into pregnancy through denial of care. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the level of modern contraceptive use (meaning all non-emergency, reversible methods) is alarmingly low. And overall in Europe, 43% of pregnancies are unintended (EPF, 2018), a result of denial of contraceptive care and of governments refusing to ensure sex and relationships education for all young people. Young people are also being let down by health care systems in which they face institutionalised stigma and discrimination when seeking contraception.  IPPF EN is working across Europe and Central Asia to break through these barriers. We are fighting to redefine contraceptive care as a policy priority and to offer stigma-free care to all, especially to those who are most in need.