The UNFPA is introducing a mobile phone app
with facts about love, sex and health from a trusted source.
According to the UNFPA, the app breaks taboos
about love and sex in a society that tends to be conservative. It was presented
in an event held in Yangon on July 23.
As the UNFPA says, the 16 million young
people in Myanmar (aged 10-24) are growing up in a rapidly modernizing society,
where traditions and values are changing.
Young people need to be equipped to handle
new challenges and to make informed life choices. But the sheer volume of
information that Myanmar youth can now access online is overwhelming, and most
young people do not have the skills to tell the difference between fact and
fiction. At the same time, parents and teachers are often shy to talk about
sexual health. Instead, young people repeat hearsay between friends, often
perpetuating incorrect information and harmful practices.
To help young people learn about their bodies
and to understand how to adopt a healthy lifestyle, to give them the confidence
make decisions that are safe, and that they will not regret, UNFPA is
introducing a mobile app with facts about love, sex and health from a trusted source.
The app breaks taboos by addressing both physical and emotional topics: Safe
sex and contraceptives; early marriage and unwanted pregnancy; sexually
transmitted infections and HIV; puberty and menstruation; gender and body
dilemmas; drug abuse and alcohol problems; and last but not least: love and
relationships.
The app allows young people to find out about
sensitive issues confidentially, without shame or privacy concerns. It is
targeted to a wide audience in both urban and rural areas. Building on years of
experience from a telephone hotline dedicated to the sexual health of young
people, the mobile app initiative takes advantage of the evolving IT landscape
in Myanmar, which has brought increased internet access, more affordable smart
phones, and reduced censorship.
The initiative is a collaboration between
UNFPA, the Myanmar Medical Association and the Ministry of Health and Sports.
The UNFPA held an introductory event that
introduced the app and showed young people how to use it, as well as holding
performaances by Wai La, Wine Su KhaingThein and AungHtet, and holding a
theatre play about teenage pregnancy, and quizzes with prizes.
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