On April 11, in the framework of Moscow International Education Fair – 2019 took place a special session: “Ecosystem of Sexual Literacy. Analysis of digital providers” organized in partnership with the UNESCO IITE.
Head of Directorate of the Fair Maxim Kazarnovsky facilitated the session. The topic of sexuality education was first brought up at the Education Fair last year, when UNESCO released the International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education (2018 edition). This year, the discussion focused on digital media as sources of information about sexuality education and reproductive health.
The discussion featured media representatives and experts, including Tigran Yepoyan, UNESCO Regional Adviser for Health Education, Vitaly Nikonovich, author and supervisor of online courses for parents, teachers and youth, representatives of online portals Deti MAIL.RU and MEL, a popular blogger and activist Nika Vodvud (nixelpixel), as well as producers of the DVOR – online project for youth created with the support of the UNESCO IITE.
The speakers raised a number of topical issues: how does the concept of “sexuality education” relate to such skills as keeping personal boundaries, preventing violence, building healthy and respectful interpersonal and romantic relationships, and developing a responsible attitude to one’s health? Do we need to communicate about sexuality education in the media space? How to develop the right media language without excessive euphemisms and dry scientific terms? The participants also shared positive experiences in the field of sexual literacy communication, talking about popular materials, productive collaboration with bloggers and directly with the audience through a Q&A format.
At the end of the session, the creative team of the DVOR project spoke about their work in preparation for the launch, which took place on April 1, about their experience in discussing the need for sexuality education directly with teenagers and young people and about the range of issues that will be covered in their online community.
The session was live-streamed and collected more than 2,000 views and now the recording is available on the Moscow International Education Fair-2019 YouTube channel.