News

Rutgers, member of Countdown 2015 Europe*, welcomes the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and calls upon the Dutch and all other European governments to take ambitious steps to reach the agreed goals and targets.

Latest Barometer figures show EU Member States are still failing to meet their commitments to women’s modern contraceptive needs as situation stagnates or worsens at unacceptably low levels.

The Barometer of Women’s Access to Modern Contraceptive Choice aims to put Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) at the forefront of the EU and national agendas. As we near the end of the Millennium Development Goals, it is now more critical than ever to ensure a consistent and targeted approach to SRHR policies across the EU and its member states.

In the context of the Dutch subsidy system MFS II (Co-financing II) unique evaluations have been carried out worldwide with regard to the results of developing programmes of 64 Dutch development organisations. The work was unique in its complexity and dimension: the work of dozens of Dutch NGOs has jointly been evaluated. These evaluations were carried out by independent academic researchers and give an evidence based confirmation that Dutch development cooperation is efficient and effective.

In a recent survey carried out by Keystone Accountability Rutgers partner organisations rate Rutgers 9th out of 70 international NGOs (INGOs) worldwide and 4th out of 10 of Dutch INGOs in terms of ‘overall satisfaction’.

Malawian Chief Mrs. Kachindamoto featured prominently in the media as she annulled over 300 child marriages. The traditional leader applied a new law which forbids marriage before girls are 18 and sent the girls back to school.

“Men should ejaculate right into the woman’s face.” That’s what all boys - the good guys included - told Goedele Liekens in the British TV-programme Sex in Class. This Flemish sexologist has started sex education lessons to 16 and 17 year olds at a Comprehensive (Secondary school) in Great Britain. After a bit of probing some boys admitted that it would also be okay to ejaculate on their partner’s breasts. The girls in the same form were as ignorant and did not have the slightest idea where the clitoris was.

The documentary Sex in Class was broadcasted on Channel 4 in the UK on 6 august 2015. In this programme Belgian tv-presenter and sexologist Goedele Liekens advocates for a more explicit style of sex-and-relationships education in British secundary schools. A pilot was held in a Lancashire school. Right after the show #SexInClass was trending topic on Twitter UK.

Recently Rutgers Indonesia, in cooperation with all eight partners of the ASK programme, launched a smartphone app ‘Sobat Ask’, which translates to ‘Ask your friend’. It is the first app for Indonesian young people that allows them to gain access to accurate, reliable, non-judgemental and youth-friendly information regarding a range of subjects relating to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

There is not a day that goes by that we don't hear about the high rate of HIV/AIDS or teen pregnancies amongst young people in the news in Nigeria. Now several countries and programs have shown that improving young people's access to sexual and reproductive health information and services can help to change the situation. But, as also the United Nations Commission on Life Saving Commodities reports states, 'too often, affordable, effective medicines and simple health supplies don’t reach the women who need them.'