Sex education for Ambonese refugees

Sex education for Ambonese refugees

AMBON, Maluku: The United Nations Fund Population Agency
(UNFPA) has provided Rp 2.2 billion (US$258,000) in assistance
toward the instigation of a reproduction program in Maluku
province, which was wracked by three years of sectarian fighting
since 1999.

The aid was also intended to provide emergency funds for
refugees, who fled their homes due to the conflict, Maluku family
planning agency's Gusti Ayu Sri Astuti said here on Wednesday.

She said the reproduction program, which is carried out with
the cooperation of her office, had already started in the
regencies of Southeast Maluku, Central Maluku and Ambon in
November 2002.

It will be fully operational in 2004, she added.

Astuti said the program hopes to prevent Ambonese refugees
from participating in unsafe sex. It will also educate them about
the prevention of sex-related diseases and provide them with
condoms.

She said the program will also commence in Buru regency in
October 2003 and that her office is already preparing plans, in
coordination with relevant local agencies.

Astuti said the government is still considering whether the
program will be implemented in the regency of Maluku Tenggara
Barat.--Antara