Source: Sowetan
League president Angie Motshekga said yesterday the organisation would embark on a campaign to educate teenagers about safe sex and encourage abstinence to help curb the spread of HIV-Aids.

She was speaking at the league's lekgotla in Pretoria to deliberate on challenges affecting women. She said research on HIV and teenagers conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council in 2009 showed a 22percent decrease in the number of infected teenagers and a 0,1percent for boys of the same age.

However, the current media spotlight on teen pregnancy in schools was a cause for concern, she said.

"This is not acceptable. There has been a lot of research on the issue of teenage pregnancy and one of the things that clearly came out was that early sex was a driver for HIV. We have taken a resolution that every province must come up with its own programme to educate and empower our youth," she said.

Motshekga said the league would address the issue of reproductive health.

"We also want to send a strong message to teenage girls to stop using termination as a contraceptive. We will partner with stakeholders such as Khomanani and loveLife to raise awareness about the dangers of unprotected sex," she said.

Motshekga said the league had also identified the education of women as matter of priority. She said a campaign, themed "Women taking ownership of their health and education of the nation", would see its members taking an active role in ensuring the safety of pupils and cleanliness of schools. League members visit schools as members of society and volunteer their services.

"We want more women to get involved in the education of our learners by monitoring performance and ensure that all learners are at school on time and learning," Motshekga said.