My Body, My Life, My World Through a COVID-19 Lens

UNFPA’s approach to upholding the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of adolescents and youth is encapsulated in its global strategy My Body, My Life, My World. The strategy was launched in 2019 to reaffirm and operationalize UNFPA’s commitment to adolescent and youth SRHR 25 years after the International Conference on Population and Development affirmed the rights of girls, women and couples to choice and health.

At the start of 2020, the world was confronted by a pandemic in the form of COVID-19. The pandemic is having a tremendous effect on young people’s lives, health and well-being. Its short-term impacts have already been devastating because of the large-scale interruption of employment, formal and informal education and learning, and health and social services. However, the medium- and long-term impacts could be irreparable if adequate measures are not taken to guarantee adolescents’ and youth’s basic rights to health, safety, choice and voice.

In order to safeguard these rights, UNFPA is supporting countries to reimagine, adapt and supplement the diverse range of interventions already undertaken across country contexts. Recognizing the complexity of this undertaking, the current package of technical briefs provides practical guidance in modular form to facilitate these adaptations. The briefs can be read and applied as a whole set or individually, depending on the context.