The Sexual and Reproductive Health of Young People Nearly one in five people living in the Middle East

and North Africa (MENA) region is between the ages of 15 and 24 the age at which most young people initiate sexual activity. With around 100 million youth in 2008, the number is on the rise with the constant immigration for livelihood opportunities in the oil-rich Gulf States. In Morocco, 600,000 Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are estimated to occur each year, 40 % (240,000) of them among young people ages 15 to 29. The highest rates of early marriage are in Yemen and Egypt. In Yemen, marriage among women ages 15 to 19 declined from 27 % in 1997 to 17 percent in 2003 but this number still represents an estimated 200,000 women. In Egypt, 12 percent of women ages 15 to 19 (more than 500,000) were already married in 2005. About 23 % of 19-year-old Egyptian women are already mothers or pregnant. Marriage between blood relatives is particularly high in Libya and Saudi Arabia, where more than 40 % of married women ages 15 to 49 are wed to their first cousins, which can jeopardize the health of their offspring. More than one-half of married women now use a modern method of contraception in Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Morocco, and Tunisia. The use of contraceptives in married women aged 15-29 varies widely however from 6.6% in Sudan to 63% in Lebanon. Use of male methods (condoms and male sterilization) is relatively low in MENA, except in Iran and Turkey. WHO estimates that around 1.5 million unsafe abortions occurred in the MENA region in 2003, accounting for 11 % of maternal deaths. One in five obstetrical and gynecological hospital admissions were for post-abortion care, and almost 65 % of those abortions were believed to have been induced. The unmet need for family planning and reproductive health services ranges from 6 % of married women in Turkey to 51 percent in Yemen. It is most pronounced among poorer and less educated

women and demonstrates the need for more family planning awareness programs. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 16,000 women die each year due to pregnancy-related causeswith two-thirds occurring in just four countries: Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, and Yemen. Half of the 10 million women who give birth every year in MENA experience some type of complication, with more than 1 million suffering from serious post partum complications. Each year, more than 16,000 women in the MENA region die of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Women in Yemen have the greatest chance of dying from pregnancy related causes, a 1-in-39 lifetime risk. Maternal mortality is relatively low in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, yet it is higher than in countries outside the region with similar per capita incomes. Although nearly universal in Egypt (96%), female genital cutting is unheard of in most other parts of the MENA region. Yemen is the only other MENA country with a substantial number of girls and women (23 percent) affected, mostly among communities of the Red Sea Coast. HIV/AIDS in The Middle East and North Africa It is estimated that 35,000 people contracted HIV in 2007, bringing the total number of people living with HIV in the region to 380,000. As a result of AIDS-related illnesses, an estimated 25, 000 people died in 2007. Cultural Sensitiveness and taboos surrounding sexuality are more pronounced in this region. According to UN estimates, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in MENA increased from 87,000 in 2003 to 380,000 in 2007. HIV cases in Algeria doubled between 2001 and 2006. An estimated 90 per-cent of people who are infected in the MENA region are not aware that they