8/10/2024
Fiji’s Educational Curriculum needs Comprehensive Sexuality Education now!
FWRM believes that the inclusion of meaningful age-appropriate comprehensive sexual health education (CSE) in our school curriculum is now urgent.
Latest reports of teenage pregnancies published in a country assessment of adolescent pregnancies and motherhood in Fiji has reported that approximately 1,000 babies were born each year to adolescent mothers during 2016-2019, with the youngest mother recorded to be only 13 years of age.
“This is the disturbing reality - early sexual debut amongst younger children has significantly increased. What can we do to prevent them from making decisions that will ultimately change the course of their lives? These children need to learn about bodily autonomy, safe spaces, consent and having respectful relationships,” FWRM Executive Director, Nalini Singh said.
According to the Putting Data and Evidence into Action: An Intersectional Profile of Adolescent Pregnancy and Motherhood in Fijifindings, during 2016-2019 the annual adolescent fertility rate (15-19 years) increased steadily and significantly from 30 to 38 births per 1,000 among mothers of iTaukei children, and from 19 to 24 births per 1,000 among mothers of non-iTaukei children.
FWRM and other women’s groups have continuously advocated for CSE in schools and findings from such studies only prove to us the need for more awareness and information on sexual and reproductive health in our educational curriculums, especially targeted towards our girls.
“Women and girls must be empowered to understand and have access to fundamental information about their bodies. To deny them this knowledge will exacerbate issues of violence and social issues such as teenage pregnancy, poverty and more. We need to unlearn sex being a taboo subject. Our children are being impacted by the decision that we are making to prevent them from receiving information that will help them make informed choices about their bodies,” Ms Singh added.
The continuous call for improved CSE in our school curriculums is part of our ongoing advocacy, especially since it has been a need identified in our spaces for young women and girls.
“We have advocated consistently over the years through national budget submissions, outcome statements from young women-led and girl-led fora and research analysis work. Hopefully, the publication of such data will push stakeholders into more critical thinking on this issue and include CSE for our children,” Ms Singh said.
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For media queries please contact FWRM Communications Officer Serelisoni Moceica on 8677330 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
13/02/2026
FWRM Launches National Campaign Calling for Mandatory Comprehensive Sexuality Education to End Child Marriage in Fiji
The Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM) today launches a powerful animated video campaign highlighting the lived realities of girls affected by early and forced marriage, calling for the mandatory inclusion of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in all Fiji schools.
The campaign comes in response to alarming national data. The 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics reveals that 9% of women aged 20–29 were married before the age of 18. The situation is even more concerning in the Northern Division, where 12% of women aged 20–49 were married before turning 18, reflecting persistent inequalities in access to education, protection, and opportunity.
Developed from FWRM’s 2023 scoping study and national consultations with women, community groups, and key stakeholders, the animated video uses storytelling to highlight the drivers and consequences of child marriage in Fiji.
The research identifies unintended teenage pregnancy as a key driver of early and forced marriage, exposing girls to heightened risks of sexual violence, pregnancy-related complications, poor maternal and newborn health outcomes, school dropout, and long-term economic hardship.
Child marriage is not only a private family matter - it is a public health, education, and human rights issue. Girls who marry early are more likely to leave school, face lifelong poverty, and have limited access to decent employment opportunities.
“Comprehensive Sexuality Education is not an add-on. It is essential to inclusive, equitable, and rights-based education,” said FWRM Executive Director Nalini Singh.
“Evidence-based, age-appropriate CSE equips young people, especially girls with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to make informed decisions about their bodies, relationships, and futures. It is one of the most effective tools we have to prevent unintended teenage pregnancy and child marriage.”
Through extensive consultations on the MICS data, FWRM has built broad stakeholder support to strengthen advocacy materials that assist service providers, policymakers, legislators, and community leaders in addressing this issue.
As global attention turns to gender equality at CSW70, with a priority focus on access to justice, FWRM calls on the Fiji Government to:
- Explicitly mandate age-appropriate, rights-based CSE in the national education curriculum
- Include clear provisions on CSE in the draft Education Bill
- Ensure teachers are trained and resourced to deliver accurate, evidence-based content
- Strengthen cross-sector collaboration between education, health, and child protection systems
“Girls have the right to accurate information about their bodies, their health, and their lives. Silence and stigma place them at risk. Education protects,” Ms. Singh added.
FWRM remains committed to advancing institutional reform and eliminating discriminatory practices that limit the rights, safety, and economic empowerment of women and girls across Fiji.
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For media queries contact FWRM Communications Officer Serelisoni Moceica on +679 8677330or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
* The Child Marriage Factsheet is here: https://fwrm.org.fj/images/PDFs/researchanalysis/Child_Marriage_Factsheet%201.pdf