Africa: When Myths Reach Communities Before Evidence, New CSE Platform Tries to Change the Conversation

What the report says

Sonke Gender Justice launched a new digital resource platform on 14 August in Mombasa, Kenya, during the MenEngage Africa SRHR Learning and Exchange Symposium PROGRESS 2026, according to AllAfrica. The site, cseresources.genderjustice.org.za, is intended to help shift public discussion on comprehensive sexuality education away from myths and toward evidence, especially in settings where parents, faith leaders, teachers and officials may first encounter misleading claims online or through community debate.

The article says the platform was shaped by youth participatory action research in Malawi, Uganda and Ethiopia, with nearly 1,000 young people contributing their experiences and questions. Those inputs were used to organize materials for six groups: educators, parents and caregivers, community and traditional leaders, faith leaders, government officials and civil society organizations. The resources address issues such as age-appropriate learning, disability inclusion, policy engagement and ways to respond to anti-CSE messaging.

AllAfrica reports that the platform is meant to frame sexuality education around protection, dignity, responsibility and family or community care rather than confrontation. It also includes an Evidence Hub that pairs common objections — such as claims that CSE promotes promiscuity, is foreign, or conflicts with African values — with concise evidence-based responses.

The broader context is a continent-wide debate in which sexuality education is often contested in political, cultural and religious spaces. The new platform aims to give communities a way to encounter information before misinformation shapes the conversation, though the article presents it as one tool among many rather than a standalone solution.