[Japan's First] JOICFP Signs Partnership Agreement with Local Government to Promote Comprehensive Sexuality Education
JOICFP signed Japan's first partnership agreement with the Miyazaki City Board of Education to promote comprehensive sexuality education in schools, aiming to address youth sexual health issues.
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- 📰 Published: April 8, 2026 at 00:17
- 🔍 Collected: April 7, 2026 at 16:00
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JOICFP (Public Interest Incorporated Foundation, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo: hereinafter referred to as JOICFP), an international cooperation NGO working to promote SRHR (Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights) with the aim of creating a world where everyone can choose their own sexuality and way of life, signed a partnership agreement on April 2, 2026, with the Miyazaki City Board of Education (Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture, Superintendent: Takashi Oki) regarding the deployment of "Comprehensive Sexuality Education" in elementary and junior high schools.
This is the first attempt in Japan where a local government signs a partnership agreement with a specific organization dedicated exclusively to the promotion of comprehensive sexuality education.
## Background and Purpose
Currently in Japan, the increase in sexual violence against children, unwanted pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections has become a serious social issue. Particularly in Miyazaki Prefecture, high teenage abortion rates and syphilis prevalence rates have become urgent issues, and there was a strong demand for the introduction of "Comprehensive Sexuality Education" based on scientific evidence and founded on human rights and gender equality.
The Miyazaki City Board of Education has been advancing pioneering efforts, formulating basic policies for comprehensive sexuality education ahead of the rest of the country and developing their own teaching guidelines. Through this agreement, the goal is to directly connect the SRHR expertise JOICFP has cultivated around the world for over half a century with the educational forefront in Miyazaki City, aiming to build a highly effective "Miyazaki Model."
## Comments at the Partnership Agreement Ceremony
Mayumi Katsube, Chairperson of JOICFP:
"Education requires both 'high-quality teaching materials' and the 'skills' to deliver them. We would be truly delighted if our expertise could be utilized so that the wonderful curriculum created by Miyazaki City demonstrates significant effects beyond expectations in the field. Through this collaboration, we hope this Miyazaki model will spread throughout Japan in the future."
Takashi Oki, Superintendent, Miyazaki City Board of Education:
"Comprehensive sexuality education is indispensable for the children who will lead the future, but it is also a fact that it is a high hurdle for teachers to implement it alone. The partnership with JOICFP, which has global expertise, is exactly a 'godsend.' We want to make this initiative not just a plan, but living education that permeates the children's hearts in the classroom."
## Teacher Training Held at a Model School on the Day of the Agreement
Immediately after the agreement was signed, a training session on comprehensive sexuality education was held for faculty and staff at Miyazaki City Kojo Elementary School, one of the model schools.
JOICFP staff served as facilitators and shared some specific teaching skills, from how to convey scientific knowledge to perspectives respecting children's 'right to value themselves.' Voices from participating teachers showed anxiety about how to proceed and communicate in practice, a lack of understanding regarding the difference between sex education and comprehensive sexuality education, an attitude of wanting to relearn from the basics, and a desire to notice and improve unconscious biases.
This is the first attempt in Japan where a local government signs a partnership agreement with a specific organization dedicated exclusively to the promotion of comprehensive sexuality education.
## Background and Purpose
Currently in Japan, the increase in sexual violence against children, unwanted pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections has become a serious social issue. Particularly in Miyazaki Prefecture, high teenage abortion rates and syphilis prevalence rates have become urgent issues, and there was a strong demand for the introduction of "Comprehensive Sexuality Education" based on scientific evidence and founded on human rights and gender equality.
The Miyazaki City Board of Education has been advancing pioneering efforts, formulating basic policies for comprehensive sexuality education ahead of the rest of the country and developing their own teaching guidelines. Through this agreement, the goal is to directly connect the SRHR expertise JOICFP has cultivated around the world for over half a century with the educational forefront in Miyazaki City, aiming to build a highly effective "Miyazaki Model."
## Comments at the Partnership Agreement Ceremony
Mayumi Katsube, Chairperson of JOICFP:
"Education requires both 'high-quality teaching materials' and the 'skills' to deliver them. We would be truly delighted if our expertise could be utilized so that the wonderful curriculum created by Miyazaki City demonstrates significant effects beyond expectations in the field. Through this collaboration, we hope this Miyazaki model will spread throughout Japan in the future."
Takashi Oki, Superintendent, Miyazaki City Board of Education:
"Comprehensive sexuality education is indispensable for the children who will lead the future, but it is also a fact that it is a high hurdle for teachers to implement it alone. The partnership with JOICFP, which has global expertise, is exactly a 'godsend.' We want to make this initiative not just a plan, but living education that permeates the children's hearts in the classroom."
## Teacher Training Held at a Model School on the Day of the Agreement
Immediately after the agreement was signed, a training session on comprehensive sexuality education was held for faculty and staff at Miyazaki City Kojo Elementary School, one of the model schools.
JOICFP staff served as facilitators and shared some specific teaching skills, from how to convey scientific knowledge to perspectives respecting children's 'right to value themselves.' Voices from participating teachers showed anxiety about how to proceed and communicate in practice, a lack of understanding regarding the difference between sex education and comprehensive sexuality education, an attitude of wanting to relearn from the basics, and a desire to notice and improve unconscious biases.