to their sexual and reproductive life with full, free and informed consent. Lastly, it is important to emphasize that all persons have the right to full information as to the relative benefits, risks and effectiveness of all methods of fertility regulation and the prevention of unplanned pregnancies. Together with the right to information, the right to education also serves the goal of reproductive rights. Women have greater access to contraceptives when they can read and understand the risks to their health and their children caused by close birth spacing. More than that, guaranteeing reproductive rights promotes the right to education, When women are able to determine whether to, when to and how often to have children, their opportunities to advance towards secondary and superior education is improved. According to UNFPA, fewer children mean that families and governments can spend more per child.42 This is especially relevant for girls, whose education is often sacrificed if resources are lacking. Furthermore, avoiding early pregnancies and early marriages encourages girls to stay in school. Guaranteeing the right to information regarding family planning and the use of contraceptives is also important to avoid early pregnancies. The right to receive information on sexual and reproductive health issues has been stressed on numerous occasions in the practice of the United Nations human rights committees. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in General 42 UNFPA. “Sexual and Reproductive Health for All: Reducing Poverty, Advancing Development and Protecting Human Rights” (2010) 108 Comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to health, stresses the need to remove barriers to women’s access to information and education; affirms that adolescents must receive appropriate information and counselling; and refers to information campaigns with respect to HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health and rights. General Comment No. 24 (1999) of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on women and health underlines the obligation to provide adequate sexual and reproductive health education, including on HIV/AIDS and other STIs, to women and adolescents, including to trafficked women and girls and irrespective of their residency status. This obligation is emphasized by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. All adolescents, irrespective of marital status and parental or guardian consent, should be provided with sufficient information on sexual and reproductive health, including on family planning and contraceptives, the dangers of early pregnancy, the prevention of HIV/AIDS and the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Such information is to be developed with the active involvement of adolescents. Indigenous adolescents and adolescents with disabilities should also have access to sexual and reproductive health and rights information.43 43 Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 4 from 2003 on adolescent health and development, Para. 28; Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 11 on indigenous children from 2009, Para. 54; Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 9 from 2006, Para. 59.

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