A new sex education campaign in Philippine schools has sparked widespread debate in Asia's bedrock of Catholicism, where the high birth rate is blamed for desperate poverty. The Catholic Church and powerful conservative crusaders have struck back with a high-profile campaign to shut down the project, saying it breaks the nation's religion-based moral codes. The United Nations Population Fund Representative Suneeta Mukherjee, said opponents of the programme had nothing to fear. "We are not encouraging people, or children, to have sexual relationships, we are only helping students handle their sexuality as part of the process of growing up," Mukherjee told AFP.
