The Rwandan government and women’s rights advocates are translating a UNESCO toolkit into Kinyarwanda at a cost of nearly Rwf1 billion. This toolkit will assist parents, teachers, and guardians in educating children and youth on sexual and reproductive health to address teen pregnancies.
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Over 20,000 underage girls on average become pregnant every year in Rwanda. Teenage pregnancy has been increasing for years, with 17,337 underage girls getting pregnant in 2017, 19,832 in 2018, 23,544 in 2019, 19,701 in 2020, and 23,000 in 2021, according to recent data from the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF).
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Between July and December 2021 alone, approximately 13,000 young girls under the age of 19 were impregnated in Rwanda, according to MIGEPROF.
The new toolkit dubbed "Supporting Parent-child Communication on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights” aims to assist families in enhancing their communication about healthy and respectful relationships, help-seeking, life skills, decision-making, health, and behaviour within the family environment, especially between parents/guardians and their children.
The programme aims to assist parents, guardians, and caregivers in bridging the cultural barrier and engaging in discussions at home about sexual and reproductive health and rights with their children, adolescents, and young people. It has sessions for 10-13-year-olds, 14-16-year-olds and 17-19-year-olds.
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Aline Umutoni, the Director General of Family Promotion and Child Protection in the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, said the manual produced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), once translation into Kinyarwanda is complete, will help implement initiatives to protect children and youth against defilement and teen pregnancies.
"Some adolescents do not know about sexual reproductive health. The tool will help parents and guardians to address this issue. Parents and guardians were facing cultural barriers, but the toolkit will unlock this. With the knowledge gained from the programme, once translation into the Kinyarwanda language is complete, adolescents will have informed decisions,” she said.
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Mediatrice Mukeshimana, in charge of community mental health interventions at Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), said the programme will help parents improve mental health related to sexuality among adolescents and eradicate the daunting effects of teen pregnancy.
"This will play a big role in reducing teen and unwanted pregnancies among adolescents and youth,” he said.
Anaemia rises during pregnancy, because teenage mothers often can’t afford healthy foods, or don’t even know how to prepare healthy meals that would keep them and their unborn babies safe.
Even after birth, the baby is likely to suffer malnutrition if no intervention is made to improve nutrition. Young mothers are at risk of sexually transmitted infections and diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Malformation of the baby is also a possible effect.
Obstructed labour is another factor. This is when the baby does not exit the pelvis during childbirth due to being physically blocked. It may also lead to birth trauma to babies, especially when the doctors use much force to help them come out.
In some cases, the baby may not have enough oxygen to keep them alive. And in some instances, there is a possibility of giving birth to an underweight baby; it is when the baby has less weight than the normal standard minimum weight of new-borns. This can be caused by malnutrition.
Other health consequences, Miriam Batamuriza, a lecturer at the University of Rwanda, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Rwamagana campus, mentions, include high blood pressure, Pelvic Inflammatory Diseases (PID), depression, and stunting (for the baby).
Rwf1bn cost
According to Jacques Nsengiyumva, the head of Rwanda Women, Adolescent, and Child Health Initiative, tasked by UNESCO and the Government of Rwanda to prepare the manual in Kinyarwanda, there is a need for over Rwf900 million to translate the manual and distribute it across the country.
"The manual was developed by UN experts. It has all the materials that will improve education about sexual reproductive health in families. By 2029, the manual in Kinyarwanda will have been deployed in all districts. It should reach at least six districts every year,” he said.
Alexandre Ben Mpozembizi, the Coordinator of UNESCO Rwanda, said the manual has to be deployed in 13 countries, including Rwanda.
"The manual has to be developed by aligning it with Rwandan culture. The model to educate children and youth on sexual reproductive health is timely amidst high HIV prevalence among the youth. That is why Rwanda was chosen among countries to have this new toolkit,” he said.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report, nearly 98,000 adolescent females worldwide tested positive for the virus in 2022.