A total of 19,701 girls from all over the country gave birth between January and December 2020, an official in the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROFE); Mireille Batamuriza has said.

Batamuriza, who serves as the Director General in Charge of family promotion and child protection in MIGEPROFE said this on Monday May 24 at a ceremony to unveil the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)’s 2021 Flagship State of the World Population Report.

She said that although there were initial fears that the confinement brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic could cause a spike in these figures, so far, the number of girls that gave birth in 2020 had reduced by 3,927.

Mireille Batamuriza, the Director General of Family Promotion and Child Protection Directorate at the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion. Photo: File.

In 2016, the number of teenage births recorded were 17,849, in 2017, it reduced to 17,337 teenage births but in 2018 it increased to 19,832 and later 23,628 in 2019.

"I personally wanted to know what the reasons were behind the decrease in the figure but the Rwanda Biomedical Centre staff told me that they don’t have specific reasons yet although the general number of women who had babies in 2020 was small,” she said.

Although there are many people that have been advocating for access to contraceptives, Batamuriza said that available data shows that a reasonable number of girls, through youth centers, are accessing them.

So far, January to June, we recorded 11,373 girls that have accessed contraceptive programs. We don’t have data on the type of contraception methods but we are well aware that these services were given to girls aged between 15 and 19.

She called on parents to allow teenagers to exercise the rights that are prescribed by the law as most of these were put in place to protect them.

"Parents should strive to understand that at a particular age, a minor has specific rights related to access to family planning methods, abortion, access to contraception information and any other support that can help them better understand sexual reproductive health,” she said.

She added that while adolescent and puberty stages are challenging for both the teens and their parents, open engagements and the right information will go a long way in equipping the teenager with tools on what to do and the consequences of bad decisions.

Collective effort

Member of Parliament Euthalie Nyirabega called on the Rwandan community to make the protection of women and girls a collective effort.

"We should make protecting young girls a collective effort. Anyone who sees anyone trying to even go as far as touching a young girl should be confident enough to immediately put a stop to it,” she said.

Nyirabega called for a change of mind-sets when fighting sexual predators to the authorities and advised that instead, fighting such bad habits should be entrenched in the society from a very early stage.

Referring to the State of World Population (SWOP) Report, the UNFPA Representative, Mark Bryan Schreiner commended the government for providing a conducive legal and policy environment combined with community-outreach approaches aimed at tackling gender inequality norms.

He reminded that this year’s report highlights bodily autonomy as a foundation for the enjoyment of all human rights, and called on institutions and leaders to extend all the support and resources required for everyone to carry out their choices in a meaningful way.

However, he reminded that there is a need to look beyond obligations to opportunities.

"A woman who has control over her body is more likely to be empowered in other spheres of her life. She gains not only in terms of autonomy, but also through advances in health and education, income and safety. She is more likely to thrive, and so is her family,” he said.

The State of World Population (SWOP) Report covers and analyses developments and trends in the world’s population and demographics, as well as shedding light on specific regions, countries and population groups, and the unique challenges they face.

This year’s State of World Population Report (SWOP) is entitled, "My body, My dignity: Claiming the right to autonomy and self-determination, defying the practices that harm women and girls and undermine equality.”