Teenage pregnancies denying girls opportunities

Teenage pregnancies remain a serious predicament despite various measures to reduce the problem, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said.Cheikh Fall, the UNFPA country representative, made the remarks yesterday while formally launching the agency’s state of World Population 2013 report in Kigali.The report, Motherhood in Childhood, was released globally last month. It highlights the challenge of adolescent pregnancy, although it does not provide clear statistics regarding the state of teenage pregnancies in Rwanda.The survey indicates that every year in developing countries, 7.3 million girls under the age of 18 give birth.The research shows that pregnancy and childbirth are now a leading cause of death for girls ages 15 to 19 in developing countries, with about 70,000 adolescents dying each year from pregnancy-related causes. “Adolescent pregnancy is a call for action to everyone, from adolescent girls and boys, development practitioners, policymakers, health workers, teachers and parents,” Fall said.He hailed Rwanda’s efforts in reducing teenage pregnancy through various initiatives, saying that political will is the most important ingredient for any campaign to be successful.Fall said due to childhood pregnancy, young girls, their parents and governments pay a price in missed opportunities. But many girls pay an even higher price. The UNFPA report, under the theme: “Motherhood in Childhood: Facing the challenge of adolescent pregnancy,” aims at raising awareness on global matters regarding early marriages and teenage pregnancies.Fall pledged UN support to Rwanda towards the reduction of adolescent pregnancy by providing capacity building for various institutions to advocate for and raise awareness on population issues, including adolescent sexual reproductive health.“Due to cultural norms, the discussion of sexuality in family settings is generally considered a taboo. Parents still consider sex education the responsibility of teachers,” Fall said. GBV in schoolsThe latest Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Schools report says that 522 unwanted pregnancies among girls between 10 and 18 years were registered last year in schools countrywide.The report, released by the Gender Monitoring Office early this year, indicated that most of the cases were in Karongi (58), Kayonza (53), Gatsibo (52) and Gasabo (50).Yusuf Murangwa, the director-general of the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, said there are no available statistics about the rate of teenage pregnancies in the country, but the vice is still a challenge despite various measures in place.“The government’s efforts in partnership with development partners, have significantly reduced the problem. For instance, strengthening of co-curricular sexuality education activities and the number of youth friendly centres and health centres to deliver youth-friendly services,” he said.Murangwa said teenage pregnancies are predominant in rural areas due to lack of awareness on risk factors.In schools, sex education is not given enough time and attention. Girls get most of the information on sexuality from their peers–who are also less informed–and from social media networks and television.The World Population Day, celebrated every July 11, was marked under the theme, “Let girls be girls, invest in teenage pregnancy.” MP Theobald Mporanyi, a member of parliamentary network in charge of reproductive health, documenting the status of teenage pregnancies in the country, including knowledge, attitude, risk factors and possible ways to reduce it, was the way to go.