Child pregnancies in the country should not be blamed on the immediate victims but on parents, Parliament Speaker Rose Mukantabana said yesterday.She was speaking at the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Rwandan Parliamentarians’ Network on Population and Development (RPRPD), held at Parliament Buildings.Mukantabana told participants that even though other concerns relating to the country’s population dynamics are equally serious and need attention, the unwanted pregnancies being reported in primary schools, secondary schools and universities is simply unacceptable.Early this year, a report on Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Schools indicated that there were 522 unwanted pregnancies among girls between 10-18 years registered in several schools last year. The report of the Gender Monitoring Office indicated most cases were in Karongi (58), Kayonza (53), Gatsibo (52) and Gasabo (50), and major perpetrators of sexual violence – leading to unwanted pregnancies are reportedly older men, or sugar daddies, fellow students, teachers, and motorcyclists. “Parents and educationists should again reflect on this issue. When this happens, it is us who should be ashamed. The shame is not on these children. The shame is on us parents, and on us teachers – all of us who have the responsibility to guide these children,” she said.Calling for sex education for today’s children, Mukantabana pointed out that the danger of child pregnancies go hand in hand with another danger – HIV/Aids.Population dynamics discussedFriday’s celebration also featured discussions on population dynamics and its implication for policy makers.Godfrey Kabera, the director of policy evaluation and research at the Ministry of Finance called for proper planning especially in terms of population growth control and reproductive health programmes.The country’s population growth rate dropped considerably, with the fertility rate falling from six to 4.2 children per woman in the past few years, according to last year’s census.According to Kabera, more focus is now being put on finding measures of making the best use of the country’s growing youth numbers. He said that about 125,000 youth enter the job market annually and this can be an advantage if they get appropriate skills and access to various facilities. “This is actually the biggest challenge between now and vision 2020. It is a challenge but also an opportunity,” Kabera said.Alfred Karekezi, from the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion cited lost cultural values, ignorance, a big number of families living in poverty, misinterpretation of gender concepts between spouses, and low family planning utilisation, as some of the challenges of population control.He called for combined effort to counter the challenges. Ten years down road, Senator Gallican Niyongana, the president of RPRPD noted that the network has achieved much, including harnessing leaders’ opinion on ensuring people’s welfare, legislation and fighting poverty, among others.
