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New Vision is highlighting the challenge of teenage pregnancy in Uganda, with a view to finding a solution to the problem that costs Ugandan taxpayers up to sh250b a year in healthcare. 

In the tenth of 12 stories, Agnes Kyotalengerire shares Betty Habene’s story in fighting teenage pregnancy, early marriage.

At the age of 23, Betty Habene is already creating an impact among adolescents in Kapyanga sub-county, Bugiri district. Habene mentors over 30 girls and young women aged 14-24 in Naluwerere Youth Development Association. The group operates under the umbrella of the Multi Community Based Development Initiative.

In 2018, when she was in Senior Four, Habene dropped out of Nawanyago College School, Kamuli. She is the first of 12 children.
“I stopped in Senior Four to give my 11 siblings a chance to study since my father was struggling to raise our school fees,” she says.

A few months after dropping out of school, Habene says she joined a savings group. The group’s team leader selected Habene and four other girls to attend advocacy training. That marked the start of her journey in mentoring girls and advocacy.

Helping girls acquire skills 

Courtesy of her advocacy, some teenage girls who got pregnant during the COVID-19-induced lockdown have returned to school.

Elizabeth Namusibwa, a resident of Ndeeba village in Bugiri district, is all praises about Habene’s advocacy work. Namusibwa was devastated after her daughter, who was in Senior Two, got pregnant in 2021. The father was a fellow student in Senior Six at the same school.

“Habene counselled and discouraged me from getting married although I was already a mother. I agreed and when schools re-opened last year, I went back and my parents stayed with the baby,” Namusibwa’s daughter testifies.

Habene recalls she met Namusibwa’s daughter who was on the verge of being married off.
“I am happy that Habene counselled my daughter who accepted to return to school,” Namusibwa says.

Today, Namusibwa’s daughter is in Senior Four.

Habene has also supported four teenage mothers to enrol for tailoring courses. Upon completion, each was awarded a certificate and a sewing machine as capital.

Sharon Taaka, 24, a resident of Naluwerere, acquired tailoring skills from a Rotary club. Taaka had dropped out of school when Habene interested her in pursuing a course in fashion and design. Taaka now earns a living from tailoring and can fend for her family.

Habene

Advocacy

Habene is the former Pan-African Young Girls and Women representative of Uganda. The position required her to do research and mentorship.

Before embarking on mentorship, Habene does research on issues of teenage pregnancy and early marriage. Sometimes she goes to health facilities to find out whether pregnant adolescents are accessing antenatal care.

In regard, Habene visited three health facilities in Bugiri to establish the teenage pregnancy rates. She uses that data to prepare appropriate messages for young girls and women.

In addition, she uses the data as a basis to engage various stakeholders to support adolescent mothers.

Through her advocacy regarding fighting teenage pregnancy and early marriage, Habene influenced the enacting of by-laws about child marriage and protection in Iwemba sub-county in Bugiri district.

Her effort led to the setting up of Bulugwi Secondary School. Although the school is still under construction, it is already operational.

Habene says most of the girls in Bulugwi sub-county had to trek long distances to Bugiri town for secondary school education. Consequently, this was leading to increased numbers of girls becoming pregnant and, as a result, getting married off.

After presenting the issue and involving the district speaker, as well as probation and labour officers, the local district administration and some agencies agreed to construct Bulugwi Secondary School.

Habene is also spearheading Bugiri District She Leads Alliance, a movement that empowers young girls and women from the grassroots to the local government level.

The alliance’s role is to advocate the rights of young girls and women.

Noteworthy is that Habene and other young girls have conducted public debates in different sub-counties on adolescence and teenage pregnancy.

Through the topics, they engage the community and encourage them to take action.

At the start of school terms, some parents take their daughters to help clear gardens. To fight this practice, Habene and peers hold community dialogues and encourage parents to send the girls to school, and not gardens.

Guidance and counselling to fellow girls and young women is another activity Habene engages in.

She focuses on sexual reproductive health rights issues, reporting gender-based violence and early marriage cases to platforms, such as Sauti 116, probation office and Police.

Public dialogue 

Habene has also mobilised dialogues where girls and young women from different sub-counties come together and present issues affecting them with recommendations to government and the stakeholders for support.

In days gone by, Habene says, girls in her community could not speak, which affected their self-esteem and confidence.

To stem this, she offers mentorship and support supervision, empowering fellow young women to fight for their rights and condemn the negative social norms that affect them, for example, child marriages. In some cases, this has driven stakeholders to offer support.

“When we raise our issues, they give us feedback and sometimes they act,” Habene says.

Fortunately, the community is alert and always reports cases of teenage pregnancy and early marriages. In addition, the stakeholders are on the lookout and are always supportive.

Fighting teenage pregnancy 

The teenage pregnancy rate for Bugiri district stands at about 24.8%, threatening to overtake the national figure of 25%. This means one in every four girls you meet in Bugiri district is either already a mother or is carrying her first pregnancy.

Early marriage remains a challenge in Bugiri district and, as such, she continues to conduct sensitisation meetings, dialogues and debates, as well as reporting cases of child marriage.

“I believe that with continuous engagement, early marriage will reduce, given that parents now fear to give out or marry off their daughters,” she says, explaining that after a girl becomes pregnant and gives birth, her parents regard her as mature, ready for marriage.

She cites the other driver as negative social norms, especially among Muslims. When a girl starts her menstruation, her parents marry her off on the assumption that she is mature and ready to become a mother.

Poverty, too has a role to play, where parents regard their daughters as a source of wealth and want to benefit by getting bride price, other than educating them.

In that regard, Habene says, she has continued to encourage parents and the community to support their girls by sending them to school.

“You cannot give the girls for marriage early and expect them to be productive later in life,” she notes.

Stakeholders have been passing laws and ordinances around child marriages, but they are never implemented, she says. Yet, if the laws are implemented, they will boost the campaign against teenage pregnancy and child marriages.

Habene says the ordinance on child protection in Bugiri district was thrown out. She appeals to district leaders to enact the ordinance.

In the meantime, Habene keeps conducting community dialogues, sensitisation meetings and public debates on key issues, such as teenage pregnancy, child marriage, and negative social norms that limit girls’ participation in decision-making.

In the beginning, when Habene started her campaigns, the district youth chairperson tried to fight her, thinking she was seeking an electoral office. However, she explains, he backed off after understanding what she was doing.

PLANS

Habene dreams of becoming a social worker. She is optimistic that the move will give her a chance to continue giving hope to fellow girls and young women and also advocate their rights.

Additionally, Habene wants to form a strong movement to unite girls and young women in Bugiri district.

This story was produced with support from WAN-IFRA Women In News Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusive (GEDI) grant.

However, the views are not those of the sponsors.

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