What more needs to be done to tame teenage pregnancy?

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

Today, Agnes Kyotalengerire sheds light on what more needs to be done to tame teenage pregnancy.

Data from the Uganda Demographic Health Survey 2016 report indicates that teenage pregnancy has over the years remained one of Uganda’s biggest problems, with the national figure stagnating at 25%, despite commitments to reduce it to as low as 15%. 

This simply means that out of every four girls aged between 15 and 19, one of them is either a mother or is carrying her first pregnancy.

In an effort to curb teenage pregnancy, communities, development partners and government have put in place interventions, laws, policies, programmes and sensitisation drives to create awareness of teenage pregnancy and its associated dangers. 

This has been done to a level that we think is suffi cient, but girls still continue to conceive. 

The director of the family unit at National Population Council, Dr Betty Kyadondo, says preventing teenage pregnancy calls for collective effort. 

Kyadondo says adolescent girls must be empowered to say no to sexual advances. If they cannot resist sex, let them have protected sex, to prevent pregnancy. 

At the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, the country recorded 31,565 pregnancies every month, which translates into 1,052 pregnancies recorded daily, including 250 children aged below 15 years who got pregnant monthly, the District Health Information system-2 (DHIS-2) of 2021 revealed. 

This revealed that homes are not safe spaces for the girl child. The poor indicators also speak to parents lowering their guard on the children. 

Samuel Bakutana, the provincial president of Fathers’ Union, says teenage pregnancy has been handled from the side of young adolescent girls, yet the problem partly stems from poor parenting skills; meaning that parents have shunned their responsibility.

“A family is the foundation of values and morals, but parents are very busy with work and looking for money. As such, they leave home very early and return late when children are sleeping,” says Bakutana, who doubles as the certifi ed executive coach of Leadership Consultant, global speaker and author and chief executive officer of Inspired Leaders International. 

Mama Margaret Okiria counselling some of the girls who got pregnant and gave birth during the COVID-19 lockdown in Omonyono, Bukedea district.

The commissioner of maternal and new-born care at the health ministry, Dr Jessica Nsugwa, agrees: “Our young girls are becoming mothers while still teenagers. This does not start when they get pregnant, it is linked to weak foundations and parenting issues in homes,” Nsungwa says. 

Bakutana encourages parents to create time for their families because children and youths have issues to share with them. Kyadondo also implores parents and all gatekeepers in the communities to provide protection and ensure girls are in safe places. 

There is need to provide an environment that enables the youths to behave appropriately and grow to realise their potential, she notes. The district health officer, Kole Moses Ogwang, blames the high number of teenage pregnancy in his district to local and religious leaders who preside over young girls’ marriage ceremonies. 

“We have always met with local leaders and asked them to champion the fight against teenage pregnancy and marriage. Some leaders who try to fight the vice become vulnerable and risk losing the popular vote. As a result, they give up,” he says. 

To eliminate teenage pregnancy and its associated challenges, communities need leaders who are ready to transform society, not those who serve their selfish interests, Ogwang says. 

In addition, there should be an accountability mechanism where leaders in the communities, at districts, schools and places of worship, support holistic health promotion. 

They should also show what they have done to reduce teenage pregnancy indicators in their communities. Leaders at national level should provide guidance and resources for prevention. 

Ritah Aciro, the executive director of Uganda Women Network (UWONET), says the issues of reducing poverty, education, gender equality and maternal health will never be achieved if teenage pregnancy and early marriage are not addressed. 

Educate the girl child 

Aciro says girls deserve better and implores parents, guardians and government to educate the girl and also send teenage mothers back to school. 

“Why is there social resistance to seeing these teen mothers going back to school?” Important and crucial to note, is that the earlier the country realises the importance of the teenage mothers going back to school, the better, not just for themselves, but also for the entire nation. 

“Not giving girls the quality education required to be absorbed in the job market slows down growth and development targets,” Aciro says.

Talk with the young girls 

The head of programmes at FAWE, Joseph Adiama, calls for the need to explore mentorship issues. This, according to Adiama, may involve talking to the young girls individually or in groups to cause a change. 

Keep girls in boarding 

Godfrey Kurong, the headteacher of Naparakocha primary school, says teenage pregnancy and early marriage can be reduced if all girls study in boarding schools. 

Kurong says the safest place for school-going girls is the boarding section, where they are not preyed on by men. He says in the Pokot community, girls are married off immediately they develop breasts. 

“They believe anyone who has developed breasts can be a wife,” he notes.

Sexually-active adolescents should use contraceptives 

Family Planning 2030 (FP2030) is the new East and Southern Africa Hub of the global partnership for family planning, which builds on the strengths and successes of FP2020. 

The executive director of FP2030, Dr Dube Samukeliso, urges government to provide family planning commodities and information to sexually active adolescents. She says many of countries are challenged with so many issues emanating from young people failing to access contraception. 

For example, teenage pregnancies, which many countries are grappling with, could be prevented if contraceptives were made available for young people. 

This could make it possible for them to complete school because often, many young people drop out of school because they are pregnant. 

“Anyone who is sexually active should be able to make informed decisions about the use of contraceptives and determine the number of children they want to have, as well as with whom and when. This is the principle of organising the FP2030,” Samukeliso says. 

She describes family planning as a tool that women, youths and men can use to plan and decide if and when they should have children. 

It also allows many countries to attain many things, including benefits from demographic dividends, while ensuring that they attain development goals. 

Dr Dina Nakiganda, the assistant commissioner of sexual and reproductive health at the health ministry, says teenage pregnancy is worrying and needs a multispectral engagement where everyone is involved, instead of working in segments. 

“It is not only a health sector issue,” she says. 

“The education ministry should play its role of making school conditions conducive for girls so as to raise the bar of completion rate. If the girls keep in school longer, their age of first sexual encounter delays, making them come out more empowered.” 

Dr Paul Mutungi, a family planning expert, suggests encouraging parents to advise their children at family level. 

Teenage mothers going for a mentorship programme. The issue of teenage pregnancy should be dealt with collectively and not in segments.

“Family is the starting point. Later, schools can reform what has failed at family level. For instance, a lot of moral decay originates from parents, who are not paying attention to their children. Others produce very many children and lose grip over them. 

As such, they cannot bring them up in a responsible way. “The community also needs to enforce laws on practices, such as parents marrying off their daughters early in quest for money,” Nakiganda says. 

She adds that equipping girls who drop out of school with vocational skills would also keep them busy and delay early marriages, consequently reducing the number of children they have to one they can manage. 

Andabati Gongaza, a senior consultant gynaecologist at Bethany Women and Family Hospital, says the best intervention is to sensitise teenage girls about sexual and reproductive health. 

“They should be made aware that they can do without sex and that it will not affect their social life,” he asserts. 

Gongaza also suggests that adolescent/youth-friendly health services, such as family planning, is the way to go. 

“If we do not pay attention to adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health issues, then we are likely to have negative consequences in future,” he warns. 

“If an adolescent is sexually active, they can use condoms or any other form of contraceptives.”

Male involvement

The head of programmes at FAWE, Joseph Adiama, suggests developing programmes around male engagement. Can we reach out to men and see whether there could be a gain? 

During the discussion, their role in supporting these girls to complete school, and respecting their rights should be emphasised. 

The engagement meetings should be held at family, community, district and national levels, with bodaboda riders, parents and guardians, encouraging them to support the young girls to pursue their career. 

The director of the family unit at National Population Council, Dr Betty Kyadondo, agrees, adding that boys and men should be responsible enough to respect teenage girls.

Young people speak out

Trevor Emojel, 25, youth officer at AHF Uganda Cares 

I want government to fully incorporate sexuality education to educate young people on proper SRH, so that they can make informed decisions about their sexual health.

Government should also involve parents because they are sometimes the ones who perpetuate barbaric societal norms, such as early and forced marriages. 

Empowering the parents provides avenues for parents to educate their children. 

The ugly truth is also that many young girls are prone to teenage pregnancy due to financial dependency on older men. 

The need to offer further skills development and employment opportunities will lead to empowerment and self-sufficiency among the girls, thereby reducing teenage pregnancies.

Jessica Marian, teenage mother 

I became pregnant because I was ignorant about sexuality matters. I want government to educate young girls about the dangers of engaging in sexual intercourse early and it should start from home. 

Sexually active girls should also be urged to use contraceptives.

Bridget Amutwongire, Girls Act leader 

Government should implement the sexuality framework in schools and also provide a policy framework on non-school going youths. 

It should integrate Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights services in healthcare programmes, such that adolescent girls and young women (AGWY) can access these services freely. 

Government should continue creating awareness on family planning options such that the girls are able to make informed decisions.

It should also promote the economic empowerment of AGWY through skilling programmes and providing them with start-up capital so that they can support themselves financially and also prevent transactional sex. 

Youths-friendly corners should be set up to enable adolescent girls to access services freely.

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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