Harare, (New Ziana) – About 21.6 million unintended pregnancies are recorded in East and Southern Africa every year, with a quarter of the region’s population of girls between the ages of 10 to 24 unable to complete secondary school after falling pregnant, according to two United Nations agencies.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said that an estimated 282 million young people aged 10-24 will reside in Eastern and Southern Africa by 2050.
“An estimated 282 million young people aged 10-24 will reside in Eastern and Southern Africa by 2050. The potential of this population could be transformational. Yet currently, only a quarter of these young people complete upper secondary school and a quarter of young women aged 20-24 give birth before their 18th birthday. There are about 21.6 million unintended pregnancies in this region every year,” said the joint statement.
The UN agencies noted that maternal conditions are the leading cause of death among adolescent girls aged between 15 and 19 years globally whilst infants born to adolescent mothers face higher rates of stillbirth. The statement also cited Eastern and Southern Africa as being the epicenters of the HIV crisis, where 76 per cent of new infections among young people aged between 15 and 24 years is acquired by girls.
While still insufficient, the statement said efforts are being made across the region to help young people prevent unintended pregnancy and HIV transmission, and to gain knowledge and agency in their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
“This is crucial because girls who do experience unintended pregnancy face a myriad of interconnected challenges. UNESCO analysis found that among girls who drop out of school because of pregnancy, less than five per cent return, implying early pregnancy marks the end of their education,” said the statement.
The statement said in many countries, including those with favourable laws and policies, adolescent mothers are often forced to leave school until after childbirth or denied the right to return, either by poor school culture, harmful cultural norms, unsupportive families or for more practical reasons like low incomes and childcare burdens.
However, in sub-Saharan Africa, more than six million pregnant and parenting girls (aged 10–19) are out of school, said the statement.
“Dropping out of school increases the chances of girls engaging in risky sexual behaviour, acquiring HIV and other STIs, and quickly becoming pregnant again. The risks to young mothers are wide-ranging, but then so is the potential for transformational change,” said the statement.
The UN agencies said every extra year a girl stays in school increases her future income by 10 per cent, adding that a child of a mother who can read is 50 per cent more likely to live past the age of five.
“Girls who complete secondary education tend to be healthier, earn more, marry later, have fewer children and provide better health care and education for the next generation, mainly because women tend to reinvest 90 per cent of their earnings into their families,” said the two UN agencies.
They said education is one of the most protective and powerful tools that an adolescent girl can utilise to be healthy and do better in life. But too often school environments are unsafe, with discrimination and stigma driving health complications related to pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.
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