‘EPIDEMIC’ OF TEENAGE PREGNANCIES DURING PANDEMIC IN UGANDA

Sun 12 September 2021:

The increased rates of teenage pregnancies in Uganda, a landlocked East African country, during the COVID-related restrictions has alarmed government authorities and experts.

Over 90,000 girls under the age of 18 have been pregnant during this period when they were not in school, according to education officer Nelson Ayo.

Education Minister Janet Museveni urged parents to guard their daughters. “I will not get tired of reminding you (parents) to always keep an eye on your children so that they do not get pregnant during this lockdown,” she said.

Reports said the phenomenon is not limited to Luuka, alone but has spread across all the 144 districts in the country.

Livingstone Naitema, a retired headmaster, urged the government to reopen schools so that students will get engaged.

“Few girls have been impregnated by fellow students, but the majority ones have been exploited by mature men in the villages especially those who work in sugar plantations,” he said.

Jonana Kandwanaho, who heads the country’s national planning authority, said these pregnancies will become a burden on the nation in the nearby future. He also said that schools should reopen soon to allow children to return to an organized environment to keep them safe.

According to a recent study conducted by Twaweza, a Ugandan NGO that promotes education, at least 80% of Ugandans are concerned about teen pregnancy reaching epidemic proportions amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Samuel Balamaga, the Marie Stopes Uganda youth, and key population manager, said the state of unsafe abortions in Uganda is very high, with 314,000 abortions annually.

“The abortion rate in Uganda is higher than the estimated rate for the East African region as a whole, representative of 34 percent of women aged between 15 and 19 years, while 5,000 deaths occur annually due to unsafe abortions,” he said.

According to the UNICEF database 2020 report, 1.3m girls globally marry before attaining the age of 15 years.

FILE PHOTO

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