Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkandu Luo says teenage pregnancies and early childhood marriages have now reached alarming and crisis levels.
Professor Luo said there is therefore need for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to combat the scourge in order to safeguard the future of the girl child.
She said the scourge has had devastating impact on the welfare of young girls as it was a major contributing factor to the huge number of girls dropping out of school.
Prof. Luo said the situation has ultimately sparked high poverty levels and HIV prevalence among young girls in the country.
ZANIS reports that the Minister was speaking during a media breakfast meeting organised by the Southern African Aids Trust (SAT) at Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka today ahead of the Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights
(ASRHR) and HIV in Africa Symposium to be held on 7-10 December this year.
Prof. Luo also called on stakeholders to invest in programmes aimed at raising the welfare of the girl child in an effort to address the negative impact that teenage pregnancies and early marriages has had on the development of the girl child.
She stressed that the country will not achieve anything if issues affecting young girl children are not put in perspective.
Prof. Luo also called on parents and guardians to work out measures to give self-esteem to their girl children for them to break the traditional mirth that makes them apologetic and look at themselves as second class citizens.
She said such attitudes caused girls to look down on themselves and lead them to fall prey to teenage regnancies and early marriages.
The Minister said government is very worried about the rising numbers of teenage pregnancies and early marriages and will spare no effort to see the scourge is abated in the country.
And United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Coordinator Mary Otieno pledged her organisations’ commitment to continue funding programmes that will help address challenges facing the youth in the Zambia.
Dr. Otieno said Zambia cannot achieve many of the Millennium Development Goals targeted at the youths without investing heavily in programmes for the young people.
Meanwhile, an Adolescent Besta Namwila noted that cultural norms that forbid young people to talk openly about sex with their parents are to blame for the high levels of teenage pregnancies and early marriages in the country.
She said parents and their children need to engage in open dialogue on reproductive health if young people are to be spared of the scourge of teenage pregnancies and the HIV pandemic.
Education and Poverty are the reasons nothing else Ms Luo
You should know that
The question is how do you eradicate that
Thanks
It’s luck of sex education iwe chikamba! Where did you learn that education causes teenage pregnancies and early marriages? Ubukopo!!
My calculations show that Eastern Province alone contributes 97% to the shameful statistics. Zambia is always at the short end of every negative assumption thanks to these creatures from the east.
But these young gilrs like SEX TOO much….!!!
Its not even poverty, they lack ‘early’ guidance, how can u go to a girl of 17yrs old to try to guide her, ITS TOO LATE by tht time.
Like your mother, thats why you were born!
Parentsmarry off t their young daughters to 30- 40- and even 50-year-old men, for money, because everyone’s so poor here. It’s poverty that’s driving all of this.
Parents marry off their young daughters to 30- 40- and even 50-year-old men, for money, because everyone’s so poor here. It’s poverty that’s driving all of this.
This is a big challenge for the nation , the church should respond to teenage pregnancy and find a ways of stopping or reducing it.
See my book on Amazon maybe it can help Title: The Church Response Toward Teenage Pregnancy -By Edward Mwansa
Hypocrites!!! The church elders and choirmasters are the ones that like “spring chickens”. Many Zambian girls are sexually abused at Church. When the girls get pregnant, the church elders move to another area.
The church is the reason i have a bastard child!!
When I advise fathers that their daughters should go to school, they often tell me, “Who do you think you are, telling me what to do with my daughter?” It is difficult to change people’s mentality. Child marriage hits close to home, to people’s personal lives.
ba luo ububi she must be a nyamulenge this woman i dont think she is zambian
we really require education on this issue becuase our young girls are not physically and mentally ready to handle the pregnacy we need to engage all stakeholders.remember there alot of complications during after delivery.its is a cost to the nation becuase alot resources will be spent.we need a youth which can make a difference