Plan International Eastern regional manager Richard Kalyata has said that statistics for teen pregnancies in the Eastern Province are still very alarming with Chadiza recording 1,020 from January to October 2019.
Speaking at the event to mark the girl child which fell yesterday, Kalyata said Plan International would continue cooperating with the government in the fight against early marriages and teen pregnancies to ensure the girl child excel in life.
“When you look at the statistics of teenage pregnancies, which are coming out, the other time I remember we had statistics for Chipata, they were quite alarming. Currently, we have statistics for Chadiza district. In 2015 we had 468 girls who fell pregnant, in 2016 we had 336, in 2017 we had 336 then in 2018 the number grew to 1,601. You can imagine from 336 to 1,601. This year from January to October we have already recorded 1,020 teen pregnancies and these statistics are coming from Ministry of Health,” he said.
Kalyata said the figures were coming from the communities and not schools.
“It’s like there is a lot of awareness to the school going girls but we have neglected those girls who are not in school, meaning that there is a gap which has been created and needs to be addressed by us stakeholders so that those girls in the community are also able to get the message on issues of sexuality and be able to change the way they look at things,” he said.
Kalyata said the international day was being commemorated under the theme ‘empowering a girl for a brighter tomorrow’.
“When a girl is educated, her future is brighter, no wonder they say when you educate a girl you educate the nation. We are happy that Mitchell has taken over the office of the mayor today and this is going to inspire her. If she will continue working hard. one day she is going to become a mayor. As Plan International, we are working with government, traditional leaders and other stakeholders to ensure we empower the girl children,” he said.
Easterners that’s all you do stealing and sex.
This is a serious matter that no one should trivialize. We hv young lives being ruined because of failure to provide for them. Somehow someone thinks if u declare Vubwi a district u kick start development. Yes, there will be sinecures for the politically-connected as they get appointed as DCs , get a govt vehicle , a mobile phone, a house etc to help organise the governing party. And presto, that’s “development “.
Why embarrass those girls in the picture?
Exactly why embarrass the team age kids and where are the asholes responsible for all the pregnancies.
When there is poverty and no jobs, nothing tangible government is spearheading, sex is the only consolation.
What you expect in lungus backyard and pfs stronghold.
Education gives hope for the future and the next generation. Sex education for teenagers should incorporate how not to get pregnant. Prevention has got to be high on the agenda. Poverty breeds more poverty. It’s a vicious cycle.
Sounds like the government needs to build new schools in the area so every child has the opportunity to go to school.
It is about 100 girls in a month, that is about 3 girls every day
Record early pregnancies are another poverty trap- another dubious distinction for Lungu.
The problem is sexual education.Traditionally,we are conservative to discussing sexual matters openly.Parents used to and/or still consinder discussing sex with their children as a taboo but no parent shouts taboo when these teenage girls fall pregnant( and boys alike)for indulging in premarital or underage sex.
However,this problem is not only perculiar to Zambia or indeed developing countries.In the US,in all but two states (i.e Delaware and New Jersey,which since 2018 have not had ” exceptional circumstances” that permit underage marriages),couples ranging from 14 to 17 are allowed to marry at a younger age with parental consent or with judicial authorisation with the minimum marriage age,when all exemptions are taken into account,while in 13 states,there is no statutotory minimum…
while in 13 states,there is no statutory minimum age when all exemptiobs are taken into account.
This has alot to do with irresponsible parenting where and irresponsible children! If parents are not monitoring movements and associations of their children and talking them out of early sex activities it leads to this.If children find sex is a good pass time instead of other progessive things it leads to this. Even if the population has grown,the rate of child pregnancies on average is much higher than in the past when knowledge about reproductive health was very low and preventive means like condoms where not easily available – BUT MORALITY THROUGH ABSITENANCY WAS VERY HIGH!!
Is it early marriages or early pregnancies? In earlier customaries the former would be more encouraged than the later primarily to stem the poverty tides. Today we’ve education reentry policy which tends to promote pregnancy rates. This is serious