Orange the World: End Teenage Pregnancies Now.
The 16 Days of Activism are a stretch of time in which we can, as we have always done, advocate against and hope to see an end of violence against women. All violence against women is packaged in its worst of forms. Violence against children and more so against the girl child is not different. It has implications on the future of victims, the future of the nation and the livelihoods. Teenage pregnancies, early and forced marriages and other effects of violence against children are regrettable stamps that indelibly scar the victims, deprive them of opportunities such as an education, decent work, self-esteem and dictates a life far from the victim’s choice not even their opportunity cost.
The COVID-19 pandemic period is a time where this has been exacerbated and has tainted the future of girls with absolute uncertainty. The rate of teenage pregnancies in Uganda currently stands at between 25 - 30 % up from 25% before the pandemic. With over 13 million children out of school due to lockdown, the girl child has been exposed to sexual predators and this has surged child mothers and heightened sexual reproductive rights challenges.
World Vision Uganda hosted the 16 Days of Activism webinar to discuss these challenges and propose policy recommendations for corrective action amongst civil society represented by World Vision’s Uganda Technical Lead Child Protection Helen Grace Namulwana and Betty Achana- Executive Director National Union of Women with Disabilities Uganda (NUWODU). The Government was represented by the Gender Technical Advisor Ministry of Education and Sports Rossette Nanyanzi while the cultural and religious faculty was represented by Rev Richard M Rukundo; a child rights advocate and Youth Mentor. The fight against teenage pregnancies must involve everyone and discussions like these must tap into diverse knowledge Wells.
“We need multi sectoral coordination and multi stakeholder engagement to support teenage mothers and emphasize reporting of cases to end cases of rape and defilement,” said Rossette Nanyanzi. She added that the ministry of health reviewed guidelines that were approved and launched by the First Lady of Uganda Janet K Museveni and is engaging different stakeholders, service providers among others to give support to teenage mothers.
The panelists and participants agreed that COVID-19 and the conditions it has fixated society into have exacerbated teenage pregnancies in Uganda. However, it was evident in the discussion that this challenge has been here long before COVID-19. Nonetheless, more emphasis was put on the status quo and how remedy can be reached. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed parents that the level of parenting was not one well prepared to whip the hell out of the challenges it presents such as teenage pregnancies. Relatable, as Rev Rukundo observed, the young people are not having who to trust because everyone including religious leaders and relatives want to take advantage of them and that this has distanced our hopes for a corrective solution by victims and their immediate domestic authority.
Being out of school means that most children are kept indoors. According to Betty Achana this exposed girls, especially those living with disabilities, to a risk of abuse and heightens the discrimination and stigma such isolation and abuse inflicts on them. More so, the interventions to end teenage pregnancies are not well inclusive to include information sharing using sign language and Braille in addition to the Constitution’s silence on some forms of disability.
Policy recommendations:
The panel proposed that there is need for robust law enforcement in apprehending perpetrators, and solving impunity to crumble the citadels of this sexual predators.
“Everyone talks about children but forgets where they come from. If we have parents who are not responsive to the needs of their children, then a lot of the problems we face will remain,” said Rev Rukundo.
Parents and parenting are important in child growth and parenting. The parents, both mothers and fathers, should step up their role. Parents should be sensitized and stop chasing pregnant girls and child mothers away from home but rather support them and join hands to end the vice.
“If we are to respond to teenage pregnancies, parents must be in the picture because these are our children. We need parent empowerment for proper parenting since parents have left and forgotten their role,” said Rev Rukundo. In addition, everyone is responsible to end teenage pregnancies since all are either victims or relatives of victims, perpetrators or witnesses. This is to include protecting the girl child even when she is away from home to include school by training senior women and teachers to protect the girl child and support the sexual health. This will also be part of the process preparing schools to allow teenage mothers and pregnant girls back to school.
The church should be the center of hope and the pillar of support by being the voice of these young mothers and not paint a picture of them as a burden nor curse. Counseling and using proper language will be important in ensuring that these girls feel accepted and ease the rehabilitation process.
To address the plight of girls with disabilities, Betty Achana proposed that the constitution of Uganda should recognize all forms of disability as a first step to facilitate the inclusiveness of interventions. Furthermore, every person, department and community need to make issues of persons with disabilities important so as to facilitate them to have their lives in their hands.
Ending teenage pregnancy is one of the most effective ways of reducing child poverty, instating sanity, ensuring gender equity and optimizing the benefits of emancipation as a result of breaking barriers to access of opportunities by the girl child such as education and living a dignified life.
By Onesmus Kansiime
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