Early childbearing, or pregnancy and delivery during adolescence, can derail girls’ otherwise healthy development into adulthood and have negative impacts on their education, livelihoods and health. Early pregnancy is a consequence of little or no access to school, information or health care.
Adolescent pregnancies are a global problem but occur most often in poorer and marginalised communities. Many girls face considerable pressure to marry early and become mothers while they are still a child. Approximately 90% of births to girls aged 15-19 in low- and middle-income countries occur within early marriage where there is often an imbalance of power, no access to contraception and pressure on girls to prove their fertility.
Teenage pregnancy has increased since the outbreak of COVID-19 while girls were denied the right to make decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and well-being, and we are still to see the full impact on the poorest countries and those with fragile health, social welfare, communications and governance systems. COVID-19-related school closures may have inadvertently magnified girls’ barriers to education and sexual and reproductive health vulnerabilities. The hard fought gains in reducing teenage pregnancies are lost to a great extend and the question remain who can we combat teenage pregnancy and protect the most vulnerable girls in and out of pandemics?
In this 1-Day Conference we will discuss and debate the way forward to reduce teenage pregnancy and how to ensure human rights for the most vulnerable by ensuring choices and opportunities in life for better decision making and access to sexual and reproductive health care.
Medicus Mundi Schweiz
Murbacherstrasse 34
CH-4056 Basel
Tel. +41 61 383 18 10
info@medicusmundi.ch
