Teenage Pregnancies In Uganda
Girl child Activists have called on the government to provide opportunities for sensitization of teenage girls to avoid a further rise in pregnancies.
Following the lockdown on institutions of learning in March 2020, schools have never fully resumed operations and this has left many teenage girls as prey to boys and men in their communities.
Recent statistics show that the northern, eastern, and central districts of Uganda have been hit hardest with cases of teenage pregnancies resulting from early marriages, rape, or defilement.
According to statistics gathered by the Daily Monitor newspaper, Luweero Hospital alone recorded at least 1,388 teenage pregnancies between June 2020 and June 2021.
Kitgum Diocese registered 3,430 teenage pregnancies between March and October 2020. In Kabale District, 1,014 teenage pregnancies were recorded between January and September 2020, in Budaka, teenage pregnancy stood at 24.7 percent.
Statistics from Gulu City and district probation departments indicate that up to 4,477 cases of teenage pregnancies have been registered within a period of eighteen months alone.
Teenage Pregnancies In Uganda
These cases were registered between January 2020 and June 2021.
In 2020, Gulu City registered 1,768 cases of teenage pregnancies and another 922 cases this year.
Gulu district registered 1,165 in 2020 and another 629 cases in January and June 2021
Brenda Aromorach, the Gulu District Field Officer for Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) says early pregnancies do not only endanger the health of the girl but also subject them to poverty.
Evelyn Lanyero, a child rights activist in Gulu City says; ”Encourage capacity building , by training teachers who will in turn impact girls with knowledge. teaching them practical skills like tailoring, making liquid soap will make the girl child abstain, or alternatively, encourage them to always abstain from sex until they are married,”
