Today is World population Day with the theme, Investing in Young people: Key to development. What comes to my mind: Healthy and vibrant young people, especially girls free from sexual violence, early marriages, unwanted pregnancies, early pregnancies, unsafe abortions, free from HIV, free from maternal deaths or disability due to childbirth.
Today is World population Day with the theme (specific to Malawi), Investing in Young people: Key to development. What comes to my mind: Healthy and vibrant young people, especially girls free from sexual violence, early marriages, unwanted pregnancies, early pregnancies, unsafe abortions, free from HIV, free from maternal deaths or disability due to childbirth.Adolescent pregnancies comprise 26% of all births and account for 20% of the high maternal mortality rate. Very young, rural uneducated girls are most at risk of early pregnancy and often suffer from conditions related to their very physiological immaturity such as obstetric fistulae (UNICEF 2010). Early marriage, poverty, lack of knowledge of sexual and reproductive health, early sexual debut and gender inequalities are all cited as contributory factors to the fact that almost a third of adolescent girls will have been pregnant or given birth by the time they are 20 (MDHS 2010). Early marriage, and inevitably early pregnancy, is a huge problem especially in the rural areas, with 50% of women married before they are eighteen and an estimated 10% married before 15.Teenage pregnancy not only potentially affects the teenage mother’s health but can have a serious impact on other aspects of her life. Stigmatization of teenage mothers leads to school dropout and decreased likelihood that they will resume schooling after her baby is born, reducing her chances of economic improvement. The health outcomes for the children of adolescents also tend to be worse, with more deaths of children under 5 than in those born to older mothers (UNICEF, 2010).This breaks my heart.In a statement by Dr. Babatunde, the United Nations Under-Secretary General and UNFPA Executive Director, he said that “Governments and the international community are increasingly conscious of the importance of providing resources and opportunities for all young people to reach their full potential as individuals and citizens”. Thumbs up for that!!According to WHO “Around 1 in 6 persons in the world is an adolescent: that is 1.2 billion people aged 10 to 19.” Even though Most of them are healthy, but there is still significant death, illness and diseases among adolescents. Illnesses can hinder their ability to grow and develop to their full potential. That is why I have to recommend the Malawi government and other stakeholders like UNFPA alongside MamaYe Campaign as they are advocating for policy change and programmes that promote the healthy practices for the youths.Better access to contraceptive information, Laws that specify a minimum age of marriage, Girls who do become pregnant need access to quality antenatal care, better access to HIV testing and counselling are some of the things we can all be part of and to see to it that young people get access to all this because they are the heart of the country’s development. As Dr. Osotimehin said “A sustainable future depends on having resilient populations, which cannot be achieved without investments in young people”.