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7.3 million adolescent girls in developing countries give birth every year: UNFPA
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said in its 2013 World Population Report titled âMotherhood in Childhood, Facing the Challenge of Adolescent Pregnancyâ that every year, around 7
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he United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said in its 2013 World Population Report titled 'Motherhood in Childhood, Facing the Challenge of Adolescent Pregnancy' that every year, around 7.3 million girls under 18 years of age in developing countries give birth.
'UNFPA's focus on adolescent pregnancies this year highlights that this is not just a health issue, but also a development and human rights issue,' said UNFPA Indonesia representative Jose Ferraris in his remarks during the report launch in Yogyakarta on Friday.
He explained that adolescent pregnancy was most often not the result of a deliberate choice, but rather the absence of choices and due to circumstances beyond a girl's control.
'It is a consequence of little or no access to school, employment, quality information and health care,' Ferraris said.
In the report, UNFPA also said that adolescent girls between the ages of 15 and 19 accounted for as many as 3.2 million unsafe abortions in developing countries annually.
Citing UN's 2010 World Population Prospects, Ferraris said that in Indonesia, 1.7 million women and girls under the age of 24 gave birth every year.
'Nearly half a million are teenagers. Young people account for 37 percent of all births in Indonesia annually,' said Ferraris.
He said UNFPA's approach to addressing adolescent pregnancy focused on upholding the rights of every girl and empowering her to exercise her rights.
'We also seek to eliminate conditions that contribute to adolescent pregnancy, such as societal and community conditions, norms, values and structural forces that result in gender inequality, poverty, child marriage and negative attitudes towards sexual and reproductive health and rights.' (ebf)
