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Adolescent summit to address teen pregnancy

The National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) and the Johns Hopkins’ Center for Communication Programs (JHUCCP) Indonesia are set to organize the National Adolescents Summit at the Hyatt Hotel Yogyakarta from March 21 to 23

Rita Widiadana (The Jakarta Post)
Yogyakarta
Tue, March 21, 2017

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Adolescent summit to address teen pregnancy

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he National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) and the Johns Hopkins’ Center for Communication Programs (JHUCCP) Indonesia are set to organize the National Adolescents Summit at the Hyatt Hotel Yogyakarta from March 21 to 23.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are among the stakeholders that will coorganize the three-day national summit.

Scheduled to open on Tuesday evening, the event will bring together academics, experts, international agencies, civil society groups and hundreds of young people from across Indonesia to comprehensively discuss ways to enhance access to quality information on reproductive health for adolescents in a bid to curb teen pregnancy and birth rates among adolescents.

A number of influential figures, including Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Dr. Chandra-Mouli from the WHO, are listed as speakers in the first ever National Adolescents Summit.

“The meeting aims to invite all parties to join hands in implementing adolescent programs,” said Fitri Putjuk, one of the executives of the organizing committee. “Currently, there are so many programs for youth but they are implemented separately by different parties, each with its own target.”

Putjuk, who is also the country representative for JHUCCP, said the outcome of the summit was expected to be a comprehensive program involving all stakeholders, including the government, donor agencies, UN agencies, civil society organizations and adolescent groups.

According to the Population Census, Indonesia currently has 45.8 million adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years, or 17.9 percent of the total population in 2015. In 2010, the figure was 43.5 million, or 18.3 percent.

Data from the Long-Medium Term National Development (RPJM) Survey indicates that access for adolescents to reproductive health information is still low, with no significant improvement between the years 2002-2015. Furthermore, less than 50 percent of adolescents receive information regarding pregnancy and birth issues, such as Family Planning, pregnancy prevention and contraception.

The data also says that adolescents are increasingly permissive in their sexual behavior. In 2015, around 5 percent of unmarried adolescents had had sexual intercourse. About 0.1 to 0.4 percent of boys and girls had their first experience of sexual intercourse when they were 15-17 years old.

Gama Triono, executive director of the Indonesian Planned Parenthood Association (PKBI) Yogyakarta, expects that the summit will result in a concerted effort that will ultimately help adolescents reach their full potential as Indonesia’s future leaders.

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