Various international and regional social, health and child organisations are meeting in Sandton, Johannesburg, to develop a regional campaign aimed at reducing the number of early and unintended pregnancies in Southern Africa.
The two-day gathering, which got under way on Monday heard that there were 21-million teenage pregnancies in 2016 in Africa, and about 45% of them were not planned.
These were girls between the ages of 15 and 19.
The organisations represented include: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Save the Children and Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAf-AIDS).
Executive Director of SAf-AIDS Lois Chingandu says, “Do we have the right policies that create an environment in which young people can access family planning services for example? Or within a school are we giving enough information so that young people can make informed decisions about pregnancies? We do find that even though in some schools teachers are normally reluctant to actually talk about sex and family planning, and these are the things we’re hoping the campaign can drive.”
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