A SURVEY has revealed that the economic meltdown affecting Zimbabwe has triggered a sharp increase in child and teenage pregnancies countrywide.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), in conjunction with the government, recently completed a survey on the prevalence of teenage pregnancies in the country.
The report is expected to be published soon and will proffer solutions to address the problem.
When Unicef resident representative Tajudeen Oyewale met the Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda in Harare last week, he reflected on the progress made in addressing children’s issues during the tenure of the 9th Parliament.
“The speaker did highlight two issues that he would want the UN and Unicef to do more on. Firstly, is adolescent pregnancy; you will agree with me that the rate of adolescent pregnancy after COVID-19 is of concern to us in Zimbabwe,” he said.
“I am pleased to say that the UN and the ministries of Health and Education have completed a survey on teenage pregnancy and we will be releasing that report soon and that will be the opening to different actions that will be taken to address this issue.”
The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 resulted in the implementation of lockdowns which also resulted in school closures which observers blamed for the rise in teenage pregnancies.
“The second issue raised is the surge in drugs and substance abuse, which is coming to destroy the future generation of this country like any other country. As Unicef, we have just completed a desk review of the drivers of drugs and substance abuse in the country and just last week we worked with the Ministry of Public Service to put together a national plan to respond to this.
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“It is our commitment to ensure that we make an investment in those two areas for adolescents’ pregnancy response, but also prevention of substance and drug abuse prevention and response because these are really delicate issues that are threatening to erode the progress made for children and young people,” Oyewale added.
A child rights group, Zvandiri, revealed early this year that 95% of teenage pregnancies were unintended and attributed to poverty.
The Family Aids Caring Trust also revealed that Zimbabwe witnessed a major surge in child pregnancies between 2020 and 2022.
