Activists operating under different civil society organisations want the government to revive the conversation regarding lowering the legal age to access contraceptive methods from 18 to 15 years, The New Times can reveal.

While this conversation has been ongoing for years, it was first given its first official nod in November 2018 when Prime Minister Eduoard Ngirente told members of the Senate that the government was reviewing a law that would help teenagers get easier access to family planning methods.

At the time, Ngirente said that the government was cognisant of the limits that the current law puts on teenagers blaming it for the surge in the number of teenage pregnancies in the country.

Article 7 of the law relating to human reproductive health provides that every person having attained the maturity age has the right to decide for oneself in relation to human reproductive health issues. 

However, the maturity age is 18 years. Anyone below that age is considered a minor.

It also states that a health professional who intends to provide healthcare services to a minor or an incapable person must endeavour to inform his/her parents or guardian and obtain their prior consent. 

But a draft Bill seen by The New Times seeks to modify the law establishing medical professional liability insurance giving teenagers aged 15 and above the right to seek family planning methods without any restrictions.

The activists want the government to come back to the table to discuss the idea to lower the age, arguing that this will go a long way in controlling the rising teenage pregnancies.

According to official statistics, by February this year, 78,000 teenage pregnancies had been registered, spanning a period of four years.

Last year, President Paul Kagame called for more conversation on the issue among all stakeholders.

At the time, Kagame said that he was not particularly sure if providing access to contraceptives would solve the problem, but instead, he feared that it could have psychological consequences.

"I think it will instead affect these teens psychologically; they will take it as if they are being given the go ahead, now that they’ll be having something to protect them. I don’t think this is a good message. We should fight teenage pregnancy, by first agreeing that it’s a problem. And work on reducing it to the minimum as we also hold the people involved accountable,” he added.

Since then, activists say that the conversation has stalled.

The Executive Director of the Health Development Initiative (HDI); Dr. Aflodis Kagaba told The New Times that the stalling in the conversation has not stopped his institution from its agenda to ensure that teenagers as young as 15 have easy access to contraceptives.

He said that to support this, HDI will be sharing a new policy brief that makes the case for the teens.

"We have not stopped. We are still pushing and soon, we will share with the stakeholders and continue to push. We should accept the reality of today's teenager,” he said.

Kagaba says that besides activists, a review by the Child Rights Convention and the African Experts Committee of the Rights of the Child this year recommended to the government to lift the restrictions imposed on the access to contraceptives by teens.

The Executive Director of SPECTRA, a young feminism organisation; Chantal Umuhoza says that while there is need for all concerned parties to come back to the conversation, the work to push for the change in the law continues.

"We as activists still use the platforms that we have like social media to discuss this matter. I was on the panel to discuss the anniversary of the Maputo Protocol and I raised this. We can’t continue to only imprison people who make these young girls pregnant. We need a sustainable solution,” she said.

The Director of a youth organisation called Save Generations Organization; Yvette Nyinawumuntu told The New Times in an interview that they have currently shifted their focus to raising awareness about Sexual and Reproductive Health Services (SRHS) within the communities as the first step.

Nyinawumuntu says that the teens will need to be equipped with the necessary information before they can access the service when the time comes.

"If they don’t have information or even understand why they need these services, they won’t be able to fight for the right of access. It’s time to help adolescents and young people to know what they want. Our duty is to coordinate their voices and talk on their behalf,” she said.

Save Generations Organization was working with schools within Gasabo and Kamonyi districts before the outbreak of Covid 19 but has since shifted its campaigns to radio.

It has also loaded a phone app with all the necessary information.

By the time schools closed, Save Generations Organization had 2,240 direct beneficiaries but their ‘Take One, Reach One’ approach where one person brings another two, the organisations reach is estimated to be much bigger.

For Francisca Mujawase is a statistician who specialised in Statistics of Social Protection, based on experiences and best practices from other countries, the best immediate solution would be availing and ensuring access to contraceptive services.

"Whether you like it or not, and regardless of the effort that you put in abstinence, teenagers will still have sex. When I do these studies and I find out that, for example, one district has teen mothers that are above the population growth rate, then it is a problem,” she said.

Disagreements among civil society

In a telephone interview with The New Times, the Spokesman of the Rwanda Civil Society Platform, Dr. Joseph Ryarasa Nkurunziza said that last year, organisations under the platform held a policy dialogue and discussed among other issues, the provision of access to contraceptives to teenagers.

However, Nkurunziza pointed out that the issue of lowering the age from 18 to 15 has been contentious among the civil society themselves and to-date, all concerned parties do not have one voice on the issue. 

"There are still those who are conservative and religious and we are yet to have one voice on it because people have different beliefs and traditions. However, the platform entertains all views so individual organisations have continued to push for their agenda with line ministries,” he said.

According to official statistics, 17,849 underage girls were impregnated in 2016.

The number slightly eased to 17, 337 in 2017 before jumping to 19,832 in 2018.

From January to August last year, teen pregnancies increased to 15,696, which translates to an average of 1,962 a month. Based on this, an estimated 23, 544 children were born to teen mothers in 2019. 

When contacted by The New Times on where the government stands today in terms of continuing the conversation, the Head of the Rwanda Health Communication Center; Malick Kayumba said that consultations continue.

"We are still consulting different institutions concerned to gather more views to make sure we come up with the best solution for our population,” he said.

Efforts to get a comment from the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion were fruitless.