According to official statistics, 98,347 teenagers gave birth in the last four years in Rwanda, with many dropping out of school to become mothers. In 2016, the number of teenage births recorded were 17,849. In 2017, it reduced to 17,337 teenage births, however these numbers of teenage pregnancies have been on the rise since 2018, despite the government’s efforts to empower and support the girl child. With the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant measures to contain it, chances are high that numbers are increasing even faster than before. The pandemic has instilled changes that have exposed girls and women in particular. In April 2020, just months into the pandemic, the UN declared gender-based violence and human rights violations shadow pandemics, referring to the global increase in these issues amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Poverty, family conflict, emotional frustration from lockdowns and interrupted school schedules have all exposed vulnerable women and girls to both unplanned sex and sexual abuse. Over the last few years, the government of Rwanda and other institutions have established facilities and conducted awareness campaigns about major ways to curb teenage pregnancies—these include forming and reforming laws and policies that keep perpetrators convicted of rape and defilement accountable and give rights to girls and women. They also include awareness campaigns, centers such as the Isange One Stop Center and youth corners, where girls and youth can access information and services about SRHR (sexual and reproductive health and rights) services and products as easily as possible. However, much as such strategies have been interrupted, teenage pregnancy is a battle that doesnt seem to have a foreseeable end. Tens of thousands of girls across the country still have limited access to SRHR information and services and have no idea of the facilities initiated just for them. There is no firm approach that works for all gender-based violence issues. Awareness has to go along with infrastructure and facilities in place and behavioral and cultural change. Young girls should be educated about their rights, given unlimited access to SRHR services and information and facilities to support them. In light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, concerned players should start identifying what barriers have risen over the last few years. Efforts, campaigns and facilities have been initiated and it is time to identify what worked, and what didn’t; identifying what went wrong and why. From there, we will know how to navigate through the aftermath of the pandemic. From the experience of listening to the stories of teen mothers, as much as access to SRHR services and facilities are needed, information and awareness also plays a huge role in making other approaches effective. Teenage pregnancy does not only affect the mothers, but also their children, families and communities. Premature mothers may be robbed of the opportunity to be the empowered women of the future and their children may face numerous risks, such as low birth weight, health problems associated with poor perinatal outcomes, greater risk of socio-emotional problems, and greater probability of giving birth at an early age as well. These teenage pregnancy cases are not only numbers; they have faces and stories attached to them, and a history that shapes the nation. It is high time that teenage pregnancy is seen as an urgent issue with strategies and plans that work. The writer is the adolescents SRHR officer, HDI (Health Development Initiative)
