A three-week programme on sexual reproductive health and the fight against early pregnancies was concluded on Saturday, August 21. The campaign dubbed ‘Mu Mizi Operation’ had a target to engage the youth during the holidays and was attended by 18,646 youth. The campaign targets youth aged from 14 years old to 30 years old since they are considered to be the most at-risk. The beneficiaries who spoke to The New Times said that they have learnt a lot within the past three weeks and they can’t wait to get back to school and share the knowledge with their colleagues from other districts and the rest of the country in general. Esther Uwase a 14-year- old student at St Andre high school said that she is now aware of various tactics used by the people who impregnate teenagers. Through this campaign, she said, she got aware of fighting teen pregnancies. Uwase’s message to young females is to keep on fighting against early and teen pregnancies. Jocelyne Uwimbabazi is a teen mother who was reached out to during the campaign said it has helped her to share with other girls her experience and journey of her early pregnancy. According to Uwimbabazi this also helped her to overcome her loneliness. The campaign was organised at a time when teen pregnancies have been rising in the country, and which has been exacerbated by Covid-19 pandemic for the past one and half years when students were out of school. In Gasabo District, some 23 students dropped out of school last year due to early pregnancies. Last year, 19,701 teenage girls from all over the country gave birth between January and December 2020 according to statistics from the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF). Chantal Uwamariya, a mentor who has been with youth during the past three weeks, told The New Times that this was an opportunity to teach the young people to fight against teen pregnancies and other related topics. She added that they have cases where there are other youths who joined in the mid of the campaign thanks to the awareness. According to Regis Mudaheranwa, the Deputy District Executive Administration of Gasabo District,the campaign was carried out by encouraging the youth to stay home during the pandemic and raising more awareness about fighting against early pregnancies. He added that officials believe they have achieved their target of educating more youth and they are waiting for them to implement what they have been given during the operation. The district has over 395,000 people under 30 while those between 16 and 30 years of age are 164,640. Out of this population, 27,000 are in high school. Nadine Gatsinzi Umutoni, the Vice Mayor in Charge of Socio-Economic Affairs at Kigali City told the youth to share the knowledge gained from the campaign.
