Adolescent Pregnancy in Indonesia: A Literature Review

The theme of World Population Day 2013 is “Adolescent Pregnancy”. Globally, it is estimated that 16 million girls aged 15-19 give birth each year (World Health Organization 2011). As part of UNFPA’s review of this theme, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director has highlighted that adolescent pregnancy is not simply a health issue because it is deeply rooted in fundamental rights concerns such as poverty, gender inequality, violence, child, forced marriage, power imbalances between girls and their partners, lack of education, and the failure of systems and institutions that otherwise should be protecting their rights. It is also clear that adolescent pregnancy is barrier to achieving effective development outcomes. Ultimately, the cost of adolescent pregnancy is lost potential, both for the girls and their communities. Pregnancy in young women often means they must give up goals of finishing secondary school and therefore the opportunities that would have otherwise been available to them.