Yogyakarta, 8 November 2013 – Each year, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) works together with local governments around the world to produce the State of World Population (SWOP) report on a different theme based on population-related issues that arise during the reporting period. This year’s SWOP report carries the theme “Motherhood in Childhood: Facing the Challenge of Adolescent Pregnancy” and will be officially launched by UNFPA today in Yogyakarta.
Adolescents make up about 18 percent of the world’s population. Eighty-eight percent of them live in developing countries. About half (49 percent) of the world’s adolescent girls live in just six countries – China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and the United States. Every day, 20,000 girls below age 18 give birth in developing countries. Girls under 15 account for 2 million of the annual total of 7.3 million new adolescent mothers; if current trends continue, the number of births to girls under 15 could rise to 3 million a year in 2030.
Impoverished, poorly-educated and rural girls are more likely to become pregnant than their wealthier, more urban, and more educated counterparts. Girls from ethnic minorities or marginalized groups, and those who have limited access to sexual and reproductive health services and information, are also at greater risk.
“Adolescent pregnancy has very serious impacts on young girls’ education, health and long-term employment,” says Jose Ferraris, UNFPA Representative in Indonesia. “The only way that we can ensure that the girls can have a healthy and safe transition into adulthood is by working in partnerships, across sectors, and in collaboration with girls and young women themselves, their families and their communities, including boys and young men.”
The SWOP report is being launched in Indonesia in collaboration with the Regional Government of Yogyakarta, National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN), and Indonesian Family Planning Association (PKBI). Policy makers from both central and local governments, politicians, religious leaders, non-governmental organizations, and youth representatives will attend the launch event.
“The government of Yogyakarta is honored by the selection of Yogyakarta as the city where UNFPA chose to launch the SWOP 2013 report in Indonesia,” says Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, Governor of Yogyakarta Special Region. “But this also means that we have to put extra efforts and take the lead in tackling the issue of adolescent pregnancy in Indonesia, especially in the Yogyakarta Special Region.”
The SWOP report shows that girls who remain in school longer are less likely to become pregnant. Education prepares girls for future jobs and livelihoods, raises their self-esteem and status, and gives them more say in decisions affecting their lives. Education also reduces the likelihood of child marriage and delays child bearing, eventually leading to healthier birth outcomes.
“We need to help girls get adequate and better education because it is one of the most effective ways of delaying marriage and pregnancy until adulthood,” adds Fasli Jalal, Chairman of BKKBN. “We also need to tear down the social, economic and geographic barriers to girls’ access to information and services to enable her in making own choices to prevent pregnancy.”
As a follow-up activity of today’s launch of the SWOP report, UNFPA, the Regional Government of Yogyakarta, BKKBN, and PKBI, along with the National Committee of Indonesian Youth (KNPI) are organizing a large youth gathering to discuss the issue of adolescent pregnancy. The gathering, involving hundreds of high-school students from 5 different districts in the Yogyakarta Special Region, will be held this coming Sunday (10 November 2013) in Yogyakarta.
“The youth gathering is the type of inter-organizational activity that can really benefit teens in gaining information about adolescent pregnancy and how to tackle it,” says Mr. Inang Winarso of PKBI. “Hopefully, this is only the first of many more activities that will be organized to prevent adolescent pregnancy in Indonesia and empower girls and young women.”
Adolescent pregnancy is often a symptom of powerlessness, poverty, or abuse and the result of little or no access to school, employment and quality information and health care. When a girl becomes pregnant, her present and future will change drastically and usually not for the better. Additionally, the SWOP report also notes that when a girl’s education ends prematurely, her job prospects evaporate while her vulnerabilities to poverty, health problems, social exclusion and dependency multiply.
UNFPA strives to uphold every girl’s right to grow up unencumbered by gender inequality and discrimination, violence, child marriage and pregnancy so they may make a safe, healthy and successful transition from adolescence into adulthood. Childhood must never be derailed by motherhood. With the report reflecting the findings and efforts of the UNFPA and its partners regarding adolescent pregnancy, UNFPA hopes that the global community will focus on delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted every child birth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.
For more information, please contact Mr. Samidjo – National Programme Officer for Advocacy, UNFPA Indonesia (Samidjo@unfpa.org or mobile +628121068328).
Tags: reproductive health
