4,300 teenage pregnancies reported in 4 months

 At least 4,300 teenage pregnancies were registered in the first four months of the Covid-19 lockdown by the ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

The State minister for  Youth and Children Affairs, Ms  Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi, told Sunday Monitor  yesterday that the  high cases registered in  March, April, May and June are worrying. 

“These are the few reported cases, as government we condemn all the acts of defilement and child abuse. It’s also true that the responsibility of child care and upbringing for those below the age of 18 is primarily on parents,” Minister Nakiwala said.

She said the government cannot reach every household but parents should follow parenting guideline, which stipulates that any child  at home is under the care of adults except for the few child headed  homes.

“It is very unfortunate because whenever there is a case of  defilement, there is an adult  and in most cases a male. This means the parents have been negligent. They were told to stay home and stay safe so what happened to their children?” she asked.

Ms Nakiwala revealed that  they have introduced a   mobile platform dubbed safe-pal that will be used by victims to report and also provide evidence when sexually offended.

“We came up with this programme  because victims have been facing challenges such as  getting transport to police  stations and accessing justice,” she said 

Human rights activist under their umbrella of  Children at risk Action Network (CRANE) revealed that during the lockdown they handled  more than 400 teenage pregnancies from 12 districts.

Ms Faith Kembabazi, an officer with Crane,  said adolescent pregnancy predisposes young girls to adverse mental health  with depression and anxiety being the most common.

“In order to improve the behavioural and environmental outcomes for teenage mothers, it is imperative that certain key intervention which include; community sensitisation, family reconciliation, creation of teenage mother’s support groups, counselling and advocacy be provided to them,” Ms Kembabazi said 
She  added  that such interventions help teenage mothers cope with stigma and motherhood, and be able to continue with their studies.

“Unfortunately, there are few centres that provide this support and care for teenage children. Teenage girls of 10 to 19 years are twice more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth compared to the women in their 20s,” she said 

Ms Barbara Nankya from Sanyu Babies Home said  due to increasing teenage pregnancy,  the  number of abandoned babies at the centre also has increased. 
“At first we thought the country was under lockdown and people were taking care of their families but it is not true, instead the number abandoned babies went on the rise,” Ms Nankya said. 

She said in the last three months, they have received  30 new babies yet their centre  capacity is 50 babies annually.