Young People at ICPD25: ‘ We Have the Right to Sexual and Reproductive Rights ’

ICPD25 Youth delegates: Michele Simon (left) and Botho Mahlunge. Credit: Joyce Chimbi / IPSBy Joyce ChimbiNAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 14 2019 (IPS) Every day in developing countries it is estimated that 20,000 girls under the age of 18 give birth. This amounts to 7.3 million births a year. Complications from pregnancy and childbirth are still the leading cause of death among adolescent girls, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) statistics. Let us be heard Born long after the Cairo Promise, the 18-year-old Michelle Simon and the 19-year-old Botho Mahlunge both youth representatives from Botswana, lament that years later a world where girls can enrol and stay in school is far from the lived reality for millions of adolescents across the globe. “When I was 13 years old I started to see the connection between girls getting pregnant and dropping out of school. “These girls were very bright but when they left school they never returned. I started to talk about preventing these pregnancies at that young age,” Simon tells IPS. Simon says that 25 years after the promise, “it is very sad because those who should be protecting us have failed us. Parents cannot even close the gap between them and their adolescent”. She argues that parents have abdicated their responsibility to the education system and the entire society. “But where is the parent’s responsibility towards adolescent health?” she asks. Simon says that in this era of technology and information,...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Conferences Education Featured Gender Gender Violence Global Headlines Health Human Rights TerraViva United Nations Women's Health ICPD25 Source Type: news