MARTHA MAMOMBE
The teenage pregnancy rate in Zimbabwe is worrying, raising public health concern.
Some of the perceived determinants of teenage pregnancies include lack of knowledge of avoiding pregnancy, low acceptance or use of contraceptives, peer pressure and lack of community responsibility, among many.
Teenage mothers are now pleading with authorities to make condoms and other contraceptives easily accessible for sexually active boys and girls across the country.
There has been growing debate and divergence of opinions over whether to allow children under the age of 18 to freely access family planning methods.
During a visit to the dormitory town of Epworth just outside Harare, 17 year-old teenage mother, Natasha Kadiramwando, revealed that many young people within their scope are sexually active and the risk of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases is imminent.
“Teenagers in schools should be given condoms and contraceptive pills. I say this because I had an early sexual debut. Here in Epworth many girls even as young as nine are having sex with older men and get 50 cents in return. It’s a sad situation,” Kadiramwando told Business Times.
Conservative religious and traditional groups believe the idea is too Western and erodes African beliefs where sex is a taboo to discuss outside the sanctity of marriage.
Others believe that the time is ripe to introduce contraceptives for young people to curb the alarming burden of child-headed families.
Earlier this year, Zimbabwean media consumers woke up to news that over 5 000 young girls had fallen pregnant over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The majority of teenage pregnancies/ marriages in Zimbabwe are reported in low income and rural communities.
Experts argue the risk of generational poverty is even more heightened when young girls are not able to complete basic education, let alone advance educational qualifications.
The chances of finding decent paying work are slim and chances of their offspring attaining even better educational levels are grim.
Another teenage mother, Faith Sibanda (17), who spoke to Business Times, emotionally detailed her struggles.
“Sometimes we go to bed on empty stomachs because my husband and I both don’t have any jobs. I just breastfeed my child and go to sleep. I do people’s laundry for a bucket of maize or a bar of soap.
People in this community also struggle. It’s very rare that you get money for a day’s work,” she said.
Studies have shown that no country has been able to evade extreme poverty where women and girls are not afforded the right to choose when to have children.
The impact of unplanned pregnancies on working and non-working women has far reaching consequences on their economic means, because of maternity leave and periods women take from work to care for their children meaning they fall behind their male counterparts in social and economic ways.
The World Health Organisation information on sexual and reproductive health describes contraceptive methods for women and couples as “essential to securing the well-being and autonomy of women, while supporting the health and development of communities.”
“When I began having sex, many of my friends were doing it too. We were so young. We never used condoms and we never got tested for HIV until I fell pregnant. I wish someone had told us about safe sex, many of the young mothers in my community would not have fallen pregnant and become mothers and wives at 16,” said a frail-looking Sipiwe Mundirwa.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, an estimated 4.6m learners in Zimbabwe were adversely affected by school closures since the start of Covid-19, putting centuries of old learning methods into limbo.
While digital tools such as the Learning Passport have helped over 80 000 primary and secondary school learners access Zimbabwe’s school curriculum subjects and exercises, millions of children from low income families cannot afford electronic devices nor the internet data needed for online classes.
The Learning Passport is an Education Ministry, UNICEF and Microsoft initiative.
While the future of education delivery remains unclear, the debate between what is socially acceptable and what is scientifically proven to address underage pregnancies in Zimbabwe is open for discussion.
