Prevent Adolescent Pregnancies, Invest in Comprehensive Sexual Education
In Zimbabwe, many adolescent girls are giving birth at an age when they are not ready for a child. It impacts their health and future.
Prevent Adolescent Pregnancies
Adolescent pregnancies continue to be widespread in Zimbabwe. Recent research - including the National Assessment of Adolescent Pregnancies in Zimbabwe published in 2023 - indicates that more than one out of five adolescent girls give birth before the age of nineteen.
Adolescent pregnancies have a devastating impact on girls, with many not surviving their pregnancies. In Zimbabwe, one-fourth of maternal deaths occur among adolescents and women below 24. For adolescent girls who survive, early pregnancy disrupts their adolescence, forcing them to give birth and care for a baby when they are neither mentally nor physically prepared. This often leads to school dropouts, preventing girls from developing their full potential and acquiring the necessary skills to enter the labour force. Consequently, early pregnancies push adolescent girls further into poverty and deprive them of their right to a better future.
Most adolescent pregnancies are unintended, reflecting limited knowledge about conception and pregnancy prevention among adolescents. In Zimbabwe, around 75% of adolescent girls' first sexual encounters are with a boyfriend. One in three girls report being forced into sex during their first sexual experience.
The prevailing economic recession in Zimbabwe, which led to poverty, unemployment, depletion of family savings, falling prices of their farm produce and migration of parents and caregivers, are critical drivers of adolescent pregnancy. The upsurge in parental migration has undermined family structures, leaving children alone, thereby increasing children’s vulnerability to risky sexual behaviour and sexual abuse.
25 % of the maternal mortality is with adolescent girls and young women under 24
21 % of adolescent girls give birth before the age of 19 years
16 years is the average age for the first sexual encounter in Zimbabwe
75% of adolescent girls have their first sexual experience with their boyfriend
UNICEF supports programmes that promote access for adolescent girls to Comprehensive Sexual Education to prevent adolescent pregnancies. The introduction of the Comprehensive Sexual Education for both in and out-of-school adolescents presents a great opportunity for teaching cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality, thereby equipping adolescents with skills to make informed decisions about their health, including sexual health and pregnancy prevention.