State Minister for Finance, Hon. David Bahati says the teenage pregnancy rate in Uganda remains high at 25% and this has stagnated for the last 10 years.
He explains that one out of every four of our teenage girls has had a baby before they reach 19 years.
This, according to the State Minister, is a matter of national concern. These remarks were made recently as legislators joined the country in celebrating World Population Day at Madibira Primary School in Busia Municipality.
“Young people are the fastest growing segment of our population and their welfare is a fundamental input into key economic and social outcomes including the size and competitiveness of our future labour force, and economic growth,” Hon. David Bahati said.
Bahati urged legislators that the current fertility rate of women in Uganda is high.
“Although the total fertility rate declined from 6.2 children per woman in 2011, to 5.4 children per woman in 2016, the rate is slower than the vision 2040 target.”
In March this year, Buikwe district Woman Member of Parliament, Hon Judith Babirye joined hundreds of women in a match to create awareness of fast rising teenage pregnancies in Uganda.
Babirye, who also doubles as a musician, advocated for the return of girls who have been victim of unplanned pregnancies to back to school, urging that they still have a brighter future ahead, despite what happened in the past.
“These are girls that have been victim of circumstance, but they dream of a bright future – they dream of a better future. So today were are appealing to all mothers and people everywhere to protect the girl child. She is the foundation of a nation.” She said.
Joining Hon Bahati was Hon. Helen Kahunde (Woman, Kiryandongo), who noted that in a candidate class one could find only 21 students, as high poverty levels in the country are leading to a high rate of school dropouts.
“High poverty levels in the country lead to girls dropping out of school and getting married to boda boda riders. If a candidate class can have only six girls and 15 boys, government needs to stress the issue of social tranformation so that they participate in the development of the country,” she stated.
