Adolescence is a decisive age for girls all over the world. The years of adolescence shape the direction of a daughter's life and that of her family.
Depending on the opportunities and choices available to them during adolescence, they can approach adulthood as autonomous and active citizens. They can invest today in themselves and later in their families, communities and even beyond. Yet the millions of adolescent girls who become pregnant too early are faced with a serious discrimination and exclusion that prevents them from claiming their rights and fulfilling their true potential.
Teenage pregnancies are not only a health problem, they increase poverty, gender inequality, lack of education and unbalance the relationship between girls and their partners.
In the world, especially in Madagascar, early pregnancies are intimately linked to early marriage. In Madagascar, since 2007, the union between two people, one of them under 18 years old, is illegal, yet it persists. Indeed, according to the 2009 DHS, 48% of girls aged 20 to 24 were married or in union before the age of 18. I want to point out that this figure is one of the highest in the world. Despite the 2007 law, some parents force their barely pubescent girls to marry. Child marriage is an appalling violation of fundamental rights and robs girls of their education, health and seriously jeopardizes their future prospects. In most cases, these girls will be pregnant before they turn 18.
The consequences of early and unwanted pregnancy are serious. Complications related to pregnancy or childbirth are the leading causes of death in girls aged 15 to 19 years. If they do not die, they may be severely suffer from disabling diseases related to pregnancy such as obstetric fistula.
Pr Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, on the occasion of this day recalled that "Breaking the cycle of teenage pregnancies requires that nations, communities and individuals commit to investment in adolescent girls in both developed and developing countries. Governments must enact and enforce national laws that will raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 years and promote community-based initiatives that will support the rights of girls and prevent child marriages and their consequences.
Adolescents and young people must receive a comprehensive education in age-appropriate sexuality to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to protect their health throughout their lives. Yet education and information are not enough. Good quality reproductive health services must also be readily available for adolescents to make informed choices and be healthy.
At the local level, communities need to provide the infrastructure needed to deliver reproductive health care in a youth-friendly and sensitive environment.
Underlying all these activities is an understanding that the dignity and fundamental rights of adolescent girls must be respected, protected and must be met. We call on governments, the international community and all interested parties to take measures to enable adolescent girls to make responsible lifestyle choices and to lend them the necessary support in cases where their rights are threatened. Every girl, wherever she lives and whatever her economic situation, has the right to fulfill her human potential. Today, this right is denied to too many girls. We can change that, and we have to. "
In Madagascar, the situation of girls is alarming. Every day in the country at least 10 women die from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth and three of them are under 18 years old. According to the 2009 DHS IV, more than one in three adolescents has already been pregnant or is already a mother.
Despite the efforts of the various stakeholders, young people continue to face huge challenges such as access to information, education, employment and health. However, young people are motivated and are striving for change. Today, no developing society can ignore them. Young people have become aware of the power they represent and ask their leaders that decisions about their future be made with them.
Their future depends on the choices they make today. All early pregnancies can be avoided. It is up to young people to decide. They can learn about sexuality and the use of contraception.
By combining our advocacy and sensitization efforts we can end child marriages and early pregnancies, we can change the lives of girls in Madagascar. We can help them appreciate their childhood, enroll them in school and protect them from gender-based violence. We can ensure their safety. And in doing so, we are helping to break the poverty cycle.
UNFPA will spare no effort to support Malagasy youth. Their dynamism must be recognized as essential to development. Government, civil society and the international community have a role to play in ensuring that every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
This year 2013, UNFPA Madagascar chose Mandritsara in the north and Toliara, in the south of the country, to celebrate World Population Day.
