By Namutebi Sumayiya
As Uganda gears up to join the rest of the world in celebrating International Youth Day on August 12th, 2024, data from the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) 2016 indicates that 43% of women in Uganda aged 25-49 years were married before the age of 18, a rate that is considered one of the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In rural areas of Uganda, the teenage pregnancy rate is even higher with 27% of girls, aged 15-19 years having begun childbearing (UNFPA 2020). Leaders have attributed the high teenage pregnancies and early marriages to the failure of the laws and policies in place.
Leaders have attributed the worrying to statistics to the failure of laws and policies in addressing early marriages and teenage pregnancies.
“Many children from poor families will either get into marriage or get pregnant at a younger age and even parents will look the other way. They won’t help the children. The level of vulnerability is even expressed by Parents,” said Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the Kira Municipality MP during today’s Capital FM’s Capital Gang program.
He pointed out weak laws and enforcement on combatting teenage pregnancies and early marriages.
According to the World Bank’s 2017 report, teenage pregnancy contributes to 20 percent of the infant death and 28 percent of maternal deaths. The report also indicates that substantial economic benefits would result from reductions in under-five mortality and stunting rates, estimated together to reach US $275 million by 2030.
The Sheema Municipality MP (NRM) Dickson Kateshumbwa cited cultural beliefs in which parents look at girl children as a source of wealth and as such, marry them off at a young age to get dowry.
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