The Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia Her Excellency Dr. Ajaratou Isatou Njie-Saidy on Monday November 25, 2013 officially launched the State of the World Population Report 2013 in a grand event at the Kairaba Beach Hotel. In her launching statement, Madam Njie-Saidy said that motherhood in childhood is a huge global problem, especially in developing countries, where it is estimated that every year 7.3 million girls under 18 years give birth, Of these 7.3 million births, 2 million are to girls 14 years or younger, who suffer the gravest long-term health and social consequences from pregnancy, including high rates of maternal death and obstetric fistula. Motherhood in childhood” offers a new perspective on adolescent pregnancy, looking not only at the girls’ behaviour as a cause of early pregnancy, but also at the actions of their families, communities and governments.
The Gambian Vice President went further to say that millions of women who would like to avoid or delay pregnancy lack access to effective family planning and that many die every day in the process of giving life. “A huge number of young people entering their reproductive years are often without the knowledge, skills and services they need to protect themselves. They either get half-baked information from various sources or friends who in turn are also misinformed” she said.
Dr Njie-Saidy lamented the fact that millions of adolescent girls face deep discrimination and exclusion that prevent them from claiming their rights and living out their true potential. These adolescents are taken out of school early, are vulnerable to sexual violence and coercion, and subjected to harmful traditional practices. They often are married as children, and face pregnancy and childbearing before they are physically, emotionally and socially mature enough to be mothers.
Dilating on the situation in The Gambia, Ajaratou Dr Isatou Njie Saidy said that sexual and reproductive health among adolescent youths is a major concern in the country where many adolescent youths are sexually active at an early age. She said that adolescent fertility has been a growing problem with far-reaching social and economic consequences and that there has been an upsurge in teenage pregnancies, compounding the health risk and socio-economic situation of girls and young women. The Vice President highlighted that the incidence of illegal abortions and dropouts among schoolgirls can be attributed to unwanted and teenage pregnancies.
Madam Njie Saidy quoted the 2000 Adolescent/Youth Survey which revealed that sexual activity was prevalent among adolescent/youth in that 41.5 per cent had experienced sexual relationship at least once. About 15% of the sexually-active females had been pregnant at least once. Half of the pregnancies reported were unwanted and most occurred to young schoolgirls who had to leave school as a result.
In highlighting the strides made by the Government of The Gambia, the Vice President and Minister for Women’s Affairs said that over the years, her government has demonstrated its commitments to all charters and protocols that advance the agenda of providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights for all young people and meaningfully engaging them in all levels of decision-making. She went on to say that the government of the Gambia strongly believes in the principles of universal access to reproductive health and services including HIV/AIDS and believes that adolescents and youths have a right to decide freely when to have children and should be given the means to do so through information, education and communication.
In addition, Madam Njie-Saidy went on, The Gambia in its various development policies and programmes upholds the right of adolescents and youth to access information and services related to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health. The Gambia has taken steps to integrate adolescence and youths RH issues in the Health and National Population Policies and the Programme for Accelerated Growth and Employment.
The Vice President took pride in the numerous interventions undertaken that contributed to the improvement of the health status of the women and children in the last decade resulting in the decline of the maternal mortality ratio from 1050 per 100,000 live births in 1990 t0 730 per 100,000 live births in 2001 to 433 per thousand live births in 2013. The Total Fertility Rate, which shows the average number of children per woman, has declined from 6.01 to 5.54 children per woman whilst infant motility has declined from 92 per 1000 in 1993 to 75 per 1000 in 2003.
She advised the gathering that as parents and guardians everyone must do their part in ensuring that young people and adolescents particularly girls are given the due attention needed to making sure that they are protected and cared for so that they can reach their cherished destinations in life. She said that the culture of non-dialogue between parents and children on sexuality has to be done away with if we are to meaningfully reduce the incidence of adolescent pregnancy in our homes and society at large.
The Gambian Vice President concluded with a statement by the former UNFPA Executive Director, Madam Obaid which stated that “no social investment costs so little and brings such far-reaching benefits as investing in the health and rights of girls and women in that when a mother survives, when a young girl gets an education and grows into a life filled with opportunities, the consequences extend beyond the existence of these individuals. They enrich the society as a whole and increase prospects for peace, prosperity and stability”.
Other speakers included the UN Resident Coordinator and UNFPA Resident Representative in The Gambia and the Director of the National Population Commission Secretariat. The Event was punctuated by a drama by school children on “Motherhood in Childhood”, the Gambia Police Force Band and an exhibition of UNFPA services and supported Reproductive Health Commodities.
