TEENAGE PREGNANCY: Let’s Face it Together Now and Beyond Covid-19. Period!

Authored by Clinton C. Obiero
With the outbreak of the Corona Virus, the last 3-4 months have been some of the most turbulent moments we’ve faced as a country. Communities all over the world have had to adjust to the rapid changes brought about by the pandemic. The impending effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on our socio-economic ways of life are projected to be worse and can only be compared to those of World War I and World War II. In Kenya, we have had to radically change our ways of life to control the spread of this deadly virus. Never had I imagined that one day it would be illegal to converge in a church or even travel to the west to visit my grandma in ‘Ushagoo’ (country-side), haha! We have to live with this new normal for now.
Within this period, many have lost their jobs as most companies have had to cut down their expenses. Most businesses are not thriving as they used to. By the look of things, it would take us a lot of time to get back to normal. That is if the ‘normal’ will still exist. I am a believer. Through my faith, I will have to cast my fears aside and hope things will get better soonest. Meanwhile, life has to go on. Without the entire situation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, we still had our fair share of challenges, but now it’s like they’ll keep getting from bad to worse.
In my community in Kibera, I am afraid that things don’t look quite good at all. We have to fight the pandemic and still fight to combat the day to day challenges that the community has always had to face. As a good friend of mine, Dan Kirima recently told me in one of our so many chitchats on WhatsApp, “Our problems will never take a break to let us tackle the covid-19 pandemic first”. We still have to keep abreast of our day to day challenges.
One of our country’s biggest social menace, teenage pregnancy, is widely projected to be on the rise during this Covid-19 period. Recently it was all over the news that the situation is at its peak given the data collected from various counties ever since schools were closed down due to the pandemic. This situation calls for all of us to be on the guard. That is the only way we’ll ensure we fight this turbulence that is on the rise.
A recent report released by UNFPA states that of all the teenage pregnancies recorded between 2016 and 2017, nearly 8% of the 378,397 cases reported occurred among girls aged 10-14 years. This means that 1 in every 5 girls begins having children slightly before their 19th birthday. Quiet sickening right? Again, all through the various counties in Kenya, the data varies in a very negative dimension. For instance, in counties such as Murang’ a, Homabay, Nyeri, Nyandarua and Elgeyo Marakwet counties, 1 in every 10 girls has begun child-bearing. Going further to counties such as Narok and Baringo, it only gets worse. It is so sad that only 2% of these teenage mothers are likely to make it back to school when normalcy returns. This is according to the previous projections that have been made about teenage pregnancy.
In the long-term such cases will continue to adversely affect us even as we continue vouching for sustainable socio-economic development.
In mid-March, all the learning activities in our schools had to come to a halt. Our entire education system was found so much unprepared. No one ever pre-empted the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic on the learners. This situation has made it very difficult for parents and guardians to monitor what is going on with their children at home. Whereas the Ministry of Education is putting in efforts to ensure the learners are fully engaged with their school work, it is still proving difficult. Our country has never been seriously prepared for this. For now, I would say online learning is not our thing. We have never laid down any foundation to institute this mode of learning in our schools. Therefore learners from vulnerable and marginalized backgrounds have been the most affected. Most have no access to any device that will facilitate their online distant-learning. “Staying alive is our only business,” most would arrive at this conclusion.
To most kids, schools have always been their fortresses away from home. For some schools, it has been where they call home. ‘Home’ is a feeling, not a place, and schools offer this to many. This is where they’ve made friends; they eat together, play together, and together pursue their course works. Schools have also been the shield to most of our girls in the fight against teenage pregnancy and sensitization on menstrual hygiene.
As the issue of teenage pregnancy is fast rising, we have to make counter-approaches to combat it within this period and further into the future. Most kids currently have been left in assailable positions, and it will have to take more than one person to change the narrative. For long, I have always felt that this fight has never taken the right approach. So what are we not doing right to this far?
In the bigger picture, irresponsible sexual behavior involves two partners, and in cases where both parties are minors, it becomes worse. We are always at crossroads on how this should be handled. For older people taking advantage of children in vulnerable situations, it’s far much worse. This situation should be brought to an end. In many cases, (sisi wanaume) men have always been the biggest culprits, yet many will still blame girls for making bad decisions. They do this without putting equal weight on the boy’s responsibility. This is why you will see so many organizations go for girl-child mentorship and empowerment without thinking of the boy-child’s role in the entire situation. This is a very good approach, and it has helped shape the journey for most girls.
Either-way what will happen to this boy who doesn’t know what is expected of him and doesn’t have people to guide him through the steep walk of life? The girl-child centered approach has kept us from acknowledging what should have been obvious – that males must be involved in any policy solution to unintended pregnancies among teenagers.
Even though the males do not get pregnant, it does not make sense to segregate them from prevention efforts. The whole situation should take an ‘all hands on deck’ approach. Let’s get the entire COMMUNITY involved. Let’s protect our girls!
Whereas I did my best to come up with this article, any errors and omissions published are subject to changes. Feel free to contact me on the same and give your comments and suggestions .
Email: clintchris23@gmail.com
The images used belong entirely to copyrighted owners, the author thereby does not own some of them.
Authored by Clinton C. Obiero