Online Reporter
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu [email protected]
UMZINGWANE District has recorded a 10 percent decrease in teenage pregnancies this year, a positive development attributed to various programmes, with the “Not in my village” campaign leading the efforts.
During a National AIDS Council (NAC) tour, Umzingwane District AIDS Coordinator Mr Mduduzi Ngwenya said the district recorded 380 teenage pregnancy cases from January to September last year, compared to 339 cases during the same period this year.
He added that last year, 505 teenage pregnancies were recorded from January to December. Mr Ngwenya credited several interventions for the decline, especially the “Not in my village” campaign, which was launched earlier this year.
Cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have also decreased, with 1,188 reported this year compared to 1,438 last year across all age groups.
“Our interventions seek to influence sexual behavior change and one way of monitoring our progress is through teenage pregnancy incidences within the district. Last year from January to September we had recorded 380 teenage pregnancies across the district and this year as at end of September we had recorded 339 teenage pregnancies.
“We are hoping come the end of the year we will record lower figures compared to last year’s 505. The umbrella programme which we are pushing in order to address the teenage pregnancy scourge is the ‘Not in my village’ campaign,” he said.
The Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is spearheading the “Not in My Village” campaign. This youth-led initiative is driven by the Young People’s Network on Health and Wellbeing (YPNHW), in partnership with NAC.
Eliminating child marriages and teenage pregnancies aligns with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), which aims to create a prosperous and empowered upper-middle-income society by 2030.
Child marriages in Zimbabwe are driven by several factors including poverty, gender norms, cultural and religious beliefs, and lack of access to education and comprehensive health services.
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