Agency injects K4.5bn in teen pregnancy fight

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) has committed $6 million (about K4.5 billion) towards a project designed to support teen mothers and fight against early pregnancies in Mchinji and Dedza districts.

The project, called Action for Teen Mothers and Adolescent Girls, is jointly being implemented by the  Malawi Government, Food and Agriculture Organisation and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Speaking during the deal’s signing ceremony in Lilongwe on Tuesday, Koica deputy director Mo Jieun said their support is a response to increasing cases of teen pregnancies in the country.

She said this has, in turn, resulted in high school dropout rate among girls, thereby driving them on a path to poverty.  

UNFPA representative Won Young Hong said the project will increase adolescent girls’ access to youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health information.

“We are grateful to Koica for the timely funding as it will allow us to create a free, safe and enabling environment for the protection of the most vulnerable and availing reproductive health and rights for teen mothers and adolescent girls,” she said.

Ministry of Youth and Sports Principal Secretary Oliver Kumbambe hailed the initiative as a positive step in securing the future of girls in the country.

According to a press statement issued as part of the funding agreement, UNFPA says Malawi has the highest rates of early pregnancy in the Sub-Saharan region.

“By the age of 18, 47 percent of girls are already in marriage and 29 percent of girls aged between 15 and 19 have begun bearing children,” it reads.