Motherhood in Childhood

force to obtain sex, begin in adolescence. Forms
of gender discrimination affect girls and women,
but dominant perceptions of masculinity among
young men and adolescent boys are a driving
force for male risk-taking behaviour, including
street violence and unsafe sexual practices
(UNFPA, 2013b). Strengthening opportunities
for boys and young men to participate in
supporting gender-equality efforts will have an
impact not only on women and girls but also on
their own lives. They are more likely to grow into
future generations of men who live by genderequitable
principles.
With UNFPA support, Nicaragua took a
“gender-transformative approach” to preventing
sexual violence and pregnancy through an
initiative, Que Tuani No Ser Machista. Gendertransformative
programmes challenge and
transform rigid gender norms and relations and
generally entail moving beyond the individual
level to also address the interpersonal, sociocultural,
structural and community factors that
JAMAICA OFFERS A MODEL FOR PREVENTING ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY
AND SUPPORTING YOUNG MOTHERS
“Becoming pregnant at such a young age was a terrifying experience.
I did not know what to do when I found out,” said 17-year-old
Joelle as she recounted the emotional turmoil of being pregnant
during her teenage years.
“It was going to be my final year in high school. I would have
been graduating and making my parents proud,” she recalled. “I
was so horrified, ashamed and devastated to see that all the things I
wanted would not happen.”
Joelle was one of two girls who candidly shared their experience
with the First Lady of Burkina Faso, Chantal Compaoré, and her
team, who were in Kingston, Jamaica to learn about the strategies
the Government has employed to address adolescent pregnancy in
the country.
The Adolescent Mothers Programme of the Women’s Center
Foundation of Jamaica that Joelle is enrolled in is a centrepiece of
these strategies, a UNFPA “good practice” programme and a model
for other countries grappling with the issue of teen pregnancy.
Joelle described the organization and the counsellors who are
caring for her during this difficult period as “firefighters who rescued
me from the mental burning building I was in.”
Getting results
Since 1978, Jamaica’s Programme for Adolescent Mothers has
been providing continuing education, counselling and practical skills
training for mothers under age 17. Through the programme, they
can pursue their education at the nearest Women’s Centre for at
least one semester and then return to the formal school system
after their babies are born.
The Foundation operates seven main centres and nine outreach
stations across Jamaica, and provided continuing education to
1,402 adolescent mothers in the 2011–2012 school year, more
than half of whom successfully returned to the formal school
system. The Centre also offers a range of other services such as
day care facilities and walk-in counselling for women and men of
all ages. This includes counselling for “baby fathers,” their parents
and the parents of teen mothers.
Putting family planning at the core
Family planning is an integral element of the counselling programme
offered at each branch of the Women’s Centre of Jamaica,
and UNFPA has partnered with the organization for years to help
reduce the risk of unintended second pregnancies among mothers
they counsel.
With the knowledge and consent of their parents, the young
mothers are provided with sexual and reproductive health information
and offered a contraceptive method of their choice, which
helps them to delay a second pregnancy and enables them to complete
their education. With support from UNFPA, the Women’s
78 CHAPTER 4: TAKING ACTION