Motherhood in Childhood

t Youth-friendly health
centre in Guatemala.
© Mark Tuschman/
Planned Parenthood
Global
Millions of girls become pregnant every year
in developing countries and to a lesser extent
in developed countries. The impact on their
health, economic prospects, rights and futures is
indisputable, as is the impact on their children,
families and communities.
Most countries have taken action aimed at
preventing adolescent pregnancy, and in fewer
cases, to support girls who have become pregnant.
But many of the measures to date have
been primarily about changing the behaviour of
the girl, failing to address underlying determinants
and drivers, including gender inequality,
poverty, sexual violence and coercion, child
marriage, exclusion from educational and job
opportunities and negative attitudes and stereotypes
about adolescent girls, as well as neglecting
to take into account the role of boys and men.
In 1994, the 179 governments represented
at the International Conference on Population
and Development (ICPD) acknowledged that
poor educational and economic opportunities
and sexual exploitation are important factors
in the high levels of adolescent child-bearing.
“In both developed and developing countries,
adolescents faced with few apparent life choices
have little incentive to avoid pregnancy and
childbearing.” But they also acknowledged that
the reproductive health needs of adolescents as a
group had been “largely ignored,” and they called
on governments to make information and services
available to help protect girls and young women
from unwanted pregnancies and to educate young
men “to respect women’s self-determination.”
Governments, in the ICPD Programme of
Action, also underscored the need to take actions
to promote gender equality and equity.
The challenges girls were facing in 1994 persist
today and are compounded by new pressures
stemming from the proliferation of mass and
social media that can sometimes glorify adolescent
pregnancy and reinforce negative attitudes
about girls and women. The ICPD Programme
of Action points the way forward in helping girls
face these ongoing and emerging challenges.
But the challenges are not the same for all
adolescent girls. While there is a growing body
of evidence on the determinants of pregnancy
and the impact on girls 15 or older, very little
research has been carried out about pregnancies
among girls 14 or younger. Yet, from what we do
know, the impact of a pregnancy on a very young
adolescent girl is profound. Actions to prevent
pregnancy among older adolescents are under
way in most countries today. But only a handful
of countries have made a deliberate effort to
reach very young adolescents, who are typically
84 CHAPTER 5: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD