Emmanuel Ugwu
18 February 2008
Umuahia — Governors and legislators in the South-east geo-political zone, have been urged to team up with other stakeholders to stem the tide of teenage pregnancy in the zone.
The call was made by a coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organisations(CSOs), which has identified teenage pregnancy as majorreproductive problem across five states of theSouth-east, vowed to intensify campaigns to stem theugly trend.
Speaking with newsmen in Umuahia, during a three day advocacy workshop on reproductive health and population, organised for CSOs and media practitioners, sponsored by ENHANSE-USAID, national coordinator of Nigeria Network of NGOs/CSOs in Population and Reproductive Health (NINPREH), Mr Aboki Nawani, said the issue of teenage pregnancy needed urgent and concerted action by all stakeholders, because of its health and social implications.
"Teenage pregnancy is a major issue in the South-east. The dangerous dimension is that the teenage girls are mostly HIV positive," he said. To this end, the NGOs under the aegis of NINPREH, intends to embark on advocacy campaigns to various stakeholders with a view to getting them join the war against teenage motherhood. Nawani expressed alarm at the tendency to commercialise teenage pregnancy, such that the girls sell their babies and no one knows exactly what happens to the babies afterwards .
"They could be used for rituals or other sinister purposes," he said, adding that NINPREH as a strategic partner, would not relent on its advocacy programmes to promote reproductive health of women in Nigeria.
He said issues concerning sex were usually treated with a lot of pretences in Nigeria, hence reproductive health problems persist.
Advocacy advisor of ENHANSE-Nigeria, Theresa Effa, saidcertain cultural practices contribute to reproductive health problems, adding that in-depth education and behaviour change would help to change such unwholesome cultural practices.
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