"If a couple are in a stable relationship together but the girl has many pregnancies and many abortions, is this a problem?" was one of the many questions asked at the launch of the State of World Population report on October 30, 2013 entitled "Motherhood in childhood: Facing the challenge of adolescent pregnancy".
The atmosphere of the conference room at the launch was buzzing with the energy of nearly 200 young people from high schools, universities, the entertainment industry, and NGO networks who were eager to ask their questions about adolescent pregnancy and fertility to a panel of specialists in the field.
Globally, on 30 October 2013, the State of World Population report was launched by the UN Population Fund. In Phnom Penh, Cambodia the report was officially released by the Minister of Women's Affairs, HE Dr. Ing Kantha Phavi and Dr. Derveeuw Marc, UNFPA Representative.
This year the flagship report examines the circumstances that often lead to adolescent pregnancy and draws attention to the challenges and social pressures that work against young women and adolescent girls who enter motherhood. Every year, 70,000 adolescent girls die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth and 3.2 million unsafe abortions occur among them where 95 percent of births to adolescent girls occur in developing countries. In Cambodia, adolescent pregnancy is less alarming issue, however, teenage fertility rates have remained unchanged among teenage girls aged 15-19 years for the last 10 years.
At the launch, the UNFPA Representative, Dr. Derveeuw Marc emphasized that "Cambodian adolescent mothers are more likely to terminate their education early, be unemployed, live in remote areas of the country, and be economically disadvantaged. Young girls need to be better informed about their sexual and reproductive rights and about the choices they can make to delay becoming a mother at a young age."The Cambodian Minister for Women's Affairs, HE Dr. Ing Kantha Phavi stressed at the official release of the global report that "adolescent pregnancy has serious impacts on girls and undermines girls' ability to exercise their basic rights."
Addressing nearly 200 young people and more than 50 representatives from UN agencies, development partners, NGOs and the media, the Minister made a strong commitment to step up a twin track approach: improving sexual and reproductive health services for women and young women while preventing adolescent pregnancy through providing information and sexuality education.
The plenary discussion proved to be an inspiring platform for young people to hear accurate information and interact with experts on issues related to sexual and reproductive health. The young participants voiced their views on contraception and raised concerns about discrimination when accessing sexual reproductive health information and services.
