'This isn't fundamentally a problem of lack of knowledge. It's actually about power relations and girls' lack of agency over their own lives.' Via TRF_Stories
FREETOWN, Sept 5 - Umu Bangura was 16 when she got pregnant by a man who gave her money and told her he loved her, but soon after disappeared - a crisis faced by many young mothers in the West African nation, which has one of the world's highest adolescent birth rates.
Some 21 million girls aged 15 to 19 become pregnant in developing countries each year, and complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death for this age group worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. While the government and charities have been trying to reduce teenage pregnancy for years - promoting birth control and empowering girls - some researchers are testing new approaches that seek to change broader attitudes and family roles as well.
Fatmata, 20, holds her twin daughters outside her home in Susan's Bay, Freetown, Sierra Leone. July 24, 2019. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Nellie PeytonSierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world, holds fairly liberal views on premarital sex. Relationships between young girls and older men who provide money, clothes or food are common.
Girls in rural areas are more likely to marry, while many single mothers in the capital city, Freetown, fend for themselves with little support, said aid workers. "We preach to parents to encourage their children to back to school after they give birth," said Mohamed Kargbo, a representative of the National Secretariat for the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy, which coordinates charities' activities.Fatmata, 20, is pictured with her aunt and two daughters outside their home in Susan's Bay, Freetown, Sierra Leone. July 24, 2019.
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