JANETTE Garin and Michael Tan, with young parents Richard Bautista and Jeah Gargarita and their 3-year-old daughter Stephen Norries A. Padilla/Contributor
Jeah Gargarita stopped schooling when she was 17, after giving birth to her first child.
Though her pregnancy was unexpected, she said she was excited and happy at the prospect of being a mother. Her boyfriend, Richard Bautista, was happy, too.
But the heavy responsibility of parenthood forced them both to drop out of school.
鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to raise a child when you have no job,鈥� Bautista said.
Gargarita is one of 20,000 girls under 18 who give birth in developing countries every day.聽 The State of World Population 2013 report, released recently by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said some 7.3 million adolescent girls give birth each year.
Of this total, 2 million were under 15. If current trends continued, this number could rise to 3 million a year in 2030.
The report highlighted the serious impact of early pregnancy on a girl鈥檚 education.
In every region in the world, 鈥渋mpoverished, poorly educated and rural girls鈥� were more likely to get pregnant than their wealthier, more educated and more urban counterparts, the report said.
Early pregnancies also occurred more frequently among 鈥済irls who are marginalized, have no access to information and services, have little say in decisions affecting their lives, and whose realities and futures are determined by others,鈥� it added.
Higher risk
Health Undersecretary Janette Garin said pregnancy 鈥渋ncreases the risk of dropping out of school and facing limited economic opportunities.鈥� She added that 鈥渇amily pressure鈥� and 鈥渃hild-care demands鈥� kept these girls out of school.
In a statement, UNFPA executive director Babatunde Osotimehin said society often blamed 鈥渙nly the girl鈥� for getting pregnant.
鈥淭he reality is that adolescent pregnancy is most often not the result of a deliberate choice, but rather the absence of choices and of circumstances beyond a girl鈥檚 control. It is a consequence of little or no access to school, employment, quality information and healthcare,鈥� he said.
Michael Tan, dean of the University of the Philippines College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, said schools, work places and communities contributed to the rising number of early pregnancies because of the 鈥渁bsence of sexuality education鈥� and 鈥減ropagation of distorted and discriminatory gender values.鈥�
He said, 鈥淧roblems of the young often start with adults, with our denial, our distorted values, our exclusion and our unwillingness to listen.鈥�
Tan pointed out that other causes contributing to the rise in number of 鈥渒ids who have kids鈥� included absence of laws on reproductive health (RH), lack of or no support for safe places for sexuality education and services, lack of maternal services for adolescents and nonexistent family planning.
鈥淲ithout the RH聽 law (Republic Act No. 10354), our hands are really tied,鈥� he added.
Concrete solutions
The UNFPA report offered concrete solutions to curb the trend and protect girls鈥� human rights and well-being. It called for actions that 鈥渆mpower girls, uphold their basic human rights, and put them on equal footing with boys鈥� to reduce the number of adolescent girls getting pregnant annually.
One of the priorities it mentioned was education.
The report showed that girls who remained in school longer were less likely to become pregnant. Education also reduced the chances of child marriages and it delayed childbearing, eventually leading to healthier births.
It also prepared girls for future employment and livelihoods, raised their self-esteem and their status and allowed them to participate in making decisions affecting their lives.
鈥淓ducation is the best contraceptive,鈥� Tan said.
Garin said an 鈥渁ge-appropriate and comprehensive sexuality education鈥� was the primary solution to teenage pregnancies. She also recommended the creation of more adolescent-friendly health services and the ending of child marriage, sexual coercion and violence.
鈥淓ducation still is foremost 鈥� If you are not well-informed, you might miss a lot of things, even opportunities,鈥� she said.