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Kyegegwa, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Teenage pregnancies and early marriages are worrying Kyegewa district leaders.
According to records from the district Community Development Department, the majority of the cases were registered during the lockdown following the outbreak of coronavirus disease.
Agnes Birungi, the Community Development Officer Kyegegwa district says that in 2020, the district registered 1,134 teenage pregnancies while 1,334 teenage pregnancies were registered in 2021.
Birungi says that although schools resumed in 2022 after the lockdown was lifted, some girls were unable to return to school because they were teenage mothers.
According to Birungi, teenage mothers are still suffering and are fending for themselves due to lack of jobs.
Phionah Bright, the Executive Director of Integrated Efforts for Youth and Women Empowerment-IYAWE, a non-governmental organization operating in Kyegegwa district says that they have started supporting teenage mothers in training and skills development in different disciplines for job creation and sustainability.
According to Bright, they are currently training 380 teenage mothers in different skills like making reusable sanitary pads, tailoring, bakery, liquid soap making, and craft making.
Phionah adds that they are also offering psychosocial support and counseling the teenage mothers.
A 17-year-old girl from Kyegegwa sub county says she got pregnant while in Primary Four and she is stranded with her child after she was neglected by the man responsible fo the pregnancy.
She says that she joined IYAWE for a tailoring course, which she hopes will motivate her to get a job and take care of her family.
Another 18-year-old girl says that she was impregnated by a man who denied the pregnancy and later abandoned her. She says that although her parents supported her, they could not provide for all her needs due to financial constraints the family was going through at that time. She also says that she relocated to friends but has no medical and other support to look after the pregnancy.
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