Poverty, social expectations, cultural practices and gender inequalities are fuelling early and unintended pregnancies among young people in Malawi, a study by the Women’s Legal Resources Centre (Wolrec) has found.
The findings, presented on Friday during a validation workshop for the Research Informed Solutions for Early and Unintended Pregnancies (RISE UP) project in Lilongwe, point to a combination of social and economic pressures behind the country’s persistent teenage pregnancy problem.
needed to understand.
| Nation
The study identifies traditional ceremonies such as kusasa fumbi, pressure to conform to social expectations, gender inequalities, economic hardship and behavioural factors among the key drivers of early and unintended pregnancies.
Wolrec executive director Maggie Kathewera Banda said the research was conducted to understand the factors behind the increase in unintended pregnancies, particularly among young people, by gathering perspectives from young people, traditional leaders and government.
“We needed to understand what is happening, what young people were saying about it, what traditional leaders were saying, what the government was saying and so forth,” she said.
Embassy of Ireland Deputy Head of Mission Ronan Sweeney said validating the findings was critical because it would allow stakeholders to move from identifying the causes of teenage pregnancies to developing practical and sustainable interventions.
“The research provides us with an important foundation for the RISE UP programme, which seeks to design and implement transformative prevention and response interventions in Zomba and Mulanje,” he said.
Ministry of Sports, Youth and Culture representative Chikondi Chasukwa said the findings would help government strengthen its efforts to address teenage pregnancy.
The validation workshop brought together stakeholders for presentations by youth research coordinators from Zomba and Mulanje, followed by discussions on the findings and possible interventions.
The findings come amid continued concern over adolescent pregnancies in Malawi.
The 2024 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey reported an increase in the adolescent fertility rate from 29 to 35 births per 1 000 adolescent women.
