FPIA Focuses on Adolescents in Africa

FPIA Focuses on Adolescents in AfricaBy Patricia Mengech As the world faces unprecedented population growth, Africa is confronted with challenges greater than any other region of the world. With record numbers of adolescents entering the reproductive years, Africas population is projected to double within the next thirty years while the number of women in the region aged 15-19 is projected to increase to 62 million by the year 2020 (Africas Population Challenge, Population Action International). At the same time, African nations are the least equipped to address this crisis most of the continents inhabitants are desperately poor and its nations are struggling to provide the most basic services to rapidly expanding populations. Continued population growth will wipe out the few developmental gains that have so far been made.Adolescents in Africa give birth to 4.5 million children every year and this number is set to increase by 23 percent by the year 2020 as the number of adolescents also increases (Trends in Adolescent Fertility and Contraceptive Use in the Developing World, US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1996). Despite the perils of early pregnancy, adolescents are much less likely to use contraception than older people (The Health of Youth, Background Document, World Health Organization, 1989). Adolescents in Africa are not receiving the reproductive health information and services they need to protect themselves. The high level of unmet need for family planning among adolescents results in unwanted pregnancies an estimated 50 percent or more of adolescent births in five African countries are unplanned (Into a New World: Young Womens Sexual and Reproductive Lives, Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1998) leading many young women to seek abortions the majority of which are illegal and unsafe. Family Planning International Assistance (FPIA) believes that Africas hope for the future depends on improving the access of adolescents to sexuality education and quality reproductive health services, especially contraception. To this end, FPIAs Africa Regional Office currently implements several projects that focus on adolescents. All these projects try to involve young people in the design and evaluation of the project, incorporating special strategies to address the specific needs of adolescents. For example, they all use a peer-based system to deliver clinic and/or community-based based contraceptive services, also providing adolescents with access to confidential medical back-up services. Many of the projects serve impoverished communities, where drug abuse, sexually transmitted infections, unsafe abortion, and sexual abuse are common problems. For example, a project in Uganda, the Adolescent Friendly Reproductive Health Project, serves mainly students and out-of school adolescents aged 19 years and younger. The client population is from low-income homes and lives in slum areas of Kampala City. During its first year of operation, Peer Providers were able to serve over 6,000 adolescent clients with pills and condoms. This intervention gave these young people the opportunity to make informed decisions and a means to control their fertility, preventing unwanted pregnancy and the risk of unsafe abortion and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS. FPIA believes that addressing the reproductive health needs of young people is an investment in Africas future. This is especially important as decreased age of first menarche, increased age at marriage, and changing social norms are creating greater potential for earlier sexual activity. Thus, with