The UN Population Fund has released its annual State of the World Population Report. This year’s report focuses on unintended pregnancies or pregnancies that occur in women who do not intend to have any more children at this time in their lives.
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According to the research, NewsReport learned that they affect 121 million women globally each year, with 60% of them leading to safe or unsafe abortions and 5% to 13% to maternal deaths. A worldwide phenomenon that has an impact on the African continent.
“If young people are affected by unintended pregnancies, development is hindered, their education is hindered, their contribution to socio-economic life is hindered, explains Dr. Jean-Pierre Makelele, Deputy Resident Representative UNFPA Senegal, In short, somewhere along the line, in terms of cost, it is a loss”.
Therefore, the UNPF decided to highlight the problem of unplanned pregnancies, particularly in West and Central Africa, in this year’s report. The UN agency is calling on public authorities and all sectors of the African population to take global action.
“If we want to take advantage of the demographic dividend, it is time to act on the levers that will accelerate the reduction of all the psychological, medical, economic, social, and educational consequences of unintended pregnancies”, says Huguette Gnakadja executive secretary of the Beninese Institute of women.
The report stresses the link between the development of women’s rights and unplanned pregnancies and for activist Kadiatou Konaté, the main solution for it is a real political engagement.” If decision-makers are willing to enforce laws, we will evolve. It’s not enough to pass laws, you have to enforce them”, insists the young activist, Executive director of the Young Women leader’s club in Guinea.
In order to avoid this situation, the UN emphasizes the importance of contraception and claims to have distributed tens of millions of forms of contraceptives in 2020.