BY ROSE KASIGWA

A coalition of 146 civil society organizations has launched the National Girls Summit 2025, urgently calling for comprehensive and multi-sectoral action to eradicate teenage pregnancy across the nation.

This critical initiative aims to address the alarming statistic from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which reveals that nearly 1,000 teenage girls become pregnant each day, severely impacting their education, health, and future opportunities.

The Summit seeks to mobilize stakeholders, including government bodies, communities, and international partners, to implement evidence-based policies and programs that empower adolescent girls and protect their reproductive rights.

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report indicates that Uganda hasexperienced nearly2 million births due to teenage pregnancies in the last five years, averaging approximately33,333 births per month.

During the launch of the ‘Girls Not Brides’ initiative, themed ‘The Cost of Inaction: Addressing the Root Causes of Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy in Uganda for Inclusive Growth and Socio-Economic Transformation, stakeholders emphatically reminded the Ugandan government of its existing commitments to reverse the alarming trends of child marriage and teenage pregnancy. This urgent call emphasizes that failing to act decisively will not only perpetuate cycles of poverty and inequality but also significantly hinder Uganda’s progress towards achieving its national development goals and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to gender equality (SDG 5), good health and well-being (SDG 3), and quality education (SDG 4).

Phoebe Kasoga, Country Director at Plan International – Uganda, underscored the critical need for collaborative, multi-sectoral interventions from men, civil society organizations, religious leaders, and the government to implement comprehensive strategies aimed at preventing and ultimately ending early teenage pregnancies.

Kasoga further said that teenage mothers face significant socioeconomic disadvantages, being three times less likely to secure professional employment  and twice as likely to engage in agricultural self-employment . Furthermore, a substantial proportion, exceeding 47%, are relegated to subsistence agriculture, highlighting a critical need for targeted interventions.

The 2022 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) Volume 1 reveals a critical challenge: 34% of girls in Uganda are married before their 18th birthday, with a deeply concerning 7% married before the age of 15.

This pervasive practice of child marriage severely curtails girls’ access to education and economic empowerment, trapping them in a cycle of limited opportunities.

Beyond economic deprivation, it often leads to significant health complications, including increased risks during pregnancy and childbirth, and heightened vulnerability to gender-based violence. Such early marriages not only restrict individual potential but also impede national development by perpetuating intergenerational poverty and hindering progress towards gender equality.

Kasoga further said thataddressing this issue requires comprehensive interventions focusing on girls’ education, community awareness, and robust legal enforcement to protect their fundamental rights and foster a more equitable future for Uganda.

Uganda faces a significant economic burden due to harmful cultural practices, particularly child marriage, with the National Planning Authority (NPA) estimating an annual loss of approximately UGX 1.6 trillion (approximately USD 425 million . in addressing these issues and managing associated health costs, a substantial portion of this expenditure is attributed to the healthcare sector, with projected health facility costs for teenage mothers alone reaching UGX 246.9 billion (approximately USD 65.5 million) in 2020. These figures underscore the urgent need for comprehensive interventions to eradicate child marriage and mitigate its devastating socio-economic consequences.

The National Partnership stakeholders acknowledge that adolescent pregnancies and child marriage are significant drivers, contributing to nearly 60% of all female school dropouts nationwide.

Adding that addressing this critical issue necessitates a concerted, multi-sectoral approach, demanding sustained investment and collaborative action across key impact areas. Specifically, efforts must be intensified in Strengthening educational access and retention, enhancing adolescent and school health services, expanding social protection programs, and fostering community engagement to transform harmful social norms and practices. This integrated strategy is essential to safeguard girls’ futures and ensure their continued education.

The stakeholders under the National partnership agree that teenage pregnancies and child marriage are responsible for nearly 60% of all female school dropouts in the country, and to stop this vice requires collective responsibility and consistent investment in Impact areas of education, adolescent and school health, social protection, and community engagement to tackle harmful norms and practices.