By Atieno Mboya
Over 1 billion young people aged between 10 to 19 living in developing countries have high sexual activity but have no access to modern contraceptive measures or how to avoid unwanted pregnancies, a study has shown.
Yet despite their high sexual activity, their governments still do little to achieve proper awareness of contraceptive measures.
While addressing delegates attending the fifth International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) held in Kigali, Rwanda from 12 – 16 Nov, 2018, ICFP youth leader from Zimbabwe Ms. Jane Nyathi claimed the policies by different African governments had failed to see proper enactment, thus endangering the lives of youths in their countries.
“Many African countries have not lived up to their FP2020 commitments and people’s future are diminished and destroyed as a result,” expressed Nyathi.
To correct this mishap, the governments of United Kingdom and Canada have released funds of nearly US $357 million to help improve access to modern contraceptives by the youth, most particularly young girls and women.
Speaking during the five day conference, Minister of International Development of Canada Marie-Claude Bibeau, highlighted the funds would be directed to “projects that take a comprehensive approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights, including universal access to family planning and access to safe and legal abortion.”
According to recent report released by Guttmacher Institute, women aged between 15 to 19 in developing nations have zero access to modern contraceptives, translating to unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions being carried out.
