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Confronting the teen pregnancy menace: AFIDEP co-convening policy dialogue on teenage pregnancy and youth sexual and reproductive health

16 May 2019

Author: Ann Waithaka

Conversations on teenage pregnancy and the broader youth sexual and reproductive health call for a multi-perspective approach, which is why the team of panellists are drawn from different sectors.

The African Institute for Policy Development (AFIDEP) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with support from various government and non-government organisations are co-convening a policy dialogue on teenage pregnancy and youth sexual and reproductive health in Kenya on 16 May 2019, in Nairobi, Kenya.

On May 16 . 2019, AFIDEP and UNFPA Kenya will convene a policy dialogue on teen pregnancy bringing together various stakeholders including policymakers, youth, researchers, programme implementers and other key actors Click To Tweet

Specific objectives are:

To present evidence on the current status of teenage pregnancies in Kenya in particular and adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health in general.
To deliberate on the challenges and opportunities to addressing teenage pregnancies in Kenya.
To determine policy and programme interventions for accelerating action in addressing teenage pregnancies in the country.

It will be a moderated dialogue that will run for two hours beginning with: a keynote address to highlight evidence and key issues related to on the teenage pregnancy in Kenya. This will be followed by a panel discussion to interrogate and flesh out the issues around the stated objectives and closed off by an open dialogue to discuss and propose policy and programme actions for addressing the teenage pregnancy menace and broader sexual and reproductive health challenges that adolescents and youth face in the country.

Conversations on teenage pregnancy and the broader youth sexual and reproductive health call for a multi-perspective approach, which is why the team of panellists is drawn from different sectors. They include Kigen Korir, Programme Officer, Adolescent and Youth, UNFPA Kenya; Imali Ngusale, International Advocacy Officer at Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung (DSW); Dr. Nelly Bosire, Consultant Gynaecologist, and Pastor Flavia Murugi, Departmental Pastor under Ministry Identification and Leadership Development, Parklands Baptist Church.

The outcome of the dialogue will also inform ongoing deliberations by an Inter-Ministerial Task Force. This Task Force was formed to develop constructive and practical solutions to address the teenage pregnancy and the broader sexual and reproductive health challenges that adolescents and youth face in the country.