BUIKWE-Women MPs under their umbrella organisation, the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA), have launched a campaign to curb the increasing cases of teenage pregnancies in the country.
The MPs said the rate at which young girls are getting pregnant is worrying yet the responsible men are shunning responsibility.
“The rate of teenage pregnancy in the country is among the highest in the world. About 24 per cent of female teenagers are either pregnant or have given birth,” Ms Monicah Amoding, the Kumi District Woman MP, noted.
She said they had embarked on a campaign aimed at sensitising women on the dangers of early pregnancy and strengthening legislation to help address the matter.
Ms Amoding was speaking in Buikwe District shortly after the MPs came to the rescue of a teenage mother of triplets who was abandoned by her husband soon after she delivered.
Ms Rose Nalumu, 19, a resident of Wakisi Sub-county, Buikwe District, was abandoned by her husband, Mr Ismael Kyeyune, after she delivered triplets last year. The jobless teenage mother solely fends for her three children, all male. The area MP, Ms Judith Babirye, urged parents to always talk to their teenage children about sex-related matters.
“Teenage pregnancies are high because of shortage of sanitary pads by most girls which forces them to drop out of school,” Ms Babirye said.
She warned men against abandoning their wives.
The MPs handed over their donations to Ms Nalumu at her rented one-room house last Friday.
They donated an assortment of items, including foodstuff, three mattresses, soap and Shs500,000 as start-up capital for an income-generating business.
fmuzaale@ug.nationmedia.com
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