First Lady to work with UNICEF to tackle teenage pregnancy

First Lady Sandra Granger will be teaming up with the United Nations Children Fund’s (UNICEF) to address the social problem of teenage pregnancy in Guyana, the Ministry of the Presidency (MotP) said.

The First Lady on Friday received a courtesy call from the United UNICEF’s Representative in Guyana, Sylvie Fouet to discuss the work that organisation is doing here and to identify potential areas of collaboration, MotP said.

Being familiar with the work the First Lady has done in the area of teenage pregnancy, Fouet presented her with a report of a situation analysis conducted on that social issue in Guyana.  The study was intended to generate more data and action to ensure that the underlying causes of teenage pregnancy are addressed.

“We were discussing how we can address some of the issues. One of them is, of course, out of school [youth], how we can look at reintegrating the teen mothers into the school system for a formal education. Also, looking at information and knowing about relationships and the consequences and working on the health facilities to get them more teen-friendly…

“20 percent of our adolescents are pregnant before the age of 18, which means one woman out of five. So it’s very important [that] we look at making sure they can become mothers but at a later stage and embrace their youth,” Fouet is quoted as saying in a statement released by the Ministry.

The First Lady, who is the patron of Women Across Differences (WAD), has worked with that organisation to execute workshops and training programmes including remedial education, cosmetology, child care and care for the elderly programmes, giving many teenage mothers the opportunity to achieve their goals and be able to meaningfully contribute to their families and communities.