Teenage Pregnancy Rate Stays Constant Over Past Decade

Teenage pregnancies are hindering Cambodia’s development as young mothers are unlikely to finish school and therefore lack job opportunities, government and U.N. officials said at the launch of a global report on adolescent pregnancies on Wednesday. “The Ministry of Women’s Affairs acknowledges that adolescent pregnancies have a serious impact on health, education and employment op­portunities,” Minister of Women’s Affairs Ing Kantha Phavi said at the launch of the global report Motherhood in childhood: Facing the challenge of adolescent pregnancy by the U.N.’s Population Fund (UNFPA). ... The number of teenage pregnancies was expected to decrease within the next decade as sex education has been included in some school curriculums since 2011, Dr. Yung Kunthearith, deputy director of the Ministry of Education’s school health department, said. ... “The budget for this is not so big yet, but next year, we will try to expand it to other provinces,” he [Dr. Yung Kunthearith] said.

Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/teenage-pregnancy-rate-stays-constant-over-past-decade-46402/