This week, we intensified our Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) engagement sessions with in and out-of- school young people around Ntaja in Machinga district amidst rising cases of unintended teen pregnancies in the area.
During the sessions, young people indicated that frequent stock out of SRHR commodities and lack of consistent information among young people are among the contributing factors to an increase in the number of teen pregnancies in the area.
The sessions also focused on child marriages and harmful cultural practices that are prevalent in the area. Young people bemoaned the existence of some practices which expose them to SRHJR challenges like contraction of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) including HIV as well as teenage pregnancies.
One of the key action points that were agreed with the young people was to schedule engagement meetings with community stakeholders in order to spearhead the process of modifying harmful sociocultural practices.
