African leaders, health experts, policymakers, and youth advocates have sounded the alarm over a deepening adolescent reproductive health crisis across the continent, warning that declining funding, restrictive policies, and legal barriers are undermining efforts to protect millions of young people.
Speaking during the opening of the 9th Pan-African Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (AYSRHR) Scientific Conference in Mombasa, delegates called for urgent investment in youth-centred reproductive health services.
The four-day conference, convened by the Reproductive Health Network Kenya (RHNK) alongside the Ministry of Health and other partners, has attracted more than 1,500 delegates from over 40 countries.
Officially opening the conference, Head of the Division of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health at the Ministry of Health, Dr Edward Serem, said Africa continues to grapple with teenage pregnancies, HIV infections, and substance abuse among young people.
“In Africa, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, we see the challenges of teenage pregnancy, HIV infections, and drug and substance abuse. It is those challenges which are facing each and every part of our continent, which has made us to converge here,” said Dr Serem.
Highest adolescent pregnancy
The newly appointed IPPF Africa Regional Director, Dr Claudia Shilumani, noted that sub-Saharan Africa continues to record some of the world’s highest adolescent pregnancy and birth rates.
“Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest teenage pregnancy and adolescent birth rates in the world. Eastern and Southern Africa has the highest prevalence of HIV,” she said.
Dr Shilumani warned that the effects extend beyond health, affecting education, economic opportunities, and social inclusion.
Financing
FP2030 Executive Director Dr Samukeliso Dube challenged governments and development partners to prioritize adolescent reproductive health financing.
“We are running a continent, ladies and gentlemen, on luck and hope,” she said. “We have, for many years, hidden behind ‘it’s just maternal health, maternal mortality,’ when we don’t fund reproductive health services for adolescents.”
A key concern raised during the conference was the age-of-consent barrier that prevents many adolescents from accessing reproductive health services.
RHNK Executive Director Nelly Munyasia illustrated the challenge through the story of a 16-year-old girl named Amina, who became pregnant but was unable to seek support because of fear, stigma, and legal obstacles.
“She did not know where to go. She was afraid of the clinic because she’d be asked, ‘Where is the guardian?’ She was also scared to go to school, because the teachers were going to send her away,” Munyasia said.
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Participants also expressed concern over the impact of the expanded Global Gag Rule and declining donor support, which they said have disrupted reproductive health programmes across Africa.
With nearly half of Africa’s population comprising adolescents and youth, delegates emphasized that meaningful youth engagement, increased domestic financing, and removal of legal barriers are critical if the continent is to achieve its development goals by 2030.
By our reporter
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