Teenage pregnancy is a problem that governments around the world continue to face with different strategies. However, Colombia is occupying the second place among the countries with the highest rate of adolescent pregnancy in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), being surpassed only by Mexico.
According to the organization’s report, the percentage of young people between the ages of 15 and 19 who become pregnant in the country reaches 25% -25.4% in Mexico- and, during the year 2022, of the total births that occurred in the country, 16.4 % were of mothers between those ages.
Although many may believe that this is a problem that only occurs in remote or rural areas, due to difficult access to education and technology, the truth is that adolescent pregnancy is a problem that is seen even in large cities. from the country. For example, councilor Samir Abisambra recently revealed that in Bogotá, 14 babies are born to adolescent women every day.
The data revealed by the councilor detailed that the numbers of births to adolescent mothers in the capital of the country show that, in 2022, 126 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 were adolescent mothers, and between the ages of 15 and 19 there were 5,238. However, it is worth mentioning that the figure showed a drop in the phenomenon, since in 2021 the last figure had been 6,600 adolescent mothers.
In fact, the OECD report noted that, in Colombia, with the figures for adolescent pregnancy in 2021, it could be said that 290 young people gave birth every day, since 106,695 adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19 became mothers. While in 2020 there had been 90,661 pregnancies in people of that age range, showing an increase in the problem.
From the United Nations Population Fund (Unfpa) they have indicated that for the country adolescent pregnancy has a cost of 0.50% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per year, which shows that there is a latent need to face the problem of insistent way. National and international experts agree that sexual education is key to avoiding this phenomenon and that the country still has a gap to close in this area.
Education as the key to avoid adolescent pregnancy in Colombia
The local authorities in each city seek to create strategies and campaigns that reach adolescents and minors to provide them with appropriate information and prevent pregnancies in this population. Tirando X Colombia (TxC) is a social organization focused on the prevention of adolescent pregnancy that, starting on February 28, embarks on a new way to prevent the risk of adolescent pregnancy using technology and artificial intelligence.
These are five webinars called The Embarrassing Is Not To Talk About It, in which authorities from the public and private sectors, as well as from academia and non-profit organizations, will meet to address the problem, in the company of UNFPA, and will detail the challenges and the possible solutions. “Adolescent pregnancy is a transversal challenge and, therefore, must be approached from a collaborative perspective. It is necessary to talk shamelessly about it, with the purpose of strengthening actions that allow us to progressively reduce its consequences,” said Johanna Cordovez, TxC Business Development Manager.
The first conversation will take place this Tuesday, February 28 and, like all the others, it can be seen through the social networks of Tirando X Colombia. On the other hand, the organization has also established an innovative chatbot through WhatsApp to which adolescents can go for solutions and resolve doubts regarding sexual and reproductive health, promoting sexually responsible decision-making among adolescents. with Infobae