It means that 81 in every 1,000 births in the country are adolescent mothers. The data covers adolescent pregnancy trend from 1991 to 2010 in the country. [break]
Likewise, the report titled “State of World Population 2013- Motherhood in Childhood” shows that the girls mainly from ethnic minorities or marginalized groups, who lack choices and opportunities in life, or who have limited or no access to sexual and reproductive health, including contraceptive information and services are having adolescent pregnancies.
The data also states that 86 percent of married adolescent girls aged between 15 and 19 do not use modern contraceptives.
According to the report, every day, 20,000 girls below age 18 give birth in developing countries. Of a total 1.2 billion estimated population of adolescents in the world, 88 percent of all adolescents live in developing countries.
The report attributes high teenage pregnancy to poverty, gender inequality, discrimination, lack of access to services and negative views about girls and women in the developing countries including Nepal.
“In developing countries, adolescent pregnancies are reported to occur among girls from lower-income households, those with lower levels of education and those living in the rural areas,” read the report.
However, the report says that pregnancies for adolescents below age 18 are not the result of a deliberate choice. It reads that in majority of the cases, they are the result of sexual violence or coercion in developing countries.
The government of Nepal has aimed at lowering adolescent pregnancy to 70 in 1000 by 2015.
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