ETHIOPIA: New strategy to tackle
reproductive health issues, early marriages and pregnancies, female
circumcision, abduction and rape, and poor access to healthcare for 10- to
24-year-olds
ADDIS ABABA, 12 April 2007
(IRIN) - Ethiopia has launched a national strategy on adolescent and
reproductive health that aims to tackle the problems of early marriages and
pregnancies, female circumcision, abduction and rape, and poor access to
healthcare for 10- to 24-year-olds.
Launched by the health ministry in
collaboration with United Nations agencies on Tuesday, the Adolescent and Youth
Reproductive Health Strategy (AYRH) will be implemented over eight years.
"Although adolescence generally is a healthy period of life, many are
often less informed, less experienced, and less comfortable accessing
HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health information and services,"
Monique Rakotomalala, country representative of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said.
Health minister, Tedros Adhanom, said the strategy reflected his
government's commitment to improving the reproductive health status of young
Ethiopians.
According to the AYRH document, young people aged 15 and
below constitute 40 percent of Ethiopia's 77 million people. "This strategy
calls for immediate tailored and targeted interventions to meet the diverse
needs and realities of young people," it noted.
Saying most Ethiopian
young married women have limited autonomy and control over their resources, the
report said only half of married adolescents can actually decide how their own
earnings will be used.
On harmful practices, it noted that abduction and
early marriages were declining but still persistent. The report cites the 2005
Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey which showed that 80 percent of women and
half of men believed that there were situations when a husband was justified in
beating his wife.
Another widespread issue was female genital
mutilation. More than half of 15- to 19-year-old girls had been circumcised.
Although support for this harmful practice was declining, about a quarter of 15-
to 24-year-old girls believed it should continue.
The AYRH document
noted that abduction was common, especially in Oromia and
southern regional
states, and young women in rural areas were twice as likely to be abducted.
Nationwide, many married women reported having been abducted for
marriage.
 Limited access to targeted
reproductive healthcare and services for young people contributes to and
exacerbates many of their reproductive health
problems |
Rape was common in both rural and urban
areas. A study in six peri-urban areas found that 9 percent of sexually active
adolescent girls and six percent of boys had suffered rape. Another study among
street girls in the capital, Addis Ababa, found that 15 percent had experienced
rape while 43 percent had been coerced into their first sexual activity.
"Limited access to targeted reproductive healthcare and services for
young people contributes to and exacerbates many of their reproductive health
problems," the AYRH noted.
The strategy document also details the
problems of polygamy, early marriages and pregnancies, poor use of contraception
and abortions. According to the ministry of health, abortion accounts for 60
percent of gynecological and almost 30 percent of all obstetric and
gynecological admissions, it said.
"One of the most effective
interventions to address rapid population growth is to empower people to make
informed choices on their respective health including their desired fertility,"
the AYRH explained.
Rakotomalala explained that while the strategy would
help adolescents to make informed choices, it recognised that their sexual and
reproductive health needs distinctly differed from those of adults.
"The
strategy is designed to segment the target population by their different
demographic, socio-cultural, residential and economic characteristic," she said.
