With Child Protection Week coming to an end this weekend, roleplayers have again called on Government to urgently intervene to address the rapid increase in pregnancies recorded among teenage girls.

In 2020 alone, more than 35,000 teenage girls, aged 17 years and younger, give birth in South Africa.

National Executive Director at Child Welfare SA, Dr. Benny Obayi says this is not a new phenomenon in South Africa.

He says what is of concern is the marked increase in teenage pregnancies that have been recorded over the past 2 years.

Obayi says teenage pregnancies have seen a worrying increase since the implementation of the nationwide Covid-19 lockdowns.

He urges the Government to ramp up sex education at schools to help young people make better sexual-health decisions.

Obayi also says the lack of access to social and academic activities during the lockdown has led young people to experiment with sex.

He says being pregnant not only holds physical dangers for teenage mothers but also has other long-term impacts on their social welfare.

Get the latest updates from Child Welfare South Africa here.

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• Women on the African continent have been severely negatively impacted by Covid-19 pandemic.
• Stats SA: KwaZulu-Natal is the province with the highest number of teenage pregnancies.

More than 83,000 girls (10 – 17 yrs) gave birth in SA in '19 – '20. @StatsSA says 12,671 births were recorded in the #EasternCape, 10,833 in #Gauteng, 13,129 in #Limpopo & 7,211 in the #WesternCape. #KZN recorded 18,550 births. (2/2)#Smile904FMNews#NewsThatCTNeedsToKnowNow

— Smile90.4 FM (@Smile904FM) March 26, 2022

.@StatsSA: The #KwaZuluNatal province has the highest number of child pregnancies. KZN recorded 18,550 births (girls aged 10 – 17) during the '19-'20 financial year. More than 83,000 girls gave birth across SA in this period. (1/2)#Smile904FMNews#NewsThatCTNeedsToKnowNow

— Smile90.4 FM (@Smile904FM) March 26, 2022