by Rachel Ogbu

A new United Nations Report has named Niger as the country with the world’s highest childhood pregnancy rate, with 51 per cent of women in their 20s reporting that they gave birth before turning 18.

In recent times, Nigeria media has been reporting shocking stories of under aged girls in baby factory dens with human rights organisations and government officials working to kill the vicious trend. According to the UN report, the 20,000 girls below the age of 18 who give birth every day in developing countries make them and the countries they live in to face economic disadvantages and makes the young mothers face much higher health risks than older mothers.

According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) report, every year, 7.3 million children become mothers in developing countries, with 70,000 aged between 15 and 19 dying from post natal complications.

Lending his voice to the course to stop young girls having babies too early, UNFPA chief Babatunde Osotimehin stressed that poverty was one of the major causes of childhood pregnancies, plus the issue of discrimination against women. “Too often, society blames only the girl for getting pregnant,’’ he said. “The reality is that adolescent pregnancy is most often not the result of a deliberate choice, but rather the absence of choices, and of circumstances beyond a girl’s control.”