22 Nov 2021

Teenage mothers have been urged to use their past experiences as a learning curve and stepping stones for reaching aspirations.

Addressing young mothers during a Walk of Hope organised workshop in Medie recently, MP for the area Ms Nnaniki Makwinja said they could still be open to new beginnings as long as they believed that having a child at an early age did not mean the end of their lives.

“It is possible as long as you take the first step to reaffirm, recommit and reset your minds to what you believe in,” she stressed.

She  said early unintended pregnancy had been identified as one of the contributory factors to increasing poverty as young mothers had to be taken care of together with their children.  

Ms Makwinja said early unintended pregnancy also brought about other challenges ranging from parenting, stigma, depression, low self-esteem and failure to complete studies.  

“For one to effectively curb these challenges, it takes all of us to collectively play our individual roles to protect the lives of these young people and that of our country,” she said.

She stressed that government could not comprehensively address issues of socialisation and sexuality alone hence the need for partnerships, especially with parents.  

Ms Makwinja, who is Assistant Minister of Basic Education, said the ministry had developed a guided training on Parent and Child Communication on sexuality issues.

The training was intended to assist in promoting open healthy communication between parents and children on sexuality and reproductive matters using accurate information, proper communication skills and attitudes, she said.

She expressed the hope that it would empower or increase children and young people’s ability to resist and delay sexual debut, report sexual abuse, reduce teenage pregnancy and new HIV and STI infections.

Ms Makwinja noted that various research validated the plight of young girls in Botswana. 

Citing Botswana Police Service  gender based violence  (GBV) 2009-2019 statistics, she said a lot of girl children under the age of 18 were defiled, some by close family members.

Another study, Dr Thabo Phologolo’s Strategic assessment of unintended pregnancies, contraception, unsafe abortion and abortion services in Botswana (2020), shows that sexual violence and GBV generally, was a driver of unwanted and unplanned pregnancies as well as abortion.

Meanwhile Walk of Hope founder Ms Theriso Motsumi-Motsemeng explained that the workshop was part of a teen mothers’ project which came into being after a high number of teenage pregnancies, GBV and child abuse cases were registered at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She appealed to parents to report cases of defilement and teenage pregnancies to law enforcement officers for perpetrators to face the wrath of the law. 

The workshop capacitated participants with life skills to help them boost their confidence. ends