By patricia.ngevao@awokonewspapersl.com
Freetown, SIERRA LEONE – Marie Stopes Sierra Leone has sounded the alarm over the increasing incidence of adolescent pregnancies in the country, with reports indicating that girls as young as eight years old are becoming pregnant. The organization is calling for a strategic shift in how the nation addresses child reproduction, citing the need for stronger protections and more inclusive public health policies.
This call to action came during a recent training session held at Wharf Road, Deep Eye Water, in the Western Area Rural District. The event brought together media practitioners from across the country alongside staff from Marie Stopes Sierra Leone to discuss the implementation of the National Strategy for the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy and Ending Child Marriage.
Sandy Massaquoi, Advocacy and Outreach Manager at Marie Stopes, stressed the urgency of raising awareness about the new strategy, which will guide government ministries, partner organizations, and healthcare institutions in addressing these growing challenges.
“Today, we are no longer just talking about teenage pregnancy. We are dealing with adolescent pregnancies involving girls as young as eight years old,” Massaquoi stated. “This shift in reproductive trends demands a new approach to how we protect and care for our girls.”
He also highlighted the mistreatment many pregnant adolescent girls face at health facilities, often from healthcare workers themselves. “When young girls are discouraged or shamed while seeking care, they may stop going altogether, which contributes to a looming health crisis in the country,” Massaquoi warned.
Marie Stopes has been actively responding through its Youth for Health Project, which began in June 2022 and runs until June 2025. Targeting 12,000 adolescent girls in Port Loko, Kambia, and the Western Area Rural District, the project engages school clubs and healthcare providers to curb teenage pregnancy and promote reproductive health education.
Victor Karim, Communications Admin Specialist at the National Secretariat of Teenage Pregnancy, also addressed the session, noting that while global adolescent pregnancy rates are declining, Africa continues to face some of the highest figures. He emphasized the strong link between early pregnancy and child marriage, pointing to data showing that 640 million girls and women globally were married before age 18.
Karim also revealed troubling statistics about the country’s sexual health trends. A 2019 report recorded a sharp rise in adolescents being treated for sexually transmitted infections—from 16.8% in 2013 to 44.2% in 2019—highlighting the growing vulnerability of young girls to reproductive health complications.
Operating in Sierra Leone since 1986, Marie Stopes currently runs seven branches nationwide, providing services including family planning, reproductive health education, and pre-abortion care. The organization remains committed to collaborating with government and community partners to safeguard the well-being of adolescent girls across the country.
As the government prepares to roll out its 2025–2030 national strategy on adolescent pregnancy and child marriage, stakeholders are hopeful that increased awareness, healthcare reforms, and community engagement will turn the tide and secure a healthier future for the nation’s girls. PSN/21/5/2025
Where is the “Hand’s Off Our Girls” secretariats? Is this an indictment that the “Hand’s Off Our Girls” campaign was just a mere rhetoric and money milking venture without doing what they collected monies for especially monies allocated by the Ministry of Finance to this venture without the approval of Parliament. If girls as young as eight years are getting pregnant, then something is wrong seriously with the people collecting monies to campaign against child pregnancy, and to those entrusted to protect, guide and nurture the next generation of Girls in our country. Hands of Our Girls Secretariat should refund all state resources given to them for this gross failure.
That is so true