Girls with higher levels of education are less likely to have an early and unintended pregnancy, the United Nations education agency said today, launching a new technical paper with recommendations for the education sector.<\/p>\n
\u201c
According to\u00a0Early and unintended pregnancy: Recommendations for the education sector<\/a>, in addition to the detrimental effects on health, social, economic and education of adolescent girls, early and unintended pregnancy also put the young mother’s and the child’s lives at risk.<\/p>\n \u201cPregnancy and childbirth complications are the second cause of death among 15- to 19-year-olds<\/a>, with approximately 70,000 adolescents affected annually,\u201d added Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵESCO.<\/p>\n With the new technical paper, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ agency aims to bridge the lack of operational guidance for the education sector on how to address early and unintended pregnancy, with recommendations including promotion of re-entry policies, comprehensive sexuality education for pregnancy prevention, access to school health services and safe school environments for girls.<\/p>\n In particular, it points to a review undertaken of 58 programmes in India which found that girls with secondary schooling were 70 per cent less likely to marry as children than illiterate girls.<\/p>\n It was commissioned to help Governments and education actors understand the effects of early and unintended pregnancy and the actions necessary to prevent it while also ensuring that all girls, including those who are pregnant and parenting, can realize their right to education in a safe and supportive school environment.<\/p>\n Pregnancy has to be integrated into the wider subject of life skills or sexuality education, not as a short, stand-alone topic<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cGreat strides are being made in improving access and retention for girls in the school system [but] policy implementation regarding early and unintended pregnancy must be emphasized to ensure the continuation of girls’ education in a safe and supportive environment,\u201d underscored Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵESCO.<\/p>\n In addition to the direct benefit for girls and their families, addressing this pressing problem also contributes to achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs<\/a>) including\u00a0Goal 1<\/a>\u00a0on eliminating poverty,\u00a0Goal 3<\/a>\u00a0on promoting healthier lives,\u00a0Goal 5<\/a>\u00a0on achieving gender equality and\u00a0Goal 16<\/a>on building peaceful and inclusive societies.<\/p>\n \u201cPregnancy has to be integrated into the wider subject of life skills or sexuality education, not as a short, stand-alone topic,\u201d said Joanna Herat, a Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵESCO official associated with its project on combatting early and unintended pregnancy.<\/p>\n \u201cBy integrating it into life skills or sexuality education, it also means that it is taught to both boys and girls \u2013 recognizing that both male and female learners have a role to play in making decisions about healthy sexual relationships, now and in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n The brief has been produced by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵESCO in collaboration with the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Population Fund (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵFPA<\/a>), the Ford foundation and Step Up, Strengthening evidence for programming on unintended pregnancy, is based on detailed\u00a0review<\/a>\u00a0of evidence. Its launch coincides with the 2017 London Family Planning Summit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n