Reduce early pregnancies

In Mozambique, early pregnancy and early marriage affect in general, one in every two girls and correlation analysis of main determinants stunting has shown strong association between childhood stunting with early pregnancy and mother’s education level. Pregnancy during adolescence forces the young mother’s body to compete with the fetus for nutrients which increases the risk of intrauterine growth restrictions resulting babies born small for gestational age or preterm, hence, higher likelihood of stunting in early childhood.

Anemia and malnutrition in adolescents is also concerning in Mozambique. Stunting in adolescents (10-19 years of age) is 34 percent, low BMI is 7.5 percent (IOF 2022) and 54.4 percent of girls aged between 15-19 years are anemic (DHS 2022/23). Children born to undernourished adolescents face linear growth faltering and impaired cognitive development.

Against the above backdrop, The Government of Mozambique, led by the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with Ministry of Work, Gender and Social Action; and the Ministry of Youth and Sports; Education and Culture inter alia, commits to improve adolescent nutrition by integrating delivery of iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation and sexual and reproductive health platforms (family planning, SAAJ, post-abortion care), and to contribute to the reduction of the percentage of early pregnancies amongst adolescent girls between 15 and 19 years of age by at least 5 percentage points, from 35% in 2022 to 31% by 2030. Key actions include: • Conducting action for prevention of early pregnancies • Strengthening of actions to prevent early unions • Increase access to contraceptives and menstrual kits • Expand the Adolescents and Youth Friendly Services (SAAJ) network • Build life capacities of adolescents and youth. • Increase enrollment and retention of girls in schools. The means of verification will be the community-based survey, SIS-MA and the semester and annual progress reports.