Unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion are serious public health issues in the Arab region that often go ignored, jeopardizing the health of women and families and placing a burden on society as a whole.
Abortion continues to be a key contributor to maternal mortalities and morbidities in the Arab states region.
The global trend towards smaller families is a reflection of people making reproductive choices to have as few or as many children as they want, when they want.
Girls are subject to child marriage, female genital mutilation and limited education and as such, are denied equality of opportunities.
This position paper presents several strong arguments about why it is imperative to address child marriage and adolescent pregnancy, if we want to succeed in harnessing the demographic dividend in West and Central Africa.
Child marriage in West and Central Africa is one of the biggest challenges in the region and has enormous adverse effects on education, health, including sexual and reproductive health, and on the overall development of adolescents and youth.