This study explored teenage mothers' narratives on challenges and resilience in alternative secondary education pathways (ASEP).

Zambia has witnessed a surge in teenage pregnancies at the primary school level since the introduction of the school pregnancy re-entry policy (REP) in 1997, which replaced the expulsion policy, resulting in some stakeholders questioning its worth.

Across Eastern and Southern Africa, many pregnant and parenting adolescents remain excluded from school despite growing commitments to their right to education.

Zambia faces a persistent challenge: 29% of young women are married before age 18. This in-depth study moves beyond statistics to examine the underlying gendered social norms that create an "enabling environment" for these outcomes.

Globally, complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of death among adolescent girls aged 15–19 years. In Zambia, nearly three in ten adolescent girls have begun childbearing, with rates as high as 35% in rural areas.

The objective of this narrative review of the literature was to present a detailed understanding of unintended adolescent pregnancies and explore the factors associated with these pregnancies, their consequences, and any gaps identified in the extant literature.

Despite recent policy reforms, such as Education Circular No. 2 of 2021 and the Secondary Education Quality Improvement Programme (SEQUIP) initiative, aimed at facilitating school re-entry, adolescent mothers continue to face considerable emotional, financial, and institutional challenges.

Condom education campaigns that aim to prevent early and unintended pregnancies can be undermined by local gender norms, religious edicts and ineffective sexuality education policies. In some schools in Ghana, both condom education and abstinence only education run concurrently.

Gender is crucial in understanding the sexual behaviour of adolescents regarding their condom use and sexual experiences.

Unintended pregnancy compromises many women’s and girls’ ability to pursue the lives that they want. The conditional unintended pregnancy rate (CUPR) is a measure of unintended pregnancy among women who wish to avoid getting pregnant.