Nyandarua County authorities on February 21 confirmed to have registered over 600 teen pregnancy cases in the past three years.
According to the records shown to the stakeholders meeting, some of the cases are of girls as young as 14-yr-old.
Nyandarua Central Deputy County Commissioner, Peter Kimani, said there is a need for stakeholders to pool efforts to curb the problem.
The Forum for African Women Educationists (FAWE) organized the meeting, with Nyandarua Coordinator, Anthony Mwakwasha, highlighting the activities which will include interventions such as peer clubs in schools to create awareness to stem teenage pregnancies and child marriages.
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The County Director of Quality Assurance Standards, Samuel Ngugi, called for well-thought interventions that will not propagate stigma against the girls who are victims of child pregnancies.
According to the County’s HIV Coordinator Stephen Mwangi, on average 25 girls aged between 10-14 years get pregnant every year in Nyandarua.
“In the year 2020, 25 girls in that aged category got pregnant, the figure rose to 27 in the following year and last year it stood at 30 girls,” Mwangi said.
Mr. Mwangi said the pregnancies showed lack of use of condoms by sexually active groups in the County thus exposing themselves to risks of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.