Edna is currently in neighboring Ethiopia to participate in the 3rd International Conference on Family Planning, which is an important issue for all sorts of reasons: Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chair of the African Union (AU), has thrown her weight behind calls to end child marriage, which is increasingly being identified by human rights activists and public health experts as a priority concern. We must do away with child marriage, Dlamini-Zuma said in a speech at the opening ceremony of the largest international summit on family planning. In too many African countries girls who end up as brides at a tender age are coerced into having children while they are children themselves. The third international conference on family planning, which opened on Tuesday at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, includes a special focus on reducing the rate of teenage pregnancies and ensuring that young people also have access to contraception. Dlamini-Zuma said it was paramount to keep up the momentum around expanding access to family planning, but argued that the conversation must go beyond fears of a population explosion. Family planning is not just about fewer kids, she said. Enabling women to have more choices about whether and when they have children must be seen as part of the quest for womens emancipation.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 17:21:27 +0000
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