'Adolescents still get married at early age'

The mean age at marriage for female was 14.3 years while for male it was 22.2 years, reveals a recently concluded endline survey on adolescent reproductive health (ARH).

The findings of the survey were disclosed at a dissemination session titled 'Lessons Learned and Endline Survey on Adolescent Reproductive Health' at a city hotel yesterday.

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The three-year survey, designed to improve reproductive health status of adolescent girls, was conducted by the Department of Youth Development in collaboration with the UNFPA.

The three-phases survey in four districts under a project titled 'An initiative for improving reproductive health of adolescent girls in Bangladesh through peer education and personal social education' found that nearly 40 percent of married adolescent girls have never used contraceptives.

The findings on early marriage showed that millions of adolescent, about 23 percent of the total population, are now faced with the impact of early marriage that includes incomplete education, child bearing, and threat of HIV/Aids transmission.

The survey also showed that around 48 percent of 15-19 years old adolescent girls are married, and about 60 percent of them are becoming mothers before reaching the age of 19.

The findings also pointed out that a high percentage of adolescents were lacking adequate knowledge on prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

"We must acknowledge our responsibilities for the overwhelming young population of the country," said State Minister for Youth and Sports Md Fazlur Rahman while speaking as chief guest at the session.

He requested UNFPA to continue such projects and use the findings in future policy formulation.

Suneeta Mukherjee, UNFPA Representative in Bangladesh, said adolescents make up about one fourth of the total population. They need life skills and right sexual and reproductive health knowledge.

She said, "With limited knowledge about their bodies and physical changes they are highly vulnerable to unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Early marriage often leads to early childbearing which not only limit life opportunities but also carries serious health risk."

Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Syed Shujauddin Ahmed and Director General of the Department of Youth Development SM Waliur Rahman also spoke.

In his keynote presentation, Dr Noor Mohammad of UNFPA shared the ARH project experiences while Dr Khalid Hasan of ACNielsen presented the study findings at the working session.

Professionals from development partners, NGOs and academics were also present.