Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Women in Palorinya refugee settlement in Obongi district have decried about the rampant cases of teenage pregnancy and early marriages which they said if not
addressed, may degenerate into a much worse situation for the society in the future. They now want a concerted effort to address it especially during the current situation
of Covid-19 pandemic where everyone seems to be running away from their responsibilities. Speaking during the meeting on Wednesday, Ms Janice Pikwo, the women representative at
Kaal Umua said there was a need for collective intervention for the vice to reduce because cultural institutions could come out with pronouncements but if
there was no government or religious leaders’ support, it may not work. “Parents tend to blame their children more yet in reality most parents have failed in
parenting their children right from childhood, so it becomes difficult to correct them when they are older”, she said She said the issue of children’s rights has been a big challenge where some parents
have been arrested for allegedly abusing the rights of their children which has in turn instilled fear in them hence leaving their children to do what they
want. Ms Sharon Kiden, 19, said she got married at the age of 14 because her parents failed to provide her with the basic needs, she needed for school but after
having 2 children, she left the marriage due to constant abuse. She is now back in the home of her parents. “Youths need a collective social support system in order to tackle the anti-social
behaviour among them because most of the girls who get pregnant or marry at an early age end up becoming a burden to both parents and society Kiden said.
Chief Tombe James a cultural leader for madi said the rise in teenage pregnancy and child marriage was due to loss of respect for cultural values and trading
traditional culture for foreign one. “To restore respect and cultural values, there is a need to bring back the fireplace, social media has come to stay but we need to come out with laws to
guide the youths and clan leaders to take lead”, he said. According to the district statistics, between August and September 2021, Moyo district registered 50 teenage pregnancies.
