Over 4,000 Ivorian schoolgirls pregnant in 2016-2017 academic year - report

4,471 schoolgirls in primary and secondary school were found pregnant in the Ivory Coast during the 2016-2017 academic year.

A report published early this year by the Ivorian Ministry of National and Technical Education says the girls are between the ages 13 and 17 years old and were forced to drop out of school due to their condition.

The figure is an improvement from the 2015-2016 academic year that recorded 5,900 cases, and 6,800 cases in the 2014-2015 academic year.

The alarming levels of pregnancies among school going girls have resulted in several sensitization programmes launched by the Ivorian government and civil society organisations to educate the youth about sexual and reproductive health.

In developing countries, 7.3 million girls under the age of 18 give birth each year, according to the 2016 UNFPA State of World Population report.

In Ivory Coast, the adolescent birth rate is 135 per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19.