Background
Adolescent pregnancy continues to pose a major public health challenge, with far-reaching health, social, and economic consequences. Adolescent girls aged 15–19 years in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have an estimated 21 million pregnancies each year, half of which are unintended. While global adolescent birth rates have declined from 64.5 births per 1000 women aged 15–19 years in 2000 to 42.5 births per 1000 women of the same age in 2021, progress has been uneven across different regions of the world, with the sharpest decline occurring in Southern, Central, and Western Asia and North Africa, and slower declines in Latin American, and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. Likewise, there are substantial differences in adolescent pregnancy rates within regions and countries, with rates highest among girls with less education and/or of low economic status. Drivers include child marriage, limited educational and employment opportunities, child sexual abuse and intimate partner violence, as well as the lack of access to comprehensive sexuality education and contraceptive services and comprehensive age-and-gender responsive and inclusive SRH services.
In response to evolving evidence and persistent disparities, WHO updated its 2011 guideline on preventing early pregnancy and poor reproductive outcomes among adolescents in LMICs and launched the guideline in May 2025. The 2025 Updated Guidelines focus on two areas not previously addressed:
• preventing child marriage and supporting the needs and rights of married girls, and
• improving access to, uptake of, and continued use of contraception among adolescents.
The guideline is based on systematic evidence reviews and global programmatic experience, synthesized through expert input, including through diverse stakeholders from all WHO regions, including young people, researchers, implementers, and policymakers.
New recommendations address individual and structural determinants of early pregnancy, including gender norms, financial barriers, limited educational and economic opportunities, and restrictive laws and policies. The guideline underscores the importance of gender-transformative approaches, multisectoral action, and the meaningful engagement of adolescents.
The uptake and impact of the updated guideline will depend on countries' abilities to adapt the guideline recommendations to the local context and integrate recommended interventions within existing systems.
Objectives of the workshop
The purpose of the proposed interactive workshop is part of a broader strategy to catalyze country-level uptake of the updated guideline. Specifically, this pre-ICFP conference workshop aims to engage with the diverse stakeholders at the ICFP conference including youth advocates and representatives of youth-led organizations, government representatives, programme implementers, researchers, funders, and civil society actors working across adolescent SRHR, especially those active in implementation and accountability at national or community levels.
The objectives of this are to:
• Identify opportunities, practical tools and enablers to facilitate the uptake of WHO recommendations on child marriage and adolescent contraception.
• Identify locally grounded approaches required to adapt the guidelines to context.
• Work with youth organizations to identify how young people can support and facilitate uptake of guidelines.
Background Adolescent pregnancy continues to pose a major public health challenge, with far-reaching health, social, and economic consequences. Adolescent girls aged 15–19 years in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have an estimated 21 million pregnancies each year, half of which are unintended. While global adolescent birth rates have declined from 64.5 births per 1000 women aged 15–19 years in 2000 to 42.5 births per 1000 women of the same age in 2021, progress has been uneven across different regions of the world, with the sharpest decline occurring in Southern, Central, and Western Asia and North Africa, and slower declines in Latin American, and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. Likewise, there are substantial differences in adolescent pregnancy rates within regions and countries, with rates highest among girls with less education and/or of low economic status. Drivers include child marriage, limited educational and employment opportunities, child sexual abuse and intimate partner violence, as well as the lack of access to comprehensive sexuality education and contraceptive services and comprehensive age-and-gender responsive and inclusive SRH services.In response to evolving evidence and persistent disparities, WHO updated its 2011 guideline on preventing early pregnancy and poor reproductive outcomes among adolescents in LMICs and launched the guideline in May 2025. The 2025 Updated Guidelines focus on two areas not previously addressed: • preventing child marriage and supporting the needs and rights of married girls, and • improving access to, uptake of, and continued use of contraception among adolescents. The guideline is based on systematic evidence reviews and global programmatic experience, synthesized through expert ...
Ágora Room HI ICFP 2025 info@theicfp.orgTechnical Issues?
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