More than 1500 cases of teenage pregnancies cases were reported in Kajiado North cubcounty in 2022.
This is according to the Kajiado-based grassroots organisation A Pack A Month which works to end period poverty and protect women and girls.
The lobby reported that as of November 2022, more than 1500 teen pregnancies had been reported in the area.
Jackline Saleiyan, the founder of the organisation, said that the area was battling its share of the nationwide scourge.
“The country is grappling with the rise in teenage pregnancies. As of November 2022, reported cases were above 1500 in Kajiado North subcounty alone,” she said.
She was speaking during the annual Girls and Young Women Football Tournament on New Years Eve.
She said that for the past four years, they had supported 400 vulnerable girls and young women with sanitary pads.
“We aim to keep the girls in school by eradicating transactional sex for pads, which has been quite common in this area, and in turn leads to teenage pregnancies and increased STI infections,” she said.
The national statistics show that Kenya ranks third worldwide in teenage pregnancy numbers.
“One in every five adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 are already mothers or pregnant while 98 people aged 10 to 19 contract HIV every week in Kenya,” she said.
