COLLAB. Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Country Director Kim Eunsub delivers his message during a forum in Tacloban City on Sept. 7, 2023. KOICA has called for multisectoral collaboration in the fight against teenage pregnancy in Eastern Visayas. (Photo courtesy of KOICA)
TACLOBAN CITY – The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has called for multisectoral collaboration in the fight against teenage pregnancy in Eastern Visayas.
In a gathering here on Thursday, KOICA Country Director Kim Eunsub said they have been pushing for discussions on the challenges in the delivery of teenage pregnancy programs at the regional and local government levels.
“This policy forum is part of the KOICA Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (KOICA MNCH) Project of KOICA and World Vision that aims to ensure healthy lives of mothers and infants,” Eunsub said.
Joining the discussion were representatives of the regional offices of the Department of Health (DOH), Commission on Population and Development, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine National Police, National Nutrition Council, and Department of Education (DepEd).
Key officials of local government units in the region signed a pledge and commitment to address the problem of teenage pregnancy in Eastern Visayas.
“Through this project, we reaffirm our commitment to providing support to our development health partners here in the region. We truly hope that this project will further improve the health of women, children, and its other beneficiaries,” he added.
Last year, KOICA launched the PHP490 million project to fight teenage pregnancy in the region by establishing more health centers to help improve access to quality information and services for adolescents and raise self-awareness and rights.
The rollout of the project which began this year and will run until 2026, targets 275,538 adolescents aged 10 years to 19 years in Southern Leyte and the Samar provinces.
The project is a collaboration of KOICA, the United Nations Population Funds, United Nations Children’s Fund, World Health Organization, DOH, DepEd, and the provincial governments in the region.
Specifically, the initiative seeks to build the capacity of community adolescent health services, set up mobile health facilities, expand health insurance benefits for pregnant women, standardize and strengthen peer education, accelerate the integration of comprehensive sexuality education and teacher training, establish a local performance accountability system, support youth leadership and governance initiatives, and conduct research on early and forced marriages.
Based on the 2020 World Bank study, the Philippines is one of the countries in Southeast Asia with high adolescent birth rates – at least 56 per 1,000 women aged 15 years to 19 years.
In Eastern Visayas, the 2022 National Health and Demographic Survey found that 4.9 percent of teens in the region have experienced pregnancy. (PNA)
