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THEME: EDUCATION

 

Soroptimist Club of Slatina, Romania

 

Romania recorded the highest rate of births to teenage mothers in the European Union in 2016. According to new data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, more than 2,000 girls under the age of 16 give birth in Romania each year. Some are as young as 12. Besides 15.6% of first children in Romania were born to teenage mothers in 2016.

 

This reflects not only the difficulty young people have in accessing family planning services but also low educational aspiration. Teenage parents, often unequipped for the challenges of child-raising, will then pass many of their own problems onto the next generation.

 

When a girl becomes pregnant, her life can change radically. Her education may end and her job prospects diminish. She becomes more vulnerable to poverty and exclusion. Consequently, the Soroptimist Club of Slatina decided to ACT by sharing best practices and fostering school education programmes that increase respect for women’s reproductive freedoms and gender equality. Through this project and with the support of external partners (medical experts, psychologists, teachers, parents, etc.), the Soroptimists offered sexual and psychological education to young girls and boys who face problems that are confronted with moral and social issues. This project also serves as a platform of debate and exchanges.  The Soroptimist Club of Arendal – Grimstad (Norway) also participated to the project.