Pregnant at 13, Tanzania's Child Mothers

FORWARD works on girls and women's rights in Tanzania. From one of our partnership projects with child mothers (with Children's Dignity Forum): the young women in this video have all endured child marriage, FGM and/or forced teenage pregnancy. Here they tell their own stories in their own words.

Produced by Thomson Reuters.

Tanzania has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in the world. More than 44% of girls have begun childbearing by the time they are 19.

You can support child mothers by donating to FORWARD's Make Child Mothers Count campaign: bit.ly/jgmcmc

In Tanzania many girls are forced to grow up too fast. The girls interviewed for this film had babies when they were still children themselves.

This is serious for many reasons. Not least, pregnancy cuts short a girl’s education. In Tanzania, girls are expelled from school when they get pregnant. And they are usually not allowed back after the birth even if they can afford the childcare for their new babies.

More than 55,000 girls have been expelled from school in the last decade for being pregnant, according to a study published last month.

One striking thing about the girls interviewed for this film is that they were keen to do well at school. They wanted to be lawyers, nurses and teachers. They wanted to escape the deprivation they were born into.

Read the report and learn more about FORWARD's work with girls and women in Tanzania on our website: www.forwarduk.org.uk

You can donate to our Make Child Mother Count In Tanzania campaign at http://ow.ly/SVcH30iWgyt