Stigma, funding cuts and Iran war put contraception out of reach for Africa’s girls

Zimbabwean teenager Kelly Nhedega once dreamed of finishing school and starting a career before having a family

EPWORTH, Zimbabwe -- Being a teen mother was far from what Zimbabwean Kelly Nhedega had imagined. The 18-year-old had mapped out a different future: finish school, train as a nurse and then start a family.

But when she became sexually active, contraception felt out of reach. The stigma of a young girl queuing for condoms, pills or a birth control implant at a crowded local clinic where other patients, or even health workers, could judge her or tell her parents, kept Nhedega away. She became pregnant at 16 and dropped out of school.

Now caring for an 18-month-old child, Nhedega recently obtained contraception discreetly as she tries to get back to a classroom.

"That’s a mission I have to complete first. More babies will mean less or no time for school,” she said, her toddler fidgeting on her lap.

As aid cuts and global shipping disruptions threaten access to contraception for girls in Africa , Nhedega's experience highlights a broader challenge that goes beyond whether contraceptives are being bought or stocked. Parental opposition, restrictive policies, stigma and the fear of being seen at a clinic can stand between girls and contraception, even as governments try to compensate for shrinking foreign aid .

Contraception is critical to helping adolescent girls avoid unintended pregnancies and the risks of childbirth , particularly given Africa’s high maternal mortality rates, experts say.

This is part of a series on maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa , which has the world’s fastest-growing population and accounts for 70% of global maternal deaths. Around 180,000 pregnancy deaths are recorded every year across the continent.

The United Nations Population Fund, or UNFPA, estimates that aid cuts will leave a $185 million shortfall in contraceptive funding globally this year. Nearly 1,400 reproductive health service facilities had closed globally by December, including 1,175 in Africa, leaving an estimated 5.9 million women without services, according to the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

Girls like Nhedega often depend on such basic places for contraception without being scrutinized or exposed. For Nhedega, that place was an aging blue-and-white caravan tucked into a discreet corner of a hospital in Epworth, a densely populated settlement on the outskirts of the capital, Harare.