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{
    "id": 491024,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/491024/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 148,
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    "content": "and made fun of. Unless somebody is very focused, they sort of lose it and are not able to proceed with what they want to do. Poverty has been mentioned as a fact and it is true. It is unfortunate that many girls are lured into sexual activities because they do not have money. Most of them come from poor families. There is also the issue of early engagements, especially for young girls as a result of media and internet influence. This is a key cause that pushes them to the level of trying to move into relations which they are not ready to handle. Considering that out of 960 million people who are illiterate, two-thirds are women, I think illiteracy contributes to the problem as well. At the end of the day, there is a co-relation between high levels of education, infant mortality, pregnancy and child mortality. If somebody continues with education, chances that they will move away from these phenomena tend to be higher rather than lower. In many cultures, there is a demand for more children, more than the women are ready to have, especially in West Africa. In West Africa, birth rates among teenagers and pre-teens tend to be higher than in East Africa because more men want to have more children. What happens in a situation where the family would like to have more children and the man decides to marry another wife? Some of those married are young girls. It is very unfortunate, and I think somebody went to court this week, that some people are coming from the developed world to marry child brides. They pay dowry and go on to impregnate them, but unfortunately take off immediately. They live this person with a scourge and a reality that she might not deal with and yet we do not have the infrastructure to help her. She cannot do much because she does not know how to practise agriculture, she does not have training in tailoring or computers. This is a subset of our population that we must narrow down to and come up with programmes to focus on them. Having gone through those experiences, they become better learners and they feel that they can change their fortunes. Since they have already seen the situation they are and will be happy to change their fortunes and make things better for themselves. Moreover, that will help them to take care of their own children who become a liability to them. Therefore, some sort of capacity building needs to be put into place. I think a Bill is coming from Sen. Sijeny to deal with the area of reproductive health. It addresses problems encountered by teenagers, what they are doing right or wrong, what needs to be discussed and so on. We, as a Senate, should not shy away in being frank and very clear about sending a message so that we save the next generation. By getting pregnant, it shows that they are not using any sort of protection. It means that the chances of getting HIV/AIDS are higher. It also means that they will give birth to children who are also infected. So, it becomes a vicious cycle for this society to deal with. The issue of funding, therefore, becomes critical and how those programmes are going to be made sustainable. What sort of kitty are we looking at?"
}