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Haiti - Social : «Investing in teenage girls» 11/07/2016 11:07:07
The State Secretariat for Population and the UNFPA –in collaboration with other United Nations (UN) agencies such as UNICEF, the UN Volunteers Program and MINUSTAH, celebrate this year the World Population Day around the theme "Investing in teenage girls". The event will take place on Monday, 11 July with the presence of several Haitian ministers and the UNFPA representative in Haiti. 57% of the Haitian population is less than 24 years old (6.2 million of the 10.9 million inhabitants) and this characteristic represents great potential for development and economic growth, but only if the youth has access to good education, health care and employment opportunities. However, according to the representative of the UNFPA, Marielle Sander, investing in adolescent girls’ rights and allowing them to plan their families is essential to benefit from these possibilities of economic growth and to place the State in a position to provide basic services to the population. "To advance economic growth and development in Haiti, it is really important that each teenage girl has the right to have control over her own body and over her future. A pregnancy by choice, not by chance". As per today, 11% of adolescent girls in Haiti have already had at least one baby. UNFPA's studies conclude that, in the Caribbean region, each dollar invested in education for youth provides a return of 12.7% for each additional year of schooling. This benefit is even higher in the case of teenage girls with access to secondary school (18% of return per year). The return on the investments benefiting the population is also noticeable in the health sector, where each dollar invested in training of midwifes returns multiplied by 16, benefiting the economy of the country. In regards to adolescent girls, the United Nations underline that, even though they are key actors of development, they are also among the most vulnerable to different challenges such as natural disasters, lack of access to basic services, unequal labor conditions, environment degradation, limited access to water and sanitation, and water-borne diseases. According to the last household survey (ECWAS 2012) indicates that 6 million of the 10.4 million inhabitants in Haiti (59%) live below the US$ 2 a day poverty line and more than 2.5 million (24%) live below the US$ 1, 25 a day poverty line. Haiti is also one of the countries with the greatest inequalities in the world; and the richest 20% receive 64% of the total revenues for the country. These inequalities have an especial impact on youth. According to the Millennium Development Goals report, 57% of youth from the metropolitan area suffer from unemployment. In Haiti, youth between 10 and 19 years old represent 21.7% of the population. At this critical stage of their lives, they need to be in a position to develop their potential and to have prosperous and healthy lives. Therefore, specific interventions are needed to address obstacles such as violence, rape and early pregnancies. In addition, it remains crucial to protect the rights of the child, preventing child exploitation. According to data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the last reports from the UN, today more than 200.000 children are domestic workers in Haiti. https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-16846-icihaiti-social-over-200-000-domestic-slaves-under-15-years-in-the-country.html HL/ HaitiLibre
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