United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Zimbabwe Country Representative Esther Muia has said family planning is an empowerment tool for women at a media briefing for the World Population Day in Harare today.
The World Population Day has since 1989 been commemorated every year and the theme for this year is “Family Planning is a Human Right”.
“When a woman can plan her family, she can plan her life and be more productive,” said Muia. “She can pursue more education, seek and keep better jobs, and contribute more to her family, community and the nation as a whole.”
“As she becomes better-off financially, her children receive better education, and the benefits carry over well into the future generations cutting the cycle of poverty while advancing the rights of women.”
UNFPA Representative also said young people also require more information and services to manage their reproductive lives.
“This information and services will also protect young people’s lives,” Muia said. “The more information they have, the better choices they can make to be able to fulfill their futures.”
“We need to invest more in our young people to have a brighter Zimbabwe and Family Planning can help us do this.”
Pregnancy and childbirth related complications are the number-one killer of girls aged 15 to 19 in Zimbabwe, a country that has over 2 million users of Family Planning.
Empowerment of women has been hampered worldwide by unbalanced terms and conditions of employment, recruitment, retention, re-entry, promotion and progression to senior management positions and the retirement and dismissal of women according to outcomes of the 61st session commission on the status of women.
Although Zimbabwe’s economic situation is negatively affecting everyone, women suffer more as they have a burden of raising the family according to Advocate Fadzai Mahere on a BBC radio program.
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