What Have Parents in Uganda Done or Not Done to Protect Teenagers from Pregnancy and Early Marriages? An Ethnographic Study

Stella Neema, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Makerere University
Christine Muhumuza, Makerere University, school of Public Health
Florence Mpabulungi Tagoola, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Globally, teenage pregnancy is a serious development concern. Uganda’s adolescent fertility rate is among the highest in the Eastern Africa region. Ugandan adolescent girls start their sexual activities and also get into marriage earlier. An applied ethnographic study design was employed using focus group discussions, observations, indepth interviews and key informant interviews in six districts of Uganda. Qualitative thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data guided by ecological model. Five thematic areas emerged: Poor or lack of communication between parents and teenagers; lack of parental guidance; Poverty, parental pressure/violence; girls as source of wealth. Parents have tried to counsel and control their teenage girls to avoid pregnancies. Protective factors included religiosity, being in school, both parents are staying together. Factors are deeply embedded in social-cultural systems of communities and the prevailing familial circumstances and drive teenage pregnancy and early marriage with implications to achieving a demographic dividend.