Global campaign gives voice to child mothers
A photo exhibition on child mothers has been put together by Plan International and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as part of a campaign to create global awareness of the issues facing girls under 15 who become mothers but which issue tends to fall outside global and national statistics and programmes.
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Dubbed, #childmothers campaign, it is a web platform and travelling photo exhibition dedicated to the two million girls who give birth every year before they turn 15.
It tells their compelling stories — how insufficient knowledge, force or limited life opportunities have led to their current situation and how, in some cases, pregnancy puts their lives and health at stake.
The campaign #childmothers thus aims at preventing early motherhood and supporting young mothers.
Launch
The exhibition, which was displayed on Christiansborg Palace Square in the Danish Parliament, was officially opened by Crown Princess Mary of Denmark; the Speaker of the Danish Parliament, Pia Kjærsgaard; the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kristian Jensen; the Executive Director of the UNFPA, Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, and the CEO of Plan International, Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen.
The launch coincided with the Women Deliver conference and marked the beginning of a world tour of the exhibition.
The Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister, Nana Oye Lithur, was one of the African ministers who were invited to the Danish Parliament for the photo exhibition.
15 Young girls
Internationally acclaimed photographer Pieter ten Hoopen and journalist Sofia Klemming Nordenskiold visited the 15 young girls featured in the exhibition in five different countries.
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The pictures focused on how early and often unwanted pregnancies could radically change young girls' health and life choices.
One of the popular photos was that of 15-year-old Kiswendsida from Burkina Faso and her one-month-old daughter Koudbi. Kiswendsida lives with her daughter, her grandparents and her aunts on the outskirts of a city in Burkina Faso. She got pregnant at 14 and has been able to continue her education, thanks to support from her grandmother.