Basic Education Minister Mrs Angie Motshekga will join Education Ministers from African countries including Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe to launch the Let’s Talk’ – the Early and Unintended Pregnancy (EUP) Campaign for girls across the continent.

“Let’s Talk is a social and behaviour change Campaign to reduce early and unplanned pregnancies across 21 countries in the Eastern and Southern Africa region, which has one of the highest adolescent fertility rates in the world.

EUP is driven by multiple factors that include poverty, lack of information and access to reproductive health services, cultural norms, peer pressure and sexual coercion and abuse. 

EUP also jeopardizes educational attainment for girls through school drop-out and decreased school completion. Preventing EUP is therefore an important component of a wider response to ensuring the right to education for all girls. 

Achieving this requires an effective response from the education sector, in collaboration with other sectors. The launch is an effort by African Ministers of Education to recognize the magnitude and impact of EUP and to reinforce Government’s commitment to addressing EUP in the Sub-Saharan region.

Media is invited to the launch as follows:

Date:              Tomorrow, Wednesday, 31 July 2019

Time:             17h00

Venue:           Hilton Hotel Sandton, Rivonia Road, Sandton, Johannesburg

Enquiries:      Elijah Mhlanga:                   083 580 8275 (Department Spokesperson)

                        Hope Mokgatlhe:                  079 817 0427 (Minister’s Spokesperson)

ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION