Wong Foundation and De Waal Foundation seek to prevent adolescent pregnancy

Since September 2024 has been underway the program “Growing up is my commitment”, created with the objective of promoting a culture of teenage pregnancy prevention in three educational units sponsored by the Wong Foundation, an initiative that is carried out jointly by this institution and the de Waal Foundation.

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), when an adolescent becomes a mother, her sexual and reproductive rights, as well as her rights to health, education, among others, are violated in the short term. However, the consequences also occur in the medium and long term: her development potential, her possibility of earning a decent income and her future may be at risk.

It is also likely, according to UNFPA, that these adolescents will be trapped in a vicious circle of poverty and exclusion, which will mainly affect them, but will also limit the opportunities for their children and, in aggregate, given the magnitude of the problem in the region, will affect the reality of their communities and countries.

Ricardo Romero, director of the Wong Foundation, explained: “Although teenage pregnancy statistics in Ecuador have gone down, which is extraordinary, until last year we had an average of three pregnancies per year for each of our foundation schools. That means nine girls and probably nine boys at risk of dropping out of school, because many of those girls don't return after giving birth, and many of those boys don't return either because they have to work. All of this perpetuates the circuits of poverty in our communities.”

Aware of this complex reality, last December, a group of teachers from the three educational units sponsored by Wong Foundation were trained in the course “ I Decide: Teenage Pregnancy Prevention and Life Plan”, in which they addressed topics such as: Approaches to prevention and promotion of maternal and child welfare and human welfare, sexual rights and reproductive rights, among others.

The objective of these workshops was to provide teachers with tools and knowledge to support both the prevention of teenage pregnancy and the comprehensive development of students, promoting a holistic approach to health and rights.

The teachers then replicated their acquired knowledge at an open house attended by students from the three schools.

Ricardo Romero added: “In economic terms, if a boy becomes pregnant as an adolescent, he will generate around $200,000 less throughout his life, this has to do with all the opportunities lost due to an adolescent pregnancy. If you add to this the fact that this problem is connected with others, such as organized crime, you realize that if we attack it now, we will avoid future situations”.
Santiago Recalde, executive director of de Waal Foundation in Ecuador, explained: “With this program, we want adolescents to be able to build a life plan and avoid the risk of having an unwanted pregnancy that interrupts this life plan. The first stage of this plan lasts 18 months and the idea is to continue it for the next three years”.

Through this alliance, the Wong Foundation and de Waal Foundation are responding to a problem that affects the development of rural communities in the country.