Abstract:
Governments have committed themselves at international human rights
fora to prioritising programmes aimed at adolescents’ development and
wellbeing, particularly their educational and health needs. Such
programmes include those focused on adolescents’ sexual and
reproductive health, and are aimed at enabling adolescents to manage in
a positive manner their awakening sexuality. African countries, too, have
focused their efforts on adolescents. Despite commitment by governments,
an alarmingly high rate of unintended pregnancies among Africa’s
adolescents persists. These unintended pregnancies are associated with a
low level of contraceptive use, especially among adolescent girls who face
significant discrimination and inequality when accessing contraceptive
information and services, including specific information on where and how
to access emergency contraceptives. This situation flies in the face of the
realisation that unconditional and unhindered access to emergency
contraceptives is an important tool to protect adolescent girls from sexual
ill-health and maternal mortality and morbidity. In light of obstacles in the
way of adolescent girls’ access to emergency contraception in the African
region, the comments of the various treaty-monitoring bodies are
highlighted in the article in order to strengthen arguments in support of
African adolescents’ access to emergency contraception. Additionally,
mechanisms which may be adopted to overcome obstacles that hinder adolescents’ access and use of emergency contraceptives are examined in order to determine whether they may be beneficial in ensuring African
adolescents’ access to emergency contraception. Although the study is
comparative in nature, specific attention is paid to Nigerian adolescents’
access to emergency contraception.
