Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
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Damascus, SANA- Countries around the world marks on July 11th the World Population Day.
In 2016, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) chose the theme “investing in teenage girls” for marking this occasion, with the aim of achieving programs that contribute to reducing the phenomena of child marriage and teenage pregnancy and empowering girls to make important decisions regarding their health.
In a letter of which SANA received a copy, the UNFPA said that during 2015, its programs enabled more than 11 million girls whose ages ranged from 10 to 19 years to acquire knowledge about reproductive health and health services, since teenage girls face significant challenges all over the world, one of these challenges being child marriage and motherhood.
Executive Director of the UNFPA Babatunde Osotimehin called on leaders of communities to support human rights, particularly the rights teenage girls since they are the most marginalized, especially the poor and those who don’t attend schools, in addition to those who suffer from traditional practices like child marriage, pointing out that every girl has the right to decide her future.
In Syria, the Syrian Commission for Family and Population Affairs is working to respond to the demographic changes taking place due to the crisis and this is done via development policies and plans, as well as working to achieve balance between the population and economic growth.
It should be noted that before the crisis, Syria made considerable strides in improving demographic and social indicators, and it was very close to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly those related to education and reproductive health.
Qabas/ Hazem Sabbagh
