Trigger warning: this article has references to rape and sexual assault

Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancies in the world (and rates continue to rise) due to the intersection of poverty and gender discrimination in the country. In fact, the government declared a national emergency over sexual and gender-based violence in 2021. The average age a woman has a baby is just 18 but despite the high rates of teen mothers, there continues to be strong stigma around young girls who become pregnant. As a result, they are usually forced to drop out of school and are often isolated in their communities.

We spoke with Sallay Kargbokamara, programme coordinator in Kabala, for the Count Me In project, about the situation. The project, led by Street Child and supported by the UK government, is ensuring inclusive education for the most marginalised children in Sierra Leone. Sallay explained why young motherhood is so common across the country.

When children complete their primary education and common entrance exams, girls and boys as young as 10, move to the nearest town to attend secondary school. These children are alone and vulnerable. They often do not have enough money to survive and look for alternative ways to support themselves. Sallay said “the girls engage in activities such as transactional sex which results in them dropping out of school, they stay alone and do things on their own, they need money for food. Many men force them into transactional sex. Some girls end up pregnant.”

The highest percentage of teen mothers come from rural areas where most households are female, single mothers. Single mothers are sometimes forced to send their daughters to the nearest towns to engage in transactional sex to bring money back home. With very little education surrounding contraception and sexual health, many girls become pregnant at a very young age.

Despite teen pregnancy being a common occurrence across Sierra Leone it is rarely spoken about due to the stigma surrounding it. As a result, caregivers are afraid to discuss sexual health and sex with their children.

Street Child have developed a holistic approach to tackling this issue and Sallay spoke about their work and specifically on the importance of breaking the stigma and encouraging positive parenting alongside addressing the barrier of poverty.

“We do what we call identification, we do family mediation, school enrolment and we contact families who have businesses. We train them and explain to them that their child is going to receive support from Street Child." Each family who is identified will receive a business grant, which means they choose a business, such as selling food or basic essentials such as firewood or soap at the local market. Street Child then guides them on how to make it profitable. The family will then use this money to enrol their children into school.

Sallay took us to meet Isata, a 14-year-old teen mother who has received support from Street Child. Isata is from a rural area in Sierra Leone. Her parents passed away when she was 10 years old and she became pregnant when she was just 12 years old. Despite wanting to continue to go to school, the stigma made her feel isolated and unwelcome and she dropped out.

Sallay was the Street Child social worker who identified Isata as a pregnant teen who could benefit from support. She would regularly visit Isata during her pregnancy, creating a safe space for her to discuss her feelings and challenges. She encouraged Isata to return to school when she was pregnant, explaining teen mothers in Sierra Leone have a right to free, quality education. With her support, Isata regained her confidence and went back to school while she was still pregnant. Isata gave birth to a healthy daughter who she named after Sallay. We asked Isata why she named her daughter after Sallay and she replied:

“I named my daughter after Sallay because of all the support she gave me, the encouragement, and the resilience to stay in school.”

Since giving birth to her daughter, Isata has received a teen mother support education package through the Count Me In project, which includes education materials and baby formula for her baby. Isata’s Uncle, who is now her caregiver, has been supported with a family business grant meaning he has grown his business and is now earning enough to support Sallay and Isata.

Isata was supported as part of Street Child’s ‘Count Me In’ project, ensuring inclusive education for the most marginalised children in Sierra Leone. This project was made possible by the public’s generous donations made to the Count me in campaign which was led by Street Child and supported by the UK government who doubled all donations.