Pader Records Over 1,100 Teenage Pregnancies In Six Months

23 September 2025, 9:10 am

By Otim Moses

Pader District has registered 1,150 teenage pregnancies in just the first half of 2025.

The alarming figures were presented by Mr. Okidi Festo, the District Community Development Officer, during the Adolescent Health Committee meeting organized by ADRA at Bomah Hotel in Kitgum.

Data from Pajule Health Centre Four, Pader Health Centre Three, and Awere Health Centre Three shows January alone had 226 cases, February 187 cases, March 175, April 196, May recorded 211 cases and June 155, bringing the six-month total to more than one thousand teenage pregnancies.

Okidi blamed the crisis on weak family guidance and poverty, which he said push young girls into risky relationships. He stressed that sensitization alone is not enough, urging stronger family mentorship and greater investment in household incomes.

He also encouraged farmers in Acholi sub-region to shift from subsistence to large-scale farming as a way to fight poverty, which he believes is at the root of rising teenage pregnancies.