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The lockdown has led to a worrying increase in teenage pregnancies, Kenyan officials say.
To limit the spread of the virus, all schools in Kenya were closed in mid-March as part of health measures announced by the government. A restriction that has led to a significant increase in teenage pregnancies. According to Kenyan government figures, 4,000 underage girls have become pregnant since the start of the year.
Authorities fear the numbers are actually much higher as teenage pregnancies are often underreported. The country's political leaders have called on the government to investigate the increase in numbers.
More than 1.2 million children are out of school
Access to education is still difficult for many children in Kenya. According to figures from Unicef, more than 1.2 million of them are out of school. Particularly because of the lack of resources in schools, the lack of inclusion of disabled children, the denigration of education by pastoral societies and the territorial distance from school, according to the NGO Humanium. To survive, some girls have no other choice but to help the family by working, others are victims of child prostitution. A plague aggravated by confinement for his young daughters.
As a reminder, Kenya has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world, with 82 births per 1,000.