Towards 2040: Defining an African Human Rights Framework on the Right to Education of Pregnant Girls and Adolescent Mothers

Background

Current estimates show that one in every five adolescent girls in Africa become pregnant before they turn 19.[2] In 24 African countries, more than 25 percent of women ages 20 to 24 gave birth before turning 18.[3]

UNESCO estimates that 34 million adolescent girls are out of primary and secondary school across Africa.[4] In 2024, UNICEF reported that six million pregnant and parenting girls ages 10 to 19 were estimated to be out of school; less than 5 percent of girls return to school after pregnancy.[5] Girls experience compounded challenges, including education loss as a result of numerous interruptions to schooling, financial barriers due to the lack of free education, discriminatory, or stigmatizing school practices when they consider returning to or re-registering in school, and the lack of catch-up opportunities for adolescent girls who have been out of school for prolonged periods of time, including due to school closures and displacement.[6]

In many cases, pregnant girls are stripped of autonomy, the right to be meaningfully engaged, access to information and services, and the right to be heard and make decisions on matters that affect them when teachers, school and health officials, parents and guardians make schooling and other life-altering decisions on their behalf. Many adolescent girls who are pregnant or parenting face stigma, exclusion and discrimination in schools, even where national policies or laws safeguard their right to education.[7] Punitive approaches and practices still abound across many countries: policymakers, government officials, and religious leaders, among others, use their platforms to advocate strongly for measures that would isolate adolescent mothers and deprive them of their right to education on an equal basis with their peers.[8]

The reality faced by many girls across Africa demonstrates that there is an urgent need to address the implementation gap between states parties’ obligations under the African human rights treaties and the actions and measures taken by African governments to uphold or hinder the right to education of pregnant girls and adolescent mothers. A comprehensive and African human rights framework, led by the ACERWC, is therefore imperative.

Early and Unintended Pregnancies: A Continuum of Human Rights Violations

Continued high rates of early and unintended pregnancy among girls can be attributed to complex, inter-related individual and sociocultural factors that exacerbate adolescent pregnancies: poverty and income inequalities, patriarchal norms, gender-based discrimination, endemic sexual violence, barriers to education, and lack of sexual autonomy, among others.[9]

Other intersectional barriers that perpetuate human rights violations against girls include:

Existing Frameworks and Protection Gaps Across the African Union

Under the African Charter, states should “take all appropriate measures to ensure that children who become pregnant before completing their education shall have an opportunity to continue with their education on the basis of their individual ability.”[16]

Across Africa, many governments have undertaken important efforts and measures to protect the right to education of girls who are pregnant or parenting. The majority of AU member states now have frameworks in place that outline measures related to the education of adolescent girls who are pregnant or are mothers.[17] Some governments have also adopted important measures to ensure adolescents can access sexual and reproductive health information and services, including through comprehensive sexuality education.[18]

Yet, across most countries with existing frameworks, the existence of policies alone does not translate into adequate enforcement, implementation, and practice at the school level. Laws and policies guaranteeing re-entry or continuation are not adequately resourced, well-monitored, or effectively enforced.[19] Progress in the adoption of positive frameworks has varied by sub-region: while the majority of countries in Western, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa have measures in place, all countries in North Africa, as well as countries in the Horn of Africa, still lack adequate frameworks to protect girls’ right to education during and after pregnancy.[20]

Important Progress Across Africa

Most African countries have frameworks that regulate adolescent girls’ enrollment and/or retention in school during and after pregnancy. At least 38 African countries have adopted laws, policies, binding orders or regulations and guidelines that outline provisions that enable girls to resume their education after pregnancy.[21] By 2022, several countries that adhered to punitive and highly discriminatory school bans targeting pregnant or parenting girls, including Niger, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Togo, had revoked them.[22]

Among them, 10 countries have national laws, including child rights legislation, that protect girls’ education during and after pregnancy, and/or specifically protect adolescent mothers’ right to education, though some lack a complementary policy framework to guide their implementation.[23]

At least five countries have adopted policies or legally binding measures that encourage “continuation” in studying: that is, they do not mandate an interruption in schooling.[24] Such policies allow pregnant students to choose to remain in school without a mandatory absence at any point during or after pregnancy. They also stipulate students’ ability to stop studying temporarily for childbirth and associated physical and mental health needs, and the option to resume schooling after birth, free from intricate conditions.[25]

At least 17 countries have adopted policy measures regarding girls’ “re-entry” into formal education.[26] Some governments have only adopted regulations or guidelines on “re-entry.”[27] Most “re-entry” policies are conditional: they require that pregnant girls and young mothers drop out of school but provide avenues to return, provided girls fulfill certain conditions.[28] Some policies also prescribe that if the person responsible for the pregnancy is a student, he should also take leave of absence.[29]

Notwithstanding government efforts to adopt robust policies to guide girls’ re-entry, an in-depth analysis of policies shows that some contain measures that contravene girl’s rights, while many have been shown to undermine girls’ right to education and, when implemented at the school level, have also imposed further barriers for students that directly contravene children’s rights. For example, some policies encourage or authorize mandatory pregnancy testing.[30] Faced with the threat of being singled out through mandatory pregnancy testing, many girls may decide to drop out preemptively, even before a teacher or school official has found out about the pregnancy. This makes it harder to track what has happened to these students and ensure their return to school.[31]

Some policies stipulate long mandatory periods of maternity leave, often on the grounds that girls should focus on infant feeding and childcare – yet, these often go beyond current World Health Organization recommendations on exclusive breastfeeding of infant children,[32] and sometimes exceed maternity leave periods for adult women in the same jurisdictions.[33] In many countries, girls are required to meet numerous administrative conditions or requirements before their readmission, including presenting medical certificates and/or letters to certify they can return to school.[34] These conditions constitute access barriers that render it extremely difficult for girls, especially those who lack family or community support and already face significant financial barriers, to initiate re-entry procedures.

Low levels of awareness of readmission policies, including among girls, parents, school, and Ministry of Education officials, often limits enforcement and full implementation of these policies.[35] Some evaluations of national policy implementation have highlighted significant challenges in the dissemination and monitoring of policies at the school level and ensuring accountability in situations where school officials or teachers contravene legal or policy measures and reject or expel girls from school.[36]

Analysis from various contexts where “re-entry” and “continuation” measures are in place shows that governments have typically not allocated adequate financial resources to ensure the implementation of measures outlined centrally, including budgets for ministries tasked with child protection, child welfare and sexual and reproductive health.[37]

More Work to be Done to Bridge the Protection Gap in Africa

Nearly 20 African countries still lack a standalone policy, regulations or other legally binding measures that safeguard pregnant girls’ and adolescent mothers’ right to education.[38] This includes a handful of countries with high adolescent pregnancy rates, including Mozambique and Tanzania, that have removed school bans or highly restrictive policies in recent years but have yet to enact an enabling legal and policy framework that comprehensively supports pregnant and parenting girls to enjoy their right to education.[39] This also includes a minority of countries with penal provisions that protect students against exclusion because of pregnancy.[40]

This notable gap means many pregnant girls and adolescent mothers will continue to experience discrimination and exclusion in the absence of policies that explicitly protect access to education, and address social, financial, academic, and/or displacement-related barriers to continuing girls’ formal schooling.[41]

A handful of countries, predominantly in North Africa, adhere to laws and policies that criminalize sexual behavior outside of marriage.[42] Such measures stigmatize adolescent girls who are pregnant and not married, including girls who have experienced sexual violence and other human rights abuses often with no redress, nor access to justice and protective measures.[43]

Insufficient Links Between the Right to Education and Protection of Adolescents’ Sexual and Reproductive Rights

Adolescents’ lack of access to comprehensive sexuality education, coupled with the denial of or limited availability and accessibility of adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services, expose many girls to early and unintended pregnancies.[45] Many adolescents report having very limited knowledge of sex, pregnancy prevention, prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and other basic reproductive health matters.[46]

Progress in the rollout of age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education—an integral component of the right to education[47] and a powerful tool to prevent early and unintended pregnancies through scientifically accurate and evidence-based information—has not been on par with the urgency of ensuring a greater number of children and young people have access to essential information.[48] A strong movement that seeks to oppose and erode adolescents’ sexual and reproductive rights, through disinformation and legal retrogressions, also risks further worsening the reality faced by girls across the continent, reversing important progress made by numerous African governments, AU human rights bodies, and civil society.[49]

All African governments should adopt comprehensive responses and take all appropriate measures to adequately support pregnant girls and adolescent mothers to stay in school and complete their education, while also preventing early and unintended pregnancies in a manner that is consistent with adolescents’ rights and evolving capacities.

Yet, girls’ rights to education, sexual and reproductive health, and protection from harmful practices and discrimination are limited by disparities in the adoption, implementation, and monitoring of laws, policies, and programs. Conflicting laws that criminalize adolescent sexuality or tolerate harmful practices further hinder these rights.

ACERWC’s Efforts to Address State Obligations on Early and Unintended Pregnancies

The ACERWC has recognized the urgency and seriousness of the plight of adolescent girls who are pregnant or are mothers in Africa.[50] It has set regional standards and provided guidance on issues related to adolescent pregnancy,[51] including through numerous concluding observations.[52] The ACERWC’s continental study on teenage pregnancy provides a comprehensive pan-African outlook on the status of teenage pregnancy across Africa. It includes comprehensive recommendations for governments, AU agencies, and other stakeholders that reflect the complexity and urgency of responding to and addressing issues highlighted in the study, including barriers to education faced by pregnant girls and adolescent mothers, and limited access to adolescent sexual and reproductive rights.[53]

In 2022, the ACERWC issued its first landmark decision and interpretation of the rights to and through education of pregnant girls and adolescent mothers, including state obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill children’s sexual and reproductive rights in the case of Legal and Human Rights Centre and Center for Reproductive Rights (on behalf of Tanzanian girls) v United Republic of Tanzania .[54] It found that, by adhering to a policy on mandatory pregnancy testing, discriminating against girls on the basis of pregnancy or parenthood, and expelling married girls, Tanzania had contravened its obligations related to non-discrimination and the best interests of the child, and violated girls’ rights to education, health, privacy, and protections against harmful social and cultural practices, among other key rights under the African Children’s Charter. The ACERWC recommended that Tanzania immediately prohibit mandatory pregnancy testing in schools and health facilities and publicly announce the prohibition of this practice; undertake concrete steps to prevent the expulsion of pregnant, married girls from schools through laws and policies; immediately re-admit schoolgirls who have been expelled due to pregnancy and wedlock; and provide sexuality education and child-friendly sexual and reproductive health services.[55]

Towards 2040: Defining a Continental Human Rights Framework on the Right to Education of Pregnant Girls and Adolescent Mothers

Motivated by its aspirations under Agenda 2040 and spurred by the urgency of tackling the scourge of early and unintended pregnancies across Africa, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child should:

• Adopt a Resolution at its 46th session to:
  • Affirm the right to education of pregnant girls and adolescent mothers;
  • Amplify the ACERWC’s recommendations in its General Comment on the Right to Education (Article 11);
  • Call on member states to expedite progress towards meeting aspiration 6 by adopting human rights-compliant normative frameworks, removing problematic laws and policies that contravene provisions in the African Children’s Charter, as well as the Maputo Protocol and the AU Youth Charter; and
  • Call for the development of continental guidelines on the right to education of pregnant girls and adolescent mothers.
• Adopt an African Human Rights Framework on the Right to Education of Pregnant Girls and Adolescent Mothers (Continental Guidelines) to ensure all AU member states have clear guidance on how to comprehensively implement obligations under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, particularly article 11(6), and related human rights obligations under the Maputo Protocol and the AU Youth Charter.
• Continue its efforts to ensure the fulfilment of provisions in the African Children’s Charter related to girls’ rights to education and to sexual and reproductive health, including by providing detailed recommendations and concluding observations during state party reviews, missions and decisions, and:
  • Encourage all governments to adopt human rights-compliant education policies and complementary measures, and adopt or reform national laws to outline explicit protections of pregnant girls’ and adolescent mothers’ rights to education, and guarantee non-discrimination of students who are pregnant or parenting;
  • Urge all states parties to allocate adequate funding to guarantee the execution and implementation of education policies and complementary measures;
  • Urge all states parties to revoke any laws, policies, or practice that mandate, encourage or tolerate the use of mandatory pregnancy testing of learners in schools or health centers;
  • Urge all governments to embed the right to access information on sexual and reproductive health, including by embedding age-appropriate, inclusive comprehensive sexuality education in national curricula;
  • Work bilaterally with states parties, whose legal and policy frameworks violate the rights of girls, including governments that continue to adhere to measures or reservations that directly contravene their obligations under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child;
  • Where states parties are reforming existing legal and policy frameworks, recommend that governments include meaningful and inclusive consultations with girls who have experienced pregnancy, and those who are adolescent parents, including girls with disabilities and girls from refugee and displaced communities.
• As part of the ACERWC’s existing collaboration with the African Peer Review Mechanism:
  • Request that AU member states provide information on the inclusion of pregnant and parenting learners in their self-appraisal and reporting, as well as their National Programme of Action (NPoA); and,
  • Encourage the ACERWC’s Special Rapporteur on Education to work with and provide technical expertise to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Secretariat to embed a question in the APRM’s self-assessment questionnaire related to section IV on Broad-based Sustainable Socio-Economic Development, Objective IV on “progress towards gender equality, particularly equal access to education for girls at all levels.”
• Adopt continental guidelines on adolescent sexual and reproductive rights, to:
  • Provide guidance on the definition, scope, dimensions, and approaches to adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health and rights;
  • Describe the scope of states parties’ obligations that arise from international and regional instruments in ensuring adolescents’ access to sexual and reproductive health information and services.
• Encourage Regional Economic Communities to adopt model laws in line with the ACERWC’s guidelines and jurisprudence and encourage member states to review relevant draft national children’s rights or education bills to ensure compliance with human rights obligations under the African Children’s Charter.
• Regularly monitor and commission periodic reviews of progress made towards the adherence and adoption of recommendations in the Continental Study on Teenage Pregnancy.
• Ensure adolescent girls and young women who have experienced pregnancy, and those who are parents, are regularly and meaningfully included in the ACERWC’s program of work and are involved in consultations and meetings with committee experts during country missions.
• Increase collaboration with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, including the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa and its Working Group on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to ensure both independent human rights bodies ensure compliance with the African Children’s Charter, the Maputo Protocol and the African Youth Charter.
• Link efforts with national human rights institutions, international and other regional human rights bodies and tribunals developing relevant jurisprudence on the right to education of pregnant girls and adolescent mothers, and adolescent sexual and reproductive rights, including the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

We would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Shimelis Tsegaye, Director of Programmes, and Isabel Magaya, Programme Manager, Children and the Law, African Child Policy Forum; Charles Nyukuri, Interim Director & AU Representative, Plan International African Union Liaison Office; Catherine Asego, Senior Advocacy and Partnerships Officer, and Fraciah Kagu, Advocacy Officer, Forum of African Women Educationalists; Elsy Sainna, Associate Director, Advocacy and External Relations, Africa, and Anita Otieno, Marshall Weinberg Global Legal Fellow, Africa, Center for Reproductive Rights; and Dr. Admark Moyo, Senior Lecturer, University of Stellenbosch, for providing expert reviews of earlier versions of this policy brief.
 

Annex: Components of an African Human Rights Framework on the Right to Education of Pregnant Girls and Adolescent Mothers