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SIZE defines many things about Nigeria. Being Africa’s most populous country ensures that plenty of the issues it faces are big.
Nigeria’s population is around 188 million, and growing at more than 3% a year. Around a quarter of young women will be mothers or pregnant by the age of 19.
Twenty-year-old Prudence Mwelwa (not her real name) is convinced she would have died if she had tried to have her first baby at home in her village in Zambia. She said there was a lot of blood during her delivery and she really believes that her relatives would not have been able to stem the bleeding.
She had been feeling anxious anyway as it was her first pregnancy so a week before she gave birth, Prudence and her mother set out on a three-hour walk to one of Zambia’s maternity waiting houses. She liked the idea of having skilled staff on hand to help her with the delivery.
The kidnapping of more than 200 girls in Nigeria has been condemned by most people and organizations and we urge their release. This event represents not just an assault on the girls and their families but also the way women are treated in locations around the globe, the International Planned Parenthood Association (IPPF) said.
“Unless we empower women and girls, expand their educational opportunities, and work every day for their rights then they will continue to be singled out simply on the grounds of gender,” said IPPF’s President Naomi Seboni.