Amina Chauvinga was forced out of her home in Nampula at age 15 after becoming pregnant with a 28‑year‑old man. With no family support, she moved in with the father of her unborn child, only to find that arrangement unsustainable. She now has a two‑year‑old daughter and hopes she will not face the same crisis of early marriage and teen pregnancy that plagues Mozambique, where nearly half of adolescent girls become pregnant or marry before 18.
UNICEF data shows Mozambique ranks in the top ten for early marriage and teen pregnancy, with only 41 % of girls completing secondary school. In Nampula, learning poverty exceeds 80 %, leaving girls vulnerable to early marriage and pregnancy. Raquel Castanheira of GirlMove explains that schools act as protective environments, offering girls a chance to dream and aspire.
Development agencies such as UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO and GirlMove have launched interventions to halve teen pregnancies and early marriages. Initiatives include UNICEF’s Girls in Action, which keeps girls in school, and UNFPA’s reproductive health project in Niassa. However, funding cuts from the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden and other European donors have crippled programmes. The US’s withdrawal of USAID funding reduced Mozambique’s aid from $586 million to $54 million in 2024, while the DREAMS project in Zimbabwe has been scaled back.
Despite these setbacks, programmes that keep girls in school continue to show positive impacts on reducing child marriage and pregnancy. Amina, who once felt isolated, now balances schoolwork with caring for her child and credits development organisations for giving her a brighter future.
