12/08/2026
~At IWYE, we do it one step at a time. Driving change through advocacy. Preserving the future of our younggeneration~
IWYE Urges Boakai Government to Honour 2% Family Planning Commitment as Teenage Pregnancies Surge
By Matacious T. Baryoegar
Monrovia, Liberia — August 11, 2026
The Initiative for Women and Youth Empowerment (IWYE) is urging the Boakai administration and lawmakers to allocate 2 percent of the national budget to family planning in the 2027 fiscal year, warning that rising teenage pregnancies pose a serious threat to Liberia’s development.
In an exclusive interview, IWYE Executive Director Musu W. Davis described the government’s current family-planning allocation under the Ministry of Health as inadequate, saying the growing reproductive health crisis requires urgent investment.
“The phrase ‘pregnant women’ is now being replaced by ‘pregnant girls.’ That alone should shock us into action,” Davis said.
IWYE cited data from B**g County showing that 75 percent of births recorded at the Foequelleh Maternal Waiting Home involve girls between ages 13 and 14. Records from C.B. Dunbar and Phebe hospitals reportedly recorded 3,592 teenage pregnancies between 2022 and 2024.
Davis attributed the increase to limited access to contraceptives, inadequate reproductive health education, unmet family-planning needs, and school dropouts.
She also raised concerns about declining international support for Liberia’s health sector, saying funding cuts have contributed to shortages of essential medicines and difficulties supporting health workers, particularly in rural communities.
Davis stressed that investing in family planning is not only a health priority but also a national development strategy.
“When young people have access to contraceptives and basic health services, we reduce poverty and build a stronger Liberia,” she said.
IWYE is therefore calling on the government and lawmakers to make the 2 percent family-planning commitment a reality, arguing that increased domestic financing would expand access to contraceptives, strengthen reproductive health education, and help prevent pregnancies that could disrupt girls’ education and future opportunities.
