Abstract:
Adolescence can be a trying and challenging period for both females and males and especially for those in sub-Saharan Africa because adolescents lack access to reproductive health services.1 Adolescents and youth in sub- Saharan Africa also face considerable challenges in terms of their health, education, employment and empowerment. 2 Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable. The region as reported has some of the highest child marriage rates in the world with two out of five young girls married before the age of 18 years. 3 It is also the region with the largest percentage (28 per cent) of women between the ages of 20 and 24 years who reported a birth before the age of 18 years as well as the largest percentage (6 per cent) of reported births before the age of 15 year