Bangladesh has the highest adolescent pregnancy rate outside Sub-Saharan Africa. 113 out of 1000 teenage girls falls pregnant before the age of 19. The primary cause for adolescent pregnancy lies in the high rate of child marriage. Girls who are physically and emotionally not mature enough for pregnancy and child birth have a higher risk of succumbing to maternal morbidities.

International evidence moreover shows that babies who are born to teenage mothers may have lower survival rates. More than 60% of all women between the ages of 24 and 49 were married before the legal age of 18. Married adolescents moreover have a higher unmet need for family planning and thus a lower Contraceptive Prevalence Rate.

UNFPA is working together with national partners to introduce a life skills based curriculum in secondary schools in technical and vocational training centers and for out of school teenagers to provide them with information on sexual and reproductive health and rights.