Multisectoral Briefing: Developing a National Strategic Plan (NSP) on preventing and mitigating the harmful effects of Adolescent Pregnancy in South Africa

Presented By:

Women, youth & persons with disabilities

Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Government of South Africa

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ): Violence Prevention for Peaceful and Inclusive Communities Programme (VPPIC).

Adolescent pregnancy is a significant social and public health concern globally. In South Africa, the adolescent pregnancy rate for girls aged 15-19 was 50.9 per 1,000 and 1.2 per 1,000 for girls aged 10-14 last year.

The determinants of adolescent pregnancy are multifaceted and require a multisectoral, coordinated response that encompasses prevention, response and effective collaboration. To address this complex landscape, the South African Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) is steering the process of developing a national, comprehensive, multi-sectoral strategic plan on preventing and mitigating the harmful effects of Adolescent Pregnancy.

This session will provide a platform to share the process and experience of developing the multisectoral National Strategic plan on Adolescent Pregnancy (currently on-going), garner insight and inputs from participants on how to improve the process and provide an opportunity to exchange on the opportunities and limitations of national policies in guiding implementation strategies.

Rise Up Session Date and Time:

August 27, 2026 11:30 am

Country or Region Focus:

Africa

Type of Session:

Rise Up Session

Public Health Pillar Focus:

Policy and Legislation, Effective Governance and Multi-Sectoral Coordination, A National Action, Capacity Building, and Scaled Solutions, A Continuum of Child Protection Prevention and Response Services

Speakers

Mr. Sipiwo Matshoba, Director, Social Empowerment Department of Women, Youth & Persons with Disabilities in the Presidency Representative from civil society coordinating civil society contribution to developing national strategic plan on Adolescent Pregnancy

Jonathan Gunthorp, Executive Director, SRHR Africa Trust (SAT), Johannesburg, South Africa.

Luxolo Matomela- Kröger, Senior Technical Advisor, Violence Prevention for Peaceful and Inclusive Communities, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Session Aims

To share lessons and approaches on the process of developing a comprehensive NSP on Adolescent Pregnancy that is multisectoral, evidence informed and implementation ready.

To garner guidance, experiences, lessons, knowledge and insights from participants on their understanding of the DWYPD’s approach to policy development and see how to improve the process.

To practically assess the complexity of developing a comprehensive NSP on Adolescent Pregnancy that maps existing strategies, focuses on impact and evidence, identifies gaps and opportunities, promotes synergized coordination and avoids duplication.

Session Format

The session will be a multisectoral briefing from government, civil society and academia on the process of developing a multisectoral Nnational Sstrategic Pplan on preventing and mitigating the harmful effects of Adolescent Pregnancy. Each speaker from the three sectors will provide an input on their role and contribution to the process of developing the national strategic plan on Adolescent Pregnancy highlighting lessons learnt and recommendations. This multisectoral briefing will be followed by a World Café format where participants will be afforded an opportunity to exchange with input givers from different sectors on their contribution to the process of developing the National Strategic Plan on Adolescent Pregnancy. The World Café format is a facilitated group discussion method where participants rotate between small tables (led by the input givers) to explore questions and discussion points, building on each other's ideas in a collaborative, conversational way.