New campaign highlights the issue of teenage pregnancy in world’s poorest countries

A new campaign was launched in Belgium yesterday by Plan Belgique / Plan België, the Belgian arm of Plan International, a charity campaigning for education, and sex education, for teenage girls in the world’s poorest countries. The campaign, titled ‘Raise your hand for girls’, comes in the shape of a video, in which 14-year-old Belgian schoolkids are shocked when a pregnant girl joins their class. “Teen pregnancy isn’t a very common problem in Belgium, but in countries like Cambodia or Ecuador it’s much more common due to poverty, discrimination and a lack of sex education,”  explains the Duval Guillaume Modem agency, which devised the campaign. “Because they’ve fallen pregnant, these girls have to quit school. And without a decent education their chances of a good job and promising future are very slim. By bringing the topic into a Belgian school, Plan Belgium makes people more aware that every girl should have the right to quality education. To show the UN that girls’ education is a priority, Plan International aims to get four million raised hands.”