BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — Less than a year ago, 16-year-old Annie was a daughter and sister, and adding mother to that list was the last thing on her mind.

But she became pregnant at 15 years old, at least 10 years earlier than she had ever envisaged she would be. She is the first to admit now that her plan to have her first child between the ages of 25 and 28, after she completed secondary school and university and secured a job, had been in jeopardy from the time she started having unprotected sex.

Lisa, on the other hand, never once thought about becoming a mother. It was never her desire to join that club — ever. Yet, like Annie, abstinence and contraception didn’t cross her mind. So at 17 years old, she had a daughter.

There are thousands of Annies and Lisas across the Caribbean.

It is estimated that around 20 per cent of women in the region have had at least one child by the age of 19, with a considerable percentage of adolescent girls even giving birth before the age of 15.

While the rate of births by 15 to 19 year-olds in the Caribbean varies considerably across the various countries — ranging from the lowest of 26 per 1,000 in Turks & Caicos Islands, to the highest (97 per 1,000) in Guyana, the reality is that they all have higher adolescent birth rates than in developed countries (24 per 1,000) and many have even higher rates than less developed countries (53 per 1,000).

But the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean has developed an Integrated Strategic Framework for the reduction of adolescent pregnancy across the region.

“The goal of this framework is to reduce adolescent pregnancy by 20 per cent by the year 2019,” says director of the Sub Regional Office, Sheila Roseau.

One of the key outcomes is making sure teens have access to responsive sexual and reproductive health services, information and commodities, so we can reduce the number of Annies and Lisas in the Caribbean.