IWYE Calls on Boakai Government to Increase Family Planning Funding
Daniel Theopilus Cole 
Monrovia, Liberia: IWYE Executive Director Musu W. Davis says teenage pregnancies are increasing across Liberia, especially in rural communities where many girls have limited access to contraceptives, reproductive health information, and healthcare services.
Davis says the government’s current family planning allocation of US$75,000, up from US$50,000, is still far too small to address the problem. She wants lawmakers to increase funding in the 2027 national budget.
According to data cited by IWYE:
- 75 percent of births recorded at the Foequelleh Maternal Waiting Home in Bong County reportedly involve girls aged 13 and 14.
- C.B. Dunbar and Phebe hospitals recorded 3,592 teenage pregnancies between 2022 and 2024.
- The estimated unmet need for family planning among women is 33 percent, with adolescents facing even greater challenges.
Davis says the crisis is being driven by limited access to contraceptives, inadequate reproductive health education, school dropouts, and reduced support for the health sector.
She also linked the situation to cuts in USAID funding, claiming Liberia has lost an estimated US$290 million in previously available support across sectors including health and education. She says the funding reduction has contributed to shortages of medicines, difficulties supporting health workers, and the closure of some health facilities, particularly in rural areas.
IWYE warns that teenage pregnancies can force girls out of school, reduce their future economic opportunities, and increase poverty.
Davis is therefore urging the government and lawmakers to turn Liberia’s 2 percent family planning commitment into actual funding, saying increased investment could improve access to contraceptives, reproductive health education, and healthcare services, particularly in rural communities.
Bottom line: IWYE says Liberia’s teenage pregnancy situation has reached an alarming level and wants the government to make family planning a major priority in the 2027 national budget.
