MANZINI – Government and development partners gathered at The George Hotel today to commemorate World Population Day and officially launch the 2025 State of the World Population Report, with a sharp focus on young people’s reproductive agency and their role in shaping future families.
The event was led by Principal Secretary Thabsile Mlangeni, who represented Minister of Economic Planning and Development Dr. Tambo Gina. This year’s theme, “Empowering young people to create the families they want in a fair and hopeful world,” centres on the rights of adolescents and youth to make informed decisions about their health and future.
Mlangeni told attendees that young people face intersecting challenges such as high unemployment, mental health issues, and climate insecurity, all of which influence reproductive choices and long-term aspirations. According to the global report, 1 in 5 youth express concern about the future, with many citing economic instability as a reason for delaying or limiting childbearing.
The 2025 report, themed “The fertility crisis: The pursuit of reproductive agency in a changing world,” identifies unplanned pregnancies and unmet fertility goals as signs of deeper structural barriers to reproductive autonomy. It also calls for the inclusion of men in these conversations and urges more attention to the economic and social factors that shape reproductive decisions.
Locally, Eswatini has seen a significant drop in fertility rates over the past decades—from 7.8 children per woman in 1966 to 3.2 in 2017. While free family planning services are offered countrywide, recent data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2021–22 shows contraceptive use has declined from 65.5% in 2014 to 57% in 2021, even as unmet needs for family planning also dropped.
Mlangeni noted that youth unemployment remains high at 56%, and that 38.6% of young people fall into the Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) category. The government, she said, is implementing various job-creation initiatives with partners to reverse the trend.
Teenage pregnancy also remains a concern, though progress is visible. The adolescent birth rate dropped from 87 per 1,000 in 2014 to 78 per 1,000 in 2021–22. Government has responded with the formation of a teenage pregnancy task force and national policy guidelines to manage and prevent learner pregnancies, alongside efforts to reduce HIV infections among adolescents.
The event also addressed barriers faced by persons with disabilities in accessing sexual and reproductive health services. The Persons with Disabilities Act of 2018 and a subsequent action plan aim to expand inclusive services and support for survivors of gender-based violence.
Mlangeni pointed to rising intimate partner violence as a growing threat to reproductive freedom, citing the VAC study which found that one in three women in Eswatini has experienced violence—figures that demand sustained interventions.
She said the 2025 population report will be circulated widely to ministries, faith groups, youth organisations, academia, and the private sector to ensure informed policy development.
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