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The World Bank Delays $500 Million Loan to Tanzania for Banning Pregnant Girls from School

The World Bank Delays $500 Million Loan to Tanzania for Banning Pregnant Girls from School

Pregnant Students

The World Bank has decided to postpone a loan to the Tanzanian Government due to pressure from activists standing against the nation’s policy to ban pregnant students from attending school.

Pregnant Student
Photo Credit: CNN

The decision, which was meant to take place on Tuesday 28th, was delayed after The World Bank held an emergency meeting with activists and International human rights organisations. The groups are reported to have sent a letter demanding that Tanzanian Government stop mandatory pregnancy tests (which can be as many as 2) and provide an education for pregnant students.

This is not the first time the Tanzanian Government has come under pressure regarding its policies affecting pregnant girls. In 2017, a $300 Million loan was withdrawn when concerns arose about expelling pregnant girls and introducing a law that made a crime of questioning official statistics. The statistics law was amended last year, but pregnant students are still being expelled from school.

Pregnant Student
Photo Credit: Face2FaceAfrica

Speaking to CNN, a World Bank spokesperson for Tanzania stated that the bank and the Tanzanian Government have been working together to find a solution. He further stated that the reworked loan program is aimed at enhancing “the quality and provision of education“. And the “program has been redesigned…to ensure girls and boys who drop out, including pregnant girls, have alternate education options for themselves.”

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Pregnant Student
Photo Credit: CNN

According to a World Bank statistic, 5,500 girls could not continue their education due to underaged pregnancy and young motherhood in 2017, and about a quarter of Tanzanian girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are mothers or pregnant.

Photo Credit: CNN / Face2FaceAfrica

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