Thailand observes World Population Day

BANGKOK, July 11 (TNA) - As previous years, Thailand observes the World Population Day 2016, which falls on July 11, with a seminar organised in Bangkok aimed at building up the potential of Thai female teenagers. Monday's UNFPA-sponsored seminar was focused on brainstorming ideas on reducing the problem of teenage pregnancy. UNFPA suggested if the potential of female teenagers are enhanced through education and sufficient information, they will make proper decisions for their lives. According to the UNFPA statistics, about 59 million women in Asia and the Pacific get married at the age of 18 and 4.9 million teenagers aged 15-19 become mothers yearly and 3.6 million of young women aged 15-24 years undergo abortion annually, while up to 10,000 teenagers yearly die from labouring their newborns. UNFPA pointed out that the problems came from forced marriages among teenagers, the favouring of sons over daughters, sexual harassment, human rights abuse and concerns over safety in life. UNFPA, thus, urged governments and people in the region to realise the problems and join hands in wiping them out. Monday's seminar was attended by representatives of teenagers from various countries in the region, including Nepal, Indonesia, Myanmar, China and Thailand, who exchanged experiences and proposed solutions to the problems. (TNA)