evidence: - Data on childbirths among girls aged 10–14 are getting more widely available. Globally the adolescent birth rate for girls 10–14 years in 2023 was estimated at 1.5 per 1000 women with higher rates in sub-Saharan Africa (4.4) and Latin America and the Caribbean (2.3) (3). [...] Adolescent pregnancy is a global phenomenon with clearly known causes and serious health, social and economic consequences. Globally, the adolescent birth rate (ABR) has decreased, but rates of change have been uneven across regions. There are also enormous variations in levels between and within countries. Adolescent pregnancy tends to be higher among those with less education or of low economic status. Further, there is slower progress in reducing adolescent first births amongst these and other vulnerable groups, leading to increasing inequity. Child marriage and child sexual abuse place girls at increased risk of pregnancy, often unintended. In many places, barriers to obtaining and using contraceptives prevent adolescents from avoiding unintended pregnancies. There is growing attention being paid to improving access to quality maternal care for pregnant and parenting adolescents. WHO works with partners to advocate for attention to adolescent pregnancy, to build an evidence base for action, to develop policy and programme support tools, to build capacity and to support countries to address adolescent pregnancy effectively. [...] Every year, an estimated 21 million girls aged 15–19 years in developing regions become pregnant and approximately 12 million of them give birth (1).