18 August 2025 by Limpho Sello

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“I am saying this not to encourage sexual activity, but I urge every single person who is engaging in sexual activities to visit the campus clinic. Get contraceptives, know and learn about them, and avoid becoming statistics for early and unintended pregnancy,” says Puseletso Sello, a student at the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT).

Her caution reflects Lesotho’s struggle with high rates of early and unintended pregnancies among the youth. According to the results of the 2014 Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey (LDHS), nearly 19 out of every 100 girls aged 15 to 19 had unintended pregnancies.

Sello was speaking at an event organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Lesotho on August 8, 2025, at the LUCT grounds in Maseru under the theme: Local Youth Actions for the SDGs and Beyond. The event, aimed at ending early and unintended pregnancies, served as a rallying call for young Basotho to take the lead in transforming the country’s Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and HIV landscape.

Yet, Sello’s warning underscored the urgency behind these commitments, coming against the backdrop of alarming statistics: an estimated 21,000 people aged 15 to 24 are living with HIV in Lesotho, with about 1,000 new infections recorded each year.

Sello linked these figures to gender-based violence, limited access to health services, and low HIV prevention knowledge.

“Let’s change the narrative, normalise regular HIV tests, and help our fellow youth stay informed and safe. We also need our elders, especially lecturers, to guide and support us, because we are still growing and learning.”

Her appeal resonated with LUCT Registrar Mateboho Moorosi, who stressed that the institution’s vision, a partnership of youth to build a better world, demands trust, belief, and inclusion.

“You don’t need to be perfect to be powerful, nor permission to make a difference. Change is not something you wait for; it is something you become. You are not leaders of tomorrow, but leaders of today,” Moorosi said.

Moorosi encouraged self-respect and consultation with elders for wisdom while taking charge of solutions. “They have lived this world before you. Respectfully, ask for their guidance.”

UNFPA Country Representative John Kennedy Mosoti took the momentum further, telling the youth they are the “dreamers, doers, and thinkers” who must confront Lesotho’s pressing SRH challenges head-on.

“We face maternal mortality, unplanned pregnancies, gender-based violence, HIV, and STIs. But that will change because each of you will be the change—in classrooms, communities, farms, innovation hubs, and on social media.”

Mosoti promised UNFPA’s continued support for youth-friendly services, comprehensive sexuality education, and youth inclusion in decision-making spaces. Then came the challenge that unified the crowd:

“Will you stop unplanned pregnancies?” Yes, I will,” as a respond from the students who shouted on top of their voices from Mosoti’s questions.

“Will you stop stigmatisation of marginalised communities?” “Yes, I will.”

“Will you end discrimination against anybody?” “Yes, I will.”

“Will you end unprotected sex?” “Yes, I will.”

The pledge was more than symbolic—it was a public commitment to build a Lesotho where young people do not just inherit the future but actively shape it.

Sello also said the stigmatisation and judgment that older people give to the youth when they inquire about certain SRHR must stop.

To the youth, she asked them to be a generation that gives Lesotho population Based HIV Impact Assessment zero numbers for the HIV incidence rate statistics.