Florencia is the capital city of Caquetá, a province in the Colombian Amazon region with a population of approximately 180,000. More than half the population is under 30 years old, with 34% of the population under 18 years old.  As the largest city in a province deeply affected by conflicts, the city’s population has increased mainly due to internal migration. It has a poverty rate much higher than the average in Colombia, with a poverty index of 32,6%, and a GDP per capita of less than half of the country’s average.

In its development plan for 2016-2019, the city government identified the prevention of teenage pregnancy as a key priority. Teenage parents, particularly girls, who begin their adolescence raising babies, abandon their studies, truncating a professional career and thus miss opportunities to improve their social and economic conditions. In addition, they are often rejected by their family and suffer social stigmatization.

The program’s main initiative involves young teenagers taking responsibility for a ‘robot baby’ for 48 hours. The ‘robot baby’ displays all the behaviors of a real baby, and simultaneously records how long it is allowed to cry, whether it is fed when hungry, if its nappy is changed when it should have been, etc.

The program is organized in collaboration with participating schools, the departments of education and health and the local hospital. Students take part in various workshops the week before receiving the robot baby, where they receive information from a psychologist and a nurse regarding sex education, pregnancy, parenthood, and childcare. After two days with the baby robot, students share their experience and reflect on the responsibilities it involves, and the way having a child at an early age can affect them. 

The robot babies, known as RealCare Babies, together with other tools such as pregnancy simulators, are provided by a Colombian consulting company who specialize in pregnancy prevention programs.

The program receives support from the education and health department, as well as the local hospital. It also gained from the experiences of other cities in Colombia, as well as a central government policy focusing on the prevention of teenage pregnancy, particularly in less urbanized areas of the country, such as the Amazon.

The teenage pregnancy rate (measured by the municipality as children born to mothers between 12-17 / total number of live births*) has decreased from 14.26% in 2015, to 12% in 2018).

This is the result of multiple strategies implemented by the city government together with different educational and health institutions. In addition to the  “Baby, think it over” program, “Let’s talk clear” invites teenagers to reflect on the life plans and the impact a pregnancy can have on them, and a program targeted at children aged 9 to 12 years to teach them about their bodies and what to do if they are victims of abuse.

*At a national level, “teenage pregnancy” usually refers to the mother being between 10-19 years old. The data presented by the municipality is thus not directly comparable with national data or other cities.

Sex education for teenagers often generates opposition from parents. By including parents in this exercise, it provides an opportunity to have a conversation about sex, pregnancy and parenthood at home, particularly during and after the time that students bring the robot baby into their homes. Over time, the program has gained support from most parents.

The program originated in the United States and has been implemented in many other countries around the world, including many cities in Colombia.

The coordination and cooperation between the health and education departments and other institutions has proved very important for the successful implementation of the project.

Targeting both male and female students has also been key, this not only helps in the prevention of teenage pregnancy but at the same time fosters the idea of stronger participation of males in parenting once they do decide to have a child.

- UCLG Peer-learning Note #23 – Amazonian Cities: https://www.learning.uclg.org/sites/default/files/eng-note_23-print.pdf

- Alcaldía de Florencia, Feb 15, 2019. “Alcaldía de Florencia logra histórica reducción de embarazos en adolescentes [Florencia’s City Hall achieves historic reduction of pregancy among teenagers]”. http://www.florencia-caqueta.gov.co/noticias/alcaldia-de-florencia-logra-historica-reduccion-de-embarazos

- Selva.com.co, Nov 9, 2016. “Con bebés robots, Florencia inicia la guerra contra el embarazo en adolescentes [With robot babies, Florencia starts the battle against teenage pregnancy]” http://selva.com.co/wp/con-bebes-robots-florencia-inicia-la-guerra-contra-el-embarazo-en-adolescentes/