Adolescent pregnancy is a worldwide phenomenon, albeit with variations between and within countries. It continues to have serious and lasting consequences. There is an imbalance between efforts to prevent adolescent pregnancy and efforts to respond to the needs of pregnant and parenting girls and their families. Although normative documents, policies and programmes are more likely to be based on sound data and evidence than in the past, this is still a work in progress.

In the 13 years since the publication of the 2011 guideline, more research evidence and programmatic experience have been generated. The field has transitioned from focusing on addressing the needs of all adolescents to addressing the needs of groups of adolescents depending on their particular needs and circumstances. Based on these developments, stakeholders within and outside the United Nations expressed in a variety of ways that the guideline served a useful purpose and called for it to be updated.