The Girl-Child and Government Service Provision.pdf - Tanzania ...

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Policewoman, for example, had 100 per cent support in theurban location but only 20 per cent in the provincial areas.When asked how boys and girls are perceived in the communityand if girls have as much opportunity to achieve asboys, parents were generally positive. Over 74 per cent saidthat girls have as much opportunity, while 25 per cent saidthis was not the case. The weighting showed more optimismin the urban area (90 per cent) and not as muchconfidence expressed in the provincial area (67 per cent). Ofthe 19 options identified for girls to make a contribution tothe future of their country, the highest single category wasin the area of education, with health care a close second andnational defense third. While there were similarities in supportfor education and health, there was a marked differencein support for girls contributing to national defense (urban95 per cent and provincial 20 per cent).Children’s workBoys and girls both work in the home. The time varies, withboys working between one and two hours a day (with mostcloser to one hour). Girls work two to four hours a day,with most working three hours. Parents indicated that 98per cent of their children also work outside the home. It ismore common for children to work longer in the provincialareas. According to the survey 19 provincial childrenwere said to work between four and eight hours a daycompared to three girls working four to six hours a day inthe urban area.The families had ambitions for boys: doctor (26 per cent),policeman (23 per cent) and teacher (21 per cent); for girls:teacher (45 per cent), doctor (16 per cent) or seamstress(16 per cent). In the urban area the most supported professionfor a boy was policeman; in provincial areas it wasteacher. For girls, both areas identified teacher as the preferredvocation, while 25 per cent of the provincial familiessupported the role of seamstress for girls. This role receivedno support in the urban area despite the proximityof garment factories.Children’s responses to thesame questionsThe 180 children in the sample group were from the samevillages as the parents who were interviewed. In general,the children’s answers followed the same pattern as theparents’ responses, with a few exceptions. They saw parentalattitudes creating barriers for girls in their developmentas a greater issue. Children saw more opportunities inroles to which both males and females could aspire. Thosecareers with over 10 per cent support from the groupwere teacher (33 per cent), doctor (27 per cent) and policeman(10 per cent). Sixteen children (8.9 per cent)named sewing garments.Responses to questions on children’s work were similar tothe comments of parents for both boys and girls, with theexception of the number of children whose work extendspast four hours a day. With regard to girls, children estimate24 per cent work between four and eight hours a day. Parentsestimated this number to be 13 per cent.Attitude difference was also noted in two questions askedonly of female respondents, with 4 per cent of girls sayingthat some Cambodian folk sayings that limit the role ofwomen (suggesting they should stay at home) should bechanged or stopped. For example, “Women cannot turnthe stone” means that women are not strong and mustdepend on men. Comments were also made about the fearthat families have of girl children learning too much andthen wanting to leave the home and not assist in runningthe household and farming activities. Other commentsconcerned the reduced opportunity for marriage of educatedyoung women, because men don’t want to feel inferiorto women. Major barriers to girls’ access to serviceswere seen as poor living standards (54 per cent of children),no materials or uniforms (36 per cent), cost (25per cent) and distance (46 per cent). The need for girls tobe at home to work or help out was listed as a barrier by18 per cent of the children surveyed.In Location C (urban) 11 per cent of the children indicatedthat a barrier was fear of drug users and gangs. Action tocombat the negative effect of street gangs and drug use wasrequested by 45 of the children. Other steps for addressingobstacles included providing materials and clothes (24per cent), primary school construction (24 per cent), freehealth care (24 per cent), village health-centre construction(13 per cent, mainly at Location A and Location B) and roadconstruction (10 per cent, mainly at Location A and LocationB).Birth registration mirrored the response from adults, withonly 3 per cent of the children indicating that they had18 The Girl-Child and Government Service Provision
irth certificates. School-age siblings of the children interviewedshowed 2.5 as the average. The number ofimmunised children in the family varied from one to seven,with two to three being the most common. These wererecorded in higher frequency than the total number ofschool-age children to account for infants. Patterns of maleand female immunisation indicate a greater gap betweenthe immunisation of the first and second females (21per cent) in comparison to first and second males (6per cent).Children were not as aware of visits from the local authorityas their parents (4 per cent compared to 13 per cent).Their views of equal access to education were marginallystronger than those of their parents (93 per cent comparedto 91 per cent). They had a clearer understandingthat education is a right (18 per cent compared to 11per cent) but less understanding that access to health careis also a right (13 per cent compared to 23 per cent). Childrenwere generally unaware of any local group responsiblefor child protection, with only 3 per cent indicating knowledgeand 100 per cent saying that such a group was notvisible in the community.Children felt that health services could be better accessedby girls if there were more qualified doctors available andenough medical support (17 per cent). Other factors identifiedincluded increased availability of school materials and/or uniforms (15 per cent), an increased number of staffedhealth-care centres (12 per cent) and free health care andschooling attendance (10 per cent).With regard to the provision of extra services not currentlyavailable, children felt that they should have healthcare (27 per cent), education (20 per cent) and children’sclubs (16 per cent).Children identified 32 occupations that both males and femalescan perform. Categories with 10 per cent or moreof respondents’ answers were teacher (22 per cent) andmedical doctor (18 per cent). There was less support fromchildren for roles identified by adults, such as communechief, policeman and government minister. Children weremore optimistic than their parents about their opportunitiesto achieve these occupations (85 per cent comparedto 75 per cent). Children think that girls can contribute tothe future of the country in 29 identified ways. Those with10 per cent or more support from children are education(38 per cent), health (16 per cent), culture and arts (11per cent), national defense (10 per cent) and country leadership(10 per cent).Services needed by girls that the government could provideto assist their development affirmed the need forhealth (44 per cent) and education (37 per cent). Vocationaltraining (33 per cent) and employment (10 per cent)were also noted. However, the service that was most oftenmentioned (by 55 per cent) was access to clean water. Thiswas also supported by parents, but as their fourth priority.It is common for children to be sent to the water collectionpoint and to ferry it back to the family.Interviews withgovernment serviceprovidersFive government service providers in the areas of health,education and child protection were interviewed in thethree locations of the survey (for the five questions, see theAppendix). Responses showed that government serviceproviders are aware of some needs of children with regardto accessing health care, education and protection but arefrustrated by lack of facilities and/or budget to respond.Location AHealthThe deputy health director indicated that a long-runningprogramme to treat gastro-intestinal infection and VitaminA deficiency in an area with a population of 17,747 hadtreated children in the area for 15 years. He had no statisticson children receiving health care in general, but hestated that it is free of charge. He observed that parentalattitudes play a role in excluding girls from the centre, andthat once a girl is past puberty she seldom goes to thehealth centre due to shyness. Other factors noted are thelong distances to the health centre. His suggestions for increasingservices were to provide outreach activities in thecommunity on immunisation, HIV/AIDS awareness-raising,sanitation and reproductive health, with medical staff travellingto communities once a month. The barrier he facesin providing necessary services is the lack of response fromgovernment to budget requests. He also lacks the expertiseto attract donors to support such ventures.The Girl-Child and Government Service Provision 19
Page 2 and 3: Copyright 2004 by World Vision Inte
Page 5: ContentsIntroduction ..............
Page 8 and 9: identified in the case studies that
Page 10 and 11: Approximately 53 per cent of the po
Page 12 and 13: facility but also with staff member
Page 14 and 15: Literacy and educationAdult literac
Page 16 and 17: constrained by low funding; the nat
Page 20 and 21: EducationA deputy principal of a pr
Page 22 and 23: ObservationsThis study has focused
Page 24 and 25: Regulation and taxation neededCorru
Page 26 and 27: 7. What reasons does the family giv
Page 29 and 30: Girl-Child Accessto Government Soci
Page 31 and 32: class. According to a 1996 TDHS sur
Page 33 and 34: there is governmental inconsistency
Page 35 and 36: ole models. Other educational barri
Page 37 and 38: was collected face to face. The stu
Page 39 and 40: • Consultations: Institutions con
Page 41 and 42: Secondary schoolsTwo of the five vi
Page 43 and 44: This finding is consistent with nat
Page 45 and 46: Case story 3Mercy John, a 14-year-o
Page 47: Health workers’ viewsAll the heal
Page 50 and 51: Annex 2: Questions forinterviews wi
Page 52 and 53: Annex 6: Questions forfocus-group d
Page 54 and 55: Sepehri, A. 1992. ‘Balance of Pay
Page 56 and 57: equires the generation of condition
Page 59: Table 3-3. Interviews, April 28-May
Page 62 and 63: Table 3-5. Working adolescentsLos C
Page 64 and 65: Table 3-6. Household chores and lac
Page 66 and 67: per cent of the population. However
Page 68 and 69:
Figure 3-7. Access to services in t
Page 70 and 71:
Annex 1Interviews, Stage 1, April 2
Page 72 and 73:
Education1. Who likes attending sch
Page 74 and 75:
3. What are the main reasons why bo
Page 76 and 77:
7. What do you think are the main p
Page 79 and 80:
World Development Report 2004and Gi
Page 81 and 82:
power and wealth. But it fails to d
Page 83 and 84:
economies of scale of setting up wa
Page 85 and 86:
Services and the girl-childThe serv
Page 87:
5The World Bank Annual Report 2003,
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