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

ObservationsThis study has focused on the role of government institutionsin honouring commitments made to Cambodia’s childrenfor their protection and development. Support fromthe international community has enabled it to make somegains in the health and education sectors. Immunisationrates have increased significantly, for example, and there aremore primary schools in place to increase access. Reformsare taking place, and achievement should be recognised.However, recognition is also needed of the concerns andexperiences of the 180 children, 60 households and 15 governmentservice providers who contributed to this study.Their experience of access is quite different from the ideal.All groups recognise barriers to service access for childrenas a concern and recommend changes at different levels.At the community level opportunity exists for the governmentand NGOs to foster attitudes that value equal accessfor both genders. World Vision’s regional children at riskstudy (2003) gives examples of how this is being done in arange of contexts using child-to-child learning and childparticipationapproaches.Good governance needs to be tangibleHealth-service provision rated as a key area of concern tothe groups participating in the study. Some health facilitiesare closing due to lack of funds. Contributing factors arethe lack of transparency in the financial systems for thecollection of government revenue. The donor communityacknowledges this, and the real impact on this area has notreached those who participated in this study. Part of thedifficulty is that the budget has relied on a system of costrecovery, which has not been effectively put in place. It presupposeslevels of collection and a level of transparencywhich does not exist in an environment where governmentwages remain at below-subsistence levels (US$15 permonth). Mistrust of planning and budget processes has resulted.Funds are reportedly being diverted at different levelsof collection. There was also a negative effect on revenuecollection from tourism due to the riots and alsoSARS.Real wages for real workThe issue of staffing salaries is difficult for the government,with over-employment in the public sector. The belief thatthe government pretends to pay its staff and staff memberspretend to work perpetuates a culture of absenteeism andcorruption, where services that are meant to be freecarry a cost. Teachers at all levels collect daily fees; entryto secondary school, according to NGO sources, requiresthe payment of a minimum US$20 per month. Teachersalso charge for private tuition, which those with sufficientincome can take advantage of but not the majority. Ifteachers do not pass on charges to students to cover livingcosts, most have second or third jobs that contributemore to their monthly income than their official job.Questions of accountability and quality of teaching followwhen the teaching position is not their main source ofincome.Incentives neededBarriers of particular concern regarding equity include theeffect of fees on girl-child access. This has been highlightedas a particular concern when children move from primaryto secondary school. This transition is accompanied by ahigh drop-out rate among girls, as boys receive priorityfrom parents. Girls are also needed more frequently in thehome or to earn money for the family. The role of incentivesto assist girl children’s access to education, in particular,was noted in the survey. Incentives could be supportedat village and government levels by local authorities, community-basedorganisations and NGOs as a way to keepmore girls in school.Bicycles and boarding housesDistance from services and poor transportation systemshave been identified as significant barriers for girls, especiallywhen going to secondary school. Accommodationoptions outside of the family are limited for girls. Boys canstay at pagodas, but girls cannot. In other countries in theregion this issue has been addressed through the creationof boarding schools or approved girl-only boarding houses.A further solution offered by children and supported byparents was giving girls access to bicycles.Roads to richesPoor transportation infrastructure has been noted as a significantbarrier to economic development as well limitingphysical access to services. It contributes to poverty, whichemerges as a barrier to all children, but particularly to girls,whose options are limited by the work needed to maintainfood security for their families. Income to cover school feesis not available in poor families.22 The Girl-Child and Government Service Provision