COLLOQUIUM ON CHILD RESEARCHIN AFRICA

Dakar-Senegal,21-22 November 2006

REPORT OF THE COLLOQUIUM

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Introduction:

It is easy to blame donors of not financing research on child rights and governments of not taking into account research findings. State decision-makers are faced with emergencies and above all, have an obligation to achieve result in the field of human rights protection; they cannot build upon a research the usefulness of which they are not certain about. And yet, the multidimensional action of governments and other actors involved in the daily management of child issues can only have limited impact on the status of children, as long as it is not preceded and guided by the findings of good research on children. Consequently, one can understand the whole importance of constantly questioning the vision, skills and relevance of research in Africa, to ensure that it effectively contributes to improving the status of children in the continent.

Aware of this major challenge,CODESRIA, in partnership with Childwatch International Research, has organised the Colloquium on Child RightsResearch in Dakar, Senegal,from 21-22November 2006. The aim of this continental meeting was for researchers to get together and evaluate the research potential in Africa, the possibility to establish a permanent exchange network, the organisationalcapacitiesand the usefulness of research regarding the status of children. The meeting was also to assess the resources research has got, in particular the technical skills of African researchers and the issue of financing. The particular note of this Colloquium was that child protection practitioners, donor institutions and decision-makers participated in the works.

Tuesday,November21st, 2006, 9:30

Preliminaries:

Dr. Carlos CARDOSO from CODESRIA welcomed the presence at the Colloquium of NGOs, international organisations and research institutions, and highlighted the fact that the organisation of this meeting corresponded to CODESRIA’s goals of creating synergy between researchers, decision-makers and child protection practitioners.

On behalf of Childwatch International Research, Mrs Rose SEPTEMBER stressed the importance of the Colloquium. She deploredthe ineffectiveness of child rightsdespite the firm commitments undertaken by all actors, in particular the States. She announced the general objectives of the Colloquium, namelythe prospective evaluation of the capacities of child research in terms of policy, practice and monitoring, and the strengthening of the commitment of decision-makers and donors.

MrJean Baptiste ZOUNGRANA, Chair of the African Union’s ExpertCommittee, acknowledged the importance of the Colloquium for the African continent and thanked the organising committee. Mr ZOUNGRANA noted that, despite the decisive breakthroughs made by the international community, and despite the existence of research institutions, researches do not influence policy decision and, as a result, there is no significant progress in the status of African children.

Theme I: Prospects and Approach of Child Research in Africa BySteven AROJJO and Rebecca NYONYINTOMO (Makerere University, Uganda).

Statement:

In the past two (2) decades, child studies in Africa where confined to drawing attention on the social exclusion of children and showing the factors that deteriorate their status. Yet, however important they are, researches have had no significant impact on policy decision and,therefore, effective enjoyment of child rights. There are indeed major difficulties that should be overcome if we are to make progress.

Firstly, there is still controversy about the very perception of the child, since in some researches, the child is the“subject” while in others he is the“object”. Besides, the “age” factor, as basis for the definition of the child, remains a very relative criterion. Therefore, we do not know exactly who is a “child” in Africa since, through various studies, the bracket ranges from birth to the age of 22.

As regards the very substance of researches, it is observed that the institutional nature and characteristics have strongly influenced researches, mainly because of the financing issue, for it is noted that emphasis lays more on the institutional origin of the researcher than on his discipline. One third (1/3) of all the studies has been conducted by groups of researchers associated with North American institutions or joint European-American institutions, and approximately half (2) by academics in the North, in collaboration with Africanacademics.

In short, most studies have been produced by academics, but private researchers and NGOs also participated in the researches. It is certainly this disparate nature of research that has reduced its impact on the enjoyment of children’s rights. As regards the issue of publication of research findings, the study noted that, out of a total of 61 journals,only 10 that published the studies are dedicated to research on child rights. However, the said journalsdo not only publish data on child rights, for only5 out of the 61 journals reviewed are exclusively focused on publication on African children.

From a methodological point of view, there is a wide range of research approaches. There are the longitudinal conception and the transversal conception. Preference was given to transversal researches, because they incur less spending than longitudinal researches. In short, the range of approaches depends on the nature of the issues studied as well as the expected results.

Conclusions andrecommendations:

  • Collaboration between the different research actors should be promoted, in particular between researchers in the North and in the South, and in the different research areas.
  • It is necessary for researches to combine the qualitative and quantitative methods, in particular by using the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS).

To illustrate the issue set forth, Mrs NYONYINTOMO informed participants about the experience of the Child Mental Health Research Centre, based in MakerereUniversity and whose goal is to make available to the public the results of research, with a view to putting in place community-based strategies. The dissemination of the results of the Centre is a major challenge. There is also the issue of the low incomes allocated to researchers and research. Generally, Ugandan authorities believe that research is not important and that if researches are to be conducted, this must be for purely academic purposes and with University financing.

DEBATES:

Mr Ibrahim ABDULLAH, Discussant: noted that the authors of the paper have not defined the subject, nor posed parameters. Why is it that, between ages 0 and 18, there is need for reinforced protection, knowing that there are other people within society who are vulnerable? He stressed the confusion that is maintained between children and youth in Africa, and which is also reflected in the paper. Is someone who becomes a soldier, even though he isunder 18, still a child? Is the issue of children in difficult situation particular to the African continent, or does it exist in other climes? One should avoid generalisations that particularise the African child and show him in inevitably unfavourable light.Instead, one should take into account structural factors, the phenomenon of mass poverty andpolitical and humanitarian disasters, as well as the rapid urban development. These issues should be the subject of research. There was need to theorise: methods and concepts should not continue to come from abroad.

General debate:

It is noted that the paper submitted does not show the regions on which the researches focused. Besides, no diachronic analysis was made to trace the evolution of the issue.

The participants are convinced of the necessity to go in greater depth intothe issue of research tools and to combine thequantitativeandqualitativemethods for more effective action-research. Besides, they underline the need to see how to bring decision-makers to investing more in research and taking it into account in the decision-making process. To do so, one needs to deepen the issue of dissemination of research findings. Participants think that it will be probably necessary to prepare abstracts for State decision-makers, and that the publication issue would justify the creation of more journals that would convey research findings.

As regards the central issue of combining thequalitativeandquantitative approaches, the authors, Steven AROJJO and Rebbecca NYONYINTOMO, suggest that researchers use the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) that would need to be combined with the results of qualitative surveys. Still on this issue, it is suggested that, for example, one can address the issue of child labour by using child narrations. The participants regret that too largea part of research has dwelt at length on the health area only. Besides, there are many research methods that do not at all echo the aspirations of children. The other Achilles tendon is that most of the researches only concern vulnerable and underprivileged children, deliberately rejecting normality, which only leads to partial and, therefore, biasedsolutions. Thus, there is need, the participants stress, for an approach that can give an overview of childhood in Africa, one that takes into account children’s opinion.

The participants deplore the fact that decision-makers are those who formulate research priorities, based on the emergencies of the moment. Thus, they are convinced of the need for research initiatives to fall into a proactive logic, since the researcher’s mission is to formulate paths in view of development. Furthermore, there is need for an endogenous approach in researches, so as to start from the realities of our societies and the group dynamics, instead of addressing issues in a stereotyped and superficial manner.

The need for a database on African children appears like an urgent priority. It is necessary, therefore, to collect and make available data on African children.

Thus, at the end of the debates on the issue, the participants underline:

  • The need to define the concept of “African child”. See whether the African child has specificities and, if necessary, use the comparative approach to highlight them;
  • Gaps in the conduct of research. Research should take into account the positive aspects and know how a lot of other children live better;
  • The need to useappropriate methodologies and to have a research monitoring mechanism;
  • The need to create a peer review, in order to make available and visible the research findings. How to create such a review? We are part of the international community: what are the barriers and how to remove these barriers, ask the participants.

Theme II: Institutional analysis of child research in Africa: ByKelvin MWABA,University of the Western Cape, RSA

Statement:

Despite the general consensus on the ideal of reinforced child protection and the fact that many child research institutions were created since 1990, there are still challenges because the problems that undermine children’s well-being are multifaceted. And while it is true that a lot has been achieved during the past decade, there is still need for harmonisation of the policies of research, dissemination and follow-up of research findings, and for collaboration between research actors, practitioners and political decision-makers.

In broad outline, the institutions involved in child research in Africa range from academic organisations with permanent multidisciplinary teams to nongovernmentalcommunity organisations that combine child research and field work. Some of these institutions work in close collaboration with international or regional organisations which themselves are working on childhood. There are the “recognised” academic institutions, the “notrecognised” academic institutions, the “dedicated” and “non-dedicated” non-academic institutions, the “community-based” nongovernmental organisations and the national “coalitions”.

While child issues are integral part of the research themes for all academic institutions, only a few such institutions in Africahave established a convergence of programmes on child rights research. As regards the non-academic institutionslikeCODESRIA, they are first and foremost non-state organisations working on commissioned research relating to children.

As for the nongovernmental community organisations,they are fully involved in the conduct of child research in many countries in Africa. These organisations combine research and practice, and work on child issues from the grassroots level.

As regards the coalitions, their mission is mainly advocacy for child rights in different areas.

Conclusions andrecommendations:

  • It is fundamental to intensify training for researchers;
  • The consultation and collaboration between the different actors involved in child research must be increased. It is on this condition that our researches will be able to really influence policy decision and, in fact, contribute to improving the status of children.

DEBATES:

Mrs Maylene Shung KING, Discussant: There is a common understanding of issues and a convergence of points of view. Children represent in total 220 million of the whole African population, and it is good that, in finding out solutions to the problems of this important component of the population, we work in cohesion.

The categorisation proposedby Mr MWABA could have been refined. In fact, the 5 categories he indicates are not all institutional categories strictly speaking, since Kenyatta and Western Cape Universities, for example, are rather research poles. It is necessary, therefore, to distinguish clearly between the institutions that are doing research to find out solutions to problems and those that are solely action-oriented. Synergyisessential to influence policy decision. The issue of implementation of the conventions is a recurrent one. It is easy to say that governments lack political will. In actual fact, States are faced with real difficulties and emergenciesrelated to the endemic poverty of the populations. Mr MWABA could have described the picture of the grouping of institutions. What are the existing groupings? Do we have to form more of them, or not? What are the accumulated successes and failures, and why these failures and successes? What are the possible linkages between the NGOs and institutions operating in Africa, and those operating in the West? How to establish, strengthen and optimise the partnership between our institutions and those in the North? What are thechanges between the different programmes for children in individual countries, so thatresearchers can inspire each other? The basic question is how to link research to policies, in other words, which methodologies to use, in order for our researches tobe consistent with the needs of child rights and influence policy decision?

General debate: The participants are convinced that the research is “balkanised”, asa consequence of linguistic barriers. There are in fact so many untapped studies. The linguistic problem makes communication difficult. Researchers only work on publications that are available in their language and in their sub-region.

The participants are unanimous in acknowledging the importance of collaboration and large dissemination of the research findings.

There is a difference between a “researcher” and an “intellectual”, the participants stress. The “researcher” is often accused of not being in phase with the societyhe lives in and of doing art for art’s sake. He is also very often perceived as a tool that produces what he is asked to produce. On the other hand, the intellectual is someone who makes use of his intelligence to anticipate or face problems. Why not adopt an intellectual approach and make our researches consistent with issues that are real for the well-being of our children? Our institutional framework is outdated: there is now a new and very complex stage with main actors that can no longer be ignored. Shouldn’t we develop a consistent agenda and original institutional forms that can gradually change the existing institutions? Following these questionings, the participants stress the urgent need for a comprehensive institutional study.

It is noted that child right researches are minor researches, since those who should carry on such researches don’t do it, finding this field uninteresting and preferring to get concerned with adult issues. What can we do so that researchers do not lose interest in research in order to become civil servants, as is currently observed in Cote d’Ivoire, the participants wonder?

The participants agree upon the fact that researchorganisations are faced with a number of challenges, in particular compliance with an appropriate methodology and above all, scientific rigour. Often, because of the urgent nature of the problems and the impatience of the research beneficiaries, the results have no real impact on the situation lived by children. Therefore, there is need for a comprehensive and representative case study of the whole continent, in order to know what the real impact of the researches was, on policy decision as well as children’s daily life.

The participants agree on the importance of a comprehensivetypologyof research institutions, which will make the network to be established more efficient. Moreover, lobbying will have to be exerted if institutions are really to influence policy-makers in their policy-making. To do so, there is need to strengthen the collaboration between researchers. The idea of collaboration within the coalition is essential.

Attention is drawn to the primordial importance of the ethic factor. It is indeed to the African child that researchers must think in elaborating agendas as well as in field activities, the participants agree.