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Leaving a familiar environment can be daunting. Although previous studies investigated the experiences of youths who left care centres, few considered those who left during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this exploratory qualitative research study, the authors purposively recruited 12 African youths aged between 18 and 23, with at least two years’ experience of life in the care centres of Ekurhuleni Metro Municipality to investigate their experiences when they left such centres during the pandemic.
The data were collected through individual semistructured interviews, analysed according to…
The objectives of this study were to examine (1) the associations between parental absence for six months or more, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), mental health problems, and substance use among young adults in sub-Saharan Africa, (2) whether parental absence and other ACEs are independently associated with mental health outcomes and substance use, (3) and if parental absence explains additional variance above and beyond those explained by other ACEs.
Abstract:
The Coronavirus (COVID−19) pandemic has increased anxiety and stress among childcare workers in many communities. This has given rise to the question of whether childcare workers have the capabilities to execute their operational responsibilities effectively during this period in ensuring that the children are well taken care of.
The theory of crisis was used in the study to explore the resilience of childcare workers in managing the well-being of vulnerable orphans during this period. A qualitative approach was applied, using focus group interviews involving 10…
Orphans and vulnerable children in children’s homes are exposed to multiple psychosocial risks. This study aimed to explore the risks facing orphans and vulnerable children in a children’s home in a township setting during COVID-19. Fifty-eight female Black African children (n = 58) in a children’s home were individually interviewed to ascertain the psychosocial risks that they experienced during COVID-19. The participants were orphans and vulnerable children residing in a children’s home located in Johannesburg in South Africa. All children were enrolled in either primary…
Leveraging the unique and comprehensive evidence gathered, Disrupting Harm (DH) identifies practical and actionable solutions to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation both online and offline. The project was implemented in 13 countries across Eastern and Southern Africa. Below are reports that are now available: Kenya, Uganda, Thailand, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Philippines, Viet Nam, Namibia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Mozambique, and South Africa.…
Key lessons learnt on how to carry out effective care reform in Eastern and Southern Africa from the COVID 19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic posed a fundamental threat to the care of children in Eastern and Southern Africa. It exacerbated many causes of separation and violence in families and placed a huge strain on services that aim to improve children’s care. Responding to these challenges also led to rapid adaptation, innovation, and learning. In this paper, we document lessons learnt on care reform that emerged from the pandemic.
The paper is accompanied by…
The video provides key lessons learnt from COVID-19 on care reform from interviews with UNICEF, government and NGO staff in Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi and Kenya. The video focuses on the following areas.
- Including care reform in emergency preparedness and response
- Understanding and demonstrating the impact of a rapidly changing context on care
- Remote support to care reform
- The vital role of community volunteers
- The importance of proper reintegration processes and support
This sixteenth issue of the South African Child Gauge focuses attention on child and adolescent mental health and how early experiences of adversity ripple out across the life course and generations at great cost to individuals and society. It calls on South African society to put children at the centre of all policies in order to protect children from harm, build their capacity to cope with stress and adversity, and provide them with opportunities to thrive.
This 16th annual review of the situation of the country’s children is published by the Children’s Institute (CI…
In contexts where poverty and mental health stressors already interact to negatively impact the most vulnerable populations, COVID-19 is likely to have worsened these impacts. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa already faced intersecting mental health stressors and vulnerabilities. It is critical to understand how additional challenges brought on by COVID-19 have intersected with existing vulnerabilities and mental health risks AGYW faced, particularly given the intersections between psychological distress and increased risk behaviours that…
Abstract
Despite mounting evidence of the need for people to have trusted and trustworthy identity credentials, little attention has been paid to the key determinants of an identity management system that establishes a person’s unique legal identity and issues reliable official identity credentials. Also overlooked is a country’s ability to register and give legal identity to everyone who lives within its borders, regardless of citizenship status.
This paper aims to contribute to the achievement of Target 16.9 under Sustainable Development Goal 16 by analyzing the role of the civil…