The UN Children's Fund says the children of Zimbabwe have entered a new phase of hardship. UNICEF says millions of children are missing out on their most basic needs because of a severe drought and the dramatic deterioration of Zimbabwe's economy. The unprecedented hardship facing Zimbabwe is biting particularly hard among children and quality health care in the country's schools has all but collapsed.
Poverty and health
Zimbabwe's children enter new phase of hardship
Schlein L: Voice of America News, 18 July 2007
Even more children are dying in Botswana
Inter Press Service, 18 June 2007
While Botswana has succeeded in decreasing its poverty rate, it is unlikely that the country will achieve the United Nations' fourth Millennium Development Goal of decreasing child mortality rates by two thirds by 2015. Figures have shown an increase in child mortality between the 1990s and the 2000s. A 2001 report by the government's Central Statistics Office (CSO) on population and housing indicates that in 1991, infant mortality in Botswana stood at 48 deaths per 1,000 live births. This figure increased to 56 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2001. Over the same period, under-five mortality increased from 63 to 74 deaths per 1,000 live births. The United Nations Children's Fund's figures for the under-five mortality rate in Botswana are worse than the Botswana government's official figures, rising from 58 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 116 in 2004. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS is one of the factors behind this phenomenon.
Hunger exacerbating child mortality
Banda I: Inter Press News, 24 May 2007
The fourth of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) seeks a two-third reduction in the deaths of children under five by 2015. But the issues related to the first MDG, the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, will push the reduction of child mortality in Zimbabwe beyond the target date of 2015.
New strategy adopted on diseases of poverty: WHO-based tropical disease research programme to focus on emerging diseases
World Health Organisation, 22 June 2007
The WHO based Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) has adopted a new strategy for strengthening and expanding research to prevent and control 'infectious diseases of poverty'. The strategy builds on the programme’s 30-year record of developing new drugs, delivery strategies and enhancing research capacity in countries where parasitic tropical diseases are endemic. The new plan addresses some of the emerging disease challenges facing developing countries, such as TB-HIV co-infection.
Poorer health and nutritional outcomes in orphans and vulnerable young children not explained by greater exposure to extreme poverty in Zimbabwe
Watts H, Gregson S, Saito S, Lopman B, Beasley M, Monasch R: Tropical Medicine & International Health 12 (5): 584-593, May 2007
This paper describes patterns of association between different groups of young orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and their nutritional and health outcomes; and develops a theoretical framework to analyse the determinants of child malnutrition and ill-health, and identify the different mechanisms which contribute to these outcomes in such children.
It is based on statistical analysis of data on 31 672 children aged 0–17 years (6753 aged under 5 years) selected from the Zimbabwe OVC Baseline Survey 2004. Differences in exposure to extreme poverty among young children by OVC status were relatively small and did not explain the greater malnutrition and ill-health seen in OVC.
A pro-poor critique of pre-payment water meters in South Africa - The Phiri story
Dugard J: Critical Health Perspectives 2 (2), 2007
Responding to the multiple violations posed by prepaid meters (PPMs) in Phiri, in July 2006 an application was launched in the Johannesburg High Court by five applicants, on behalf of themselves, their households and all residents of Phiri who are in a similar position to the applicants, as well as everyone in the public interest. The application, supported by the Coalition Against Water Privatisation and defended by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), seeks to have PPMs declared unlawful and it asks the Court to order Johannesburg Water to provide everyone in Phiri with a FBW supply of 50lcd and the option of a conventional meter at the cost of the City of Johannesburg. The applicants and their supporting organisations believe that the case will be critical to securing the constitutionally- guaranteed rights of poor people to dignity, healthcare and sufficient water.
Botswana: Stigma deprives orphans of aid
Integrated Regional Information Network, 29 May 2007
The stigma of being labelled poor is inhibiting struggling foster families in Botswana, who are looking after already vulnerable children, from accessing welfare, a new study has found. The study, which focused on the plight of orphans and vulnerable children in Palapye, one of the largest villages in Botswana, located 275km north of the capital, Gaborone, found government assistance was "crippled" by the reluctance of families to register children for state aid. It cited an official as saying, "Some parents do not want to show they have orphans".
Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries
Grantham-McGregor S, Cheung YB, Cueto S, Glewwe P, Richter L, Strupp B, International Child Development Steering Group: The Lancet 369: 60–70, 2007
Many children younger than 5 years in developing countries are exposed to multiple risks, including poverty, malnutrition, poor health, and unstimulating home environments, which detrimentally affect their cognitive, motor, and social-emotional development. There are few national statistics on the development of young children in developing countries. We therefore identified two factors with available worldwide data—the prevalence of early childhood stunting and the number of people living in absolute poverty—to use as indicators of poor development. We show that both indicators are closely associated with poor cognitive and educational performance in children and use them to estimate that over 200 million children under 5 years are not fulfilling their developmental potential. Most of these children live in south
Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. These disadvantaged children are likely to do poorly in school and subsequently have low incomes, high fertility, and provide poor care for their children, thus contributing to the intergenerational transmission of poverty.
Access and quality education to improve lives
Dlamini N: BuaNews, 26 April 2007
Improvements in both the quality of South Africa's education system and students'access to it, would contribute to improving people's lives, says Deputy President Mlambo-Ngcuka. "It is required for the shared, sustainable and accelerated growth that we need to eradicate poverty and improve the livelihoods of our people," the deputy president said Wednesday, unveiling the Bokamoso Barona Investment Trust in Johannesburg. The entire investment trust initiative, speaks of the necessity of the strategic partnership required between the public and private sectors to maximise resources to overcome poverty, unemployment and the social ills that afflict South Africa.
AU and World Food Programme strengthen partnership
BuaNews, 27 April 2007
The African Union (AU) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have renewed their strategic partnership to fight hunger and enhance food security, education and emergency response across Africa. The agreement has been signed for humanitarian and development co-operation in the hope that the strategic partnership would serve as an important element in the shared commitment to meet the Millennium Development Goal of cutting global hunger by half by 2015.